Is AWS CloudFront or KeyCDN cheaper in 2026?

It depends on volume — AWS CloudFront wins 2 of the 3 modelled workloads and KeyCDN wins 1. The scenario table above shows where the crossover falls.

What is the difference in egress cost between AWS CloudFront and KeyCDN?

KeyCDN charges $0.040 per GB against AWS CloudFront's $0.085, roughly 2.1× cheaper. Egress usually dominates the bill once traffic is measured in terabytes.

Which has the better free tier, AWS CloudFront or KeyCDN?

Both publish one. AWS CloudFront: 1 TB egress and 10M requests per month, always free. KeyCDN: $10 of trial credit; $4 monthly minimum thereafter.

What do these estimates not include?

Committed-use and reserved discounts, regional price variation, per-request API charges, support plans, and minimum retention periods. All of those move real invoices, sometimes by a lot. These figures compare published list prices for the same workload, which is the comparison the rate cards alone cannot give you.

AWS CloudFront vs KeyCDN

Neither wins outright: AWS CloudFront is cheaper for 2 of 3 workloads and KeyCDN for the rest.

List prices checked May 2026

Rate cards side by side

Only the axes at least one of them bills on. A dash means that provider does not charge for it.

Billing axis	AWS CloudFront	KeyCDN	Difference
Data transfer out	$0.085/GB	$0.040/GB	2.1× KeyCDN
Free tier	Yes	Yes	—

Source: Amazon Web Services pricing (May 2026) · KeyCDN pricing (May 2026). Published list prices only — committed-use discounts, regional variation, and per-request charges are not included. Not yet independently re-checked against the vendor’s page.

Monthly cost for three real workloads

The rate cards applied to identical usage. This is where the winner changes.

Workload	AWS CloudFront	KeyCDN	Cheaper
Side projectA personal site or small app with modest traffic, a few gigabytes of assets, and one small always-on process.	$0	$4.00	AWS CloudFrontsaves $4.00/mo (100%)
Growing SaaSA funded product serving a few thousand daily users, with an image-heavy frontend and two application servers.	$0	$40	AWS CloudFrontsaves $40/mo (100%)
Media-heavy siteA publisher or video product where delivery dominates the bill and compute is almost an afterthought.	$765	$400	KeyCDNsaves $365/mo (48%)

Workload definitions are identical on every comparison page, so figures here can be read against any other pair in the same category.

What each one is for

AWS CloudFront

by Amazon Web Services

Amazon's CDN, priced per gigabyte with regional tiers and steep volume discounts that only apply once you are moving petabytes. The permanent 1 TB free tier makes it effectively free for small sites.

Free tier: 1 TB egress and 10M requests per month, always free

KeyCDN

by KeyCDN

Pay-as-you-go delivery with no contract and per-region rates, aimed at small sites that want a predictable per-gigabyte bill without a commitment.

Free tier: $10 of trial credit; $4 monthly minimum thereafter

Common questions

Is AWS CloudFront or KeyCDN cheaper in 2026?: It depends on volume — AWS CloudFront wins 2 of the 3 modelled workloads and KeyCDN wins 1. The scenario table above shows where the crossover falls.
What is the difference in egress cost between AWS CloudFront and KeyCDN?: KeyCDN charges $0.040 per GB against AWS CloudFront's $0.085, roughly 2.1× cheaper. Egress usually dominates the bill once traffic is measured in terabytes.
Which has the better free tier, AWS CloudFront or KeyCDN?: Both publish one. AWS CloudFront: 1 TB egress and 10M requests per month, always free. KeyCDN: $10 of trial credit; $4 monthly minimum thereafter.
What do these estimates not include?: Committed-use and reserved discounts, regional price variation, per-request API charges, support plans, and minimum retention periods. All of those move real invoices, sometimes by a lot. These figures compare published list prices for the same workload, which is the comparison the rate cards alone cannot give you.