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Alibaba Cloud CDN

Features
Ease of use
Ease of management
Quality of support
Affordability
Market presence
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Pricing from
Pay-as-you-go
Free Trial
Free version unavailable
User corporate size
Small
Medium
Large
User industry
  1. Accommodation and food services
  2. Retail and wholesale
  3. Media and communications

What is Alibaba Cloud CDN

Alibaba Cloud CDN is a content delivery network service that accelerates delivery of web content, downloads, and streaming media by caching content on distributed edge nodes. It is used by organizations hosting content on Alibaba Cloud or operating multi-origin architectures that need lower latency and higher throughput for end users. The service integrates with Alibaba Cloud services for origin hosting, security controls, and traffic analytics, and it supports common CDN features such as HTTPS, cache rules, and access control.

pros

Tight Alibaba Cloud integration

The CDN integrates with Alibaba Cloud origin services and adjacent platform capabilities such as DNS, object storage, and security services. This can simplify configuration, billing, and operational workflows for teams already standardized on Alibaba Cloud. It also supports common origin types (e.g., object storage and custom origins) to fit typical web and media delivery architectures.

Broad delivery use cases

The service supports acceleration for static websites, large file distribution, and media delivery patterns that rely on edge caching. It provides configurable cache behaviors, HTTPS delivery, and access controls that map to common enterprise requirements. This makes it suitable for teams that need a general-purpose CDN rather than a specialized image-only pipeline.

Configurable edge controls

Alibaba Cloud CDN provides policy controls such as cache rules, referer-based access control, and URL signing to manage how content is delivered and protected. These controls help teams reduce origin load and enforce basic content access restrictions at the edge. Operational features like monitoring and reporting support ongoing performance and usage management.

cons

Best fit within ecosystem

Organizations not using Alibaba Cloud for core infrastructure may face additional integration work compared with a CDN that is cloud-agnostic by design. Some capabilities and workflows are optimized for Alibaba Cloud services, which can increase dependency on the broader platform. This can matter for teams pursuing strict multi-cloud portability.

Complexity for smaller teams

CDN configuration (cache keys, invalidation strategy, TLS, and access controls) requires careful setup to avoid cache misses, stale content, or security gaps. Teams without dedicated web performance or platform engineering resources may find the operational model heavier than simpler, developer-focused media delivery tools. Misconfiguration can lead to higher origin traffic and cost variability.

Feature depth varies by region

Global delivery performance and available edge/security features can vary by geography due to network footprint, regulatory constraints, and service availability differences. Organizations with globally distributed audiences may need region-by-region validation and testing. This can add time to rollout and complicate standardization across markets.

Plan & Pricing

Pricing model: Pay-as-you-go (tiered pay-by-traffic) with optional subscription data-transfer plans.

Pay-By-Traffic (Downstream traffic, USD/GB, tiered by monthly usage) 0 GB - 50 TB (inclusive): Mainland China (CN) $0.04; North America (NA) $0.07; European Union (EU) $0.07; Asia Pacific 1 (AP1) $0.081; Asia Pacific 2 (AP2) $0.108; Asia Pacific 3 (AP3) $0.096; Middle East & Africa (MEAA) $0.105; South America (SA) $0.105. 50 TB - 100 TB (inclusive): CN $0.03; NA $0.06; EU $0.06; AP1 $0.062; AP2 $0.094; AP3 $0.083; MEAA $0.085; SA $0.085. 100 TB - 1 PB (inclusive): CN $0.03; NA $0.03; EU $0.03; AP1 $0.053; AP2 $0.079; AP3 $0.070; MEAA $0.07; SA $0.07.

1 PB: CN $0.02; NA $0.025; EU $0.025; AP1 $0.048; AP2 $0.072; AP3 $0.064; MEAA $0.06; SA $0.06.

Notes: Billing is calculated on an hourly basis and tiers apply on a calendar-month accumulation. By-default upper bandwidth limit for pay-by-traffic is 10 Gbps (can be changed by request).

Value-added billing (examples, USD per 10,000 requests)

  • Static HTTPS requests: $0.008 per 10,000.
  • Static QUIC requests: $0.008 per 10,000.
  • Dynamic QUIC requests: $0.024 per 10,000.

Outbound data transfer (subscription) plans — one-off purchase, validity 1 year (example prices listed as total plan cost / implied USD/GB in vendor table): Traffic spec (USD/GB shown on official page):

  • 100 GB: Mainland China $4; Regions Outside Chinese Mainland $10; North America $7; EU $7; AP1 $8; AP2 $10; AP3 $9; MEAA $20; SA $20.
  • 500 GB: CN $19; Regions Outside Chinese Mainland $50; NA $33; EU $33; AP1 $38; AP2 $49; AP3 $44; MEAA $94; SA $94.
  • 1 TB: CN $37; Regions Outside Chinese Mainland $99; NA $65; EU $65; AP1 $75; AP2 $98; AP3 $88; MEAA $185; SA $185.
  • 5 TB, 10 TB, 50 TB, 200 TB, 1 PB entries are listed on the official page with corresponding USD totals (see vendor pricing page for full table).

Billing rules: Pay-by-traffic is post-paid and charged hourly (bill issued ~3 hours after billing cycle). Subscription plans deduct consumed traffic from the plan and unused quota expires after plan validity. See Alibaba Cloud CDN pricing page for full details and latest regional tables.

Seller details

Alibaba Group Holding Limited
Hangzhou, China
1999
Public
https://www.alibabagroup.com/
https://x.com/AlibabaGroup
https://www.linkedin.com/company/alibaba-group/

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