CacheFly

CacheFly is a content delivery network built for streaming, game launches, ad delivery, and other high-traffic workloads. It is best suited to teams that need programmable edge behavior and a dedicated cache tier. The trade-off is a meaningful monthly commitment once a project outgrows the tightly capped developer account.

Overview

Founded in 2002, CacheFly serves CDN and multi-CDN buyers, video-on-demand platforms, and companies in media and entertainment, gaming, and ad tech. It says its network spans more than 75 points of presence across seven continents, and that it pioneered TCP Anycast in its founding year. That global footprint and workload focus make it worth considering for distributed delivery, but the plan limits mean buyers should check domain, origin, and bandwidth needs before committing.

Key features

Programmable edge controls

EdgeControl lets teams configure caching, headers, routing, authentication, and request behavior at the CDN edge. Adoption includes a sandbox, while Production provides full EdgeControl. The sandbox is a lower-cost entry point for teams building or evaluating edge rules, but those that need the full control set must budget for the more expensive Production tier.

Dedicated cache and delivery options

Dedicated Shield is a cache tier intended to keep content hot without competing for shared cache space, a useful distinction for workloads where cache availability matters. CacheFly also supports video delivery, image optimization, origin shield, edge compute, and real-time logs. Those capabilities give it breadth beyond basic file delivery, although the stated plan allowances still cap paid tiers at 10 TB per month.

Operations, security, and support

Adoption includes full API access and a Terraform provider, making it suitable for teams that want infrastructure changes in their automation workflow. CacheFly's knowledge base documents integrations with WordPress CDN Enabler and W3 Total Cache. Email support from CDN engineers comes with every feature tier. Governance adds SSO, role-based access control, audit logs, and compliance packs; Production lists WAF and DDoS as available. A GDPR data processing addendum includes pre-signed Standard Contractual Clauses and security measures annexes.

Optional support plans add defined Severity 0 response targets, from same-day response with Silver to a 30-minute target with Platinum. Those plans are separate paid commitments, so round-the-clock incident coverage is not part of the feature-tier baseline.

Pricing

The free developer account costs nothing and allows 100 GB and one domain. It is useful for a small evaluation or development workload, but its bandwidth cap makes it a poor fit for ongoing high-traffic delivery.

• Adoption: $299 a month, billed $299/month. It includes 3 domains, 5 origins, 10 TB/month, IPv6, HTTP/3, SSL, URL cache purge, an EdgeControl sandbox, full API access, a Terraform provider, and engineer email support. It suits teams starting production delivery with a limited footprint; it does not include full EdgeControl.
• Silver support: $995 a month, billed $995/month. It adds same-day Severity 0 response, weekend and holiday coverage, and ticket-based support. This is an optional support tier rather than a replacement for an Adoption or Production feature plan.
• Production: $1,499 a month, billed $1,499/month. It includes 50 domains, 10 origins, 10 TB/month, full EdgeControl, WebSockets up to 10K concurrent, WAF and DDoS available, full analytics and log shipping, and engineer email support. It is the more appropriate feature tier for teams needing full edge controls or a larger domain allowance, but it remains capped at 10 TB/month.
• Gold support: $2,495 a month, billed $2,495/month. It provides a 2-hour Severity 0 response target, 24/7, and 24/7 incident coverage for teams that need continuous response.
• Governance: $3,499 a month, billed $3,499/month. It allows unlimited domains and origins, includes 10 TB/month, SSO, RBAC, audit logs, and sub-second TTL, with compliance packs, PNI, and private nodes available. It fits organizations with governance needs or large domain and origin counts, though additional bandwidth commits will be sized to the customer's traffic profile.
• Platinum support: custom pricing. It offers a 30-minute Severity 0 response target, 24/7, Slack and video conference access, a named escalation chain, quarterly configuration review, and a war room on demand.

Each paid feature tier includes 10 TB per month; a CacheFly representative sizes additional bandwidth commits against the customer's traffic profile. Buyers should account for that when forecasting costs above the included allowance. The stated monthly prices are substantial entry points for smaller sites, especially when support coverage is added separately.

Platforms

CacheFly is available through web and API platforms, supporting both browser-based management and programmatic operations.

Who it's for

CacheFly is a strong fit for media, entertainment, gaming, ad tech, and video-on-demand teams delivering large or time-sensitive content globally. It is also relevant to multi-CDN buyers who value edge configuration, dedicated shielding, API access, and infrastructure automation. A small website, side project, or buyer prioritizing a low-cost entry plan is less likely to benefit from the paid tiers' breadth enough to justify their price.

Pros and cons

• Pro: EdgeControl covers caching, headers, routing, authentication, and request behavior, with a sandbox at Adoption and full control at Production.
• Pro: Dedicated Shield addresses shared-cache competition by providing a dedicated cache tier for keeping content hot.
• Pro: Full API access and a Terraform provider are included at Adoption, rather than being reserved for the top feature tier.
• Pro: Engineer email support is included across feature tiers, while optional plans define faster Severity 0 response targets.
• Con: The free account is limited to 100 GB and one domain, so it offers little room for sustained traffic.
• Con: All paid feature tiers include only 10 TB/month; larger traffic needs a separately sized bandwidth commitment.
• Con: Full EdgeControl is gated behind Production at $1,499 a month, leaving Adoption users with a sandbox.
• Con: Governance and round-the-clock support require high monthly commitments, which may not suit smaller teams.

Alternatives

Compare CDN software if you want to consider the category more broadly. Azion Content Delivery is a better starting point for personal projects or experimentation: its free Hobby plan includes 10 workloads and 1 TB/month data transfer, and it has a free trial. Fastly Image Optimizer is the more focused choice when image requests, rather than a broader CDN feature tier, are the main need; it offers a free allowance of 100,000 image requests per month.

Uploadcare is worth comparing for file operations and storage: its free plan includes 1,000 operations/month, 5 GB traffic/month, and 1 GB storage, with a 500 MB maximum file size. Amazon CloudFront may suit buyers seeking a free CDN allowance with explicit request and transfer quotas; its free plan includes 1M requests and 100GB data transfer, along with five WAF rules and 5GB included S3 storage.

Cloudinary is an alternative for teams looking for a free plan with 3 users, 1 account, and 25 monthly credits. esm.sh is a free public CDN option. Gcore CDN offers a PAYG plan with 1 TB monthly traffic included and 10k/month image optimization, making it a candidate for buyers whose included traffic need is smaller. ImageKit is another alternative with a forever-free plan for low-traffic websites and apps, side projects, or testing.

Verdict

Choose CacheFly if your team runs globally distributed, high-traffic delivery and needs programmable edge controls, dedicated cache shielding, or API-driven operations. Its strongest case is the combination of those controls with a network built for demanding content workloads. Look elsewhere if your traffic is modest or cost is the priority: the free account is narrow, paid feature tiers start at $299 a month, and each includes 10 TB/month before additional bandwidth must be sized.