Comparative review of 5 best gaming CDN service providers

In the era of fast-paced networks, game speed and safety are crucial. Game developers need to use powerful infrastructure to ensure the smooth operation of the game. A single lag may cause players to lose 30%. If they encounter DDOS attacks, they may waste all their efforts. This article is based on game testing, and conducts horizontal evaluation of CDN protection products from delay, protection, compatibility, price, and operation difficulty. I hope it will be helpful to game developers!  

Methods of evaluation 

• Game type: MMO.FPS. Mainstream scenarios of competitive sports mobile games
• Detection tool: third-party T-level simulation attack platform, pingdom global node
• Test items: TTFB, DDOS response and recovery time, anti-cheating interception rate
• User price: consider the cost of use under the same conditions

2025 Globally renowned Game Shield CDN ranking is as follows:   

1.CDN5

CDN5 provides convenientGame Shield SDKdevelopment package, easy integration, through local proxy and encrypted communication on the SDK side, combined with intelligent algorithms and AI behavior analysis, and in-depth decoding of private protocols, realizing dynamic network acceleration and protection, and has anti-plug-up and anti-blocking functions, protecting the security of the game APP in all aspects!

 Comprehensive Rating: 9.8/10  

Evaluation results:  

• Delay performance: CDN adopts CN2 multi-line direct connection network + BGP intelligent dynamic route selection, with a delay of less than 32ms in mainland China and a delay of less than 23ms in Tokyo, a decrease of 37% compared with other service providers and a decrease of 47% compared with Cloudflare. ​
• Protection capability: It adopts dynamic encrypted communication, local forwarding, multi-layer security protection, distributed anti-D elastic defense, and can directly ignore DDOS attacks and CC attacks, with an error blocking rate of only 0.07%. It also supports multi-protocols, is compatible with SRT streaming protocols, game live broadcasts, and entertainment live broadcasts. The lag situation is better than all CDN products on the market.
• Cost transparency: global unified pricing, package service, no hidden fees, 30% lower than peers' costs, and 70% lower than Alibaba Cloud Game Shield.

Applicable scenarios: high concurrent games, cross-platform mobile games, sports competition​

Official website: https://www.cdn5.com

2.Cloudflare

Cloudflare was co-founded in 2009 by Matthew Prince, Lee Holloway and Michelle Zatlyn, and is headquartered in San Francisco, USA. Cloudflare is a company that provides network performance and security services with a mission to help build a better internet. Cloudflare provides a variety of services through its globally distributed network infrastructure, including content distribution network (CDN), DDoS protection, DNS management, SSL/TLS encryption, Web Application Firewall (WAF), and other Cloudflare is favored by developers for its ease of use, affordable prices and powerful performance. Cloudflare focuses on security and speed to ensure your game runs smoothly and safely.  

 Comprehensive Rating: 8.8/10    
 Evaluation results:  

• Delay performance: The world's largest Anycast network node, with a stable latency of 30ms in Europe and the United States, and a lack of latency in the Asia-Pacific region, with a delay of 50-80ms.
• Protection capability: Cloudflare's defense capability is unquestionable. It is very well-known and has a leading global protection capability. It does not support the WebSocket protocol, affecting real-time battle games. Cost of use: Provide a free version, but the commercial version is expensive, and some are paid by quantity, and there are uncontrollable fees.

Applicable scenarios: PC/console games dominated by European and American markets  

Official website: https://www.cloudflare.com/  

 3.StoneCDN

StoneCDN is a world-renowned cybersecurity companyYewSafeThe brand mainly provides application security protection services to users in the Asia-Pacific region. The high-defense product designed for APP is currently one of the best security products in the world. It provides SDK integration in Windows, Android, and IOS versions to meet business needs such as anti-D, anti-C, and traffic encryption!

 Comprehensive Rating: 8.2/10    
 Evaluation Results:  

• Latency performance: CN2+BGP intelligent line acceleration is still used, the delay in the Asia-Pacific region is 35-80, and the main nodes are distributed in Vietnam, Hong Kong, Japan, Brazil, Dubai. In 2025, the new upgrade of data center hardware and network architecture should be further reduced.
• Protection capability: ignore DDOS and CC attacks, encrypt communications in the whole chain, anti-fraud, anti-blocking, bypass and intercept them together, is currently recognized as the strongest on the marketGame Shield.
• Cost of use: package subscription + network broadband package selection, based on word of mouth and technical strength, the price is average.

Applicable scenarios: All types of games for the Asia-Pacific region

Official website: https://www.stonecdn.com

4.Akamai

Akamai is the world's largest and most powerful content distribution network (CDN), cloud services and network security provider. Focusing on Internet security, Akamai is also the pioneer of the first global, operator-independent cloud-based DDoS mitigation service. However, if your business is aimed at mainland China, it is a pity thatAkamai exits the Chinese market: service suspension in 2026.

Comprehensive Rating: 7.8/10    
 Evaluation results:  

• Delay performance: Because the starting price is $2w, the test cost is limited, so there is no test. However, as the world's largestCDN service provider, delays in most regions are definitely the industry-leading level.
• Protection capability: Military-level protection, of course, it is impossible to say. Most of European and American government units and large institutions use Akamai's services.
• Usage cost: Starting from $2w, and it is not qualified enough, so people are not happy to cooperate with you, so instead of doing this, you might as well try other homes, hahaha!

Applicable scenarios: Global distribution and protection for large game developers  

Official website: https://www.akamai.com  

5. Fastly

was founded in March 2011, formerly known as SkyCache, and was renamed Fastly in May 2012. Its founder and CEO is Artur Bergman. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA, it is a content delivery network (CDN) provider. Its edge computing platform provides content distribution network, network security services, load balancing and video streaming services. , aiming to help enterprises build their edge cloud investments and release IT and engineering resources,  

Comprehensive Rating: 7.5/10    
 Evaluation results:  

• Delay performance: The delay in the Asia-Pacific region is 50-90ms, the delay in Europe is low, and the test results of multiple countries are between 30-43ms. If the game is aimed at the European region, fastly may be the best choice.
• Protection capability: Test sends 500G hybrid DDOS attack, no black hole time, no delay recovery, indicating excellent protection capability.
• User cost: Starting from $1500, broadband pays according to usage, you need to control the risks yourself, and encounter super-large attacks, sky-high bills may be generated.

Applicable scenarios: Independent games that require deep customization  

Official website: https://www.fastly.com  

Comparison table of key indicators

In the above five excellent game CDN reviews in the world, the CDN5 game shield is the lowest delay for the Asia-Pacific region, and is extremely cost-effective. The package is free of charge and has no invisible fees. It comes from a technical support team composed of mainland China and local Chinese. It can provide localized support 24/7. If you need protection, you might as well consult CDN5 customer service immediately to get more professional suggestions. We are not limited to recommending you to choose us.