A content delivery network aids in reducing the time it takes for users from around the world to load pages on your website. You may achieve those advantages without spending a dime by using one of the free CDN services on this list.
In this article, we’ll highlight three CDN services that are completely free as well as an additional selection of CDN services that aren’t completely free but that you can use for free for around a year.
The top three free CDNs for WordPress websites
Optimole
Optimole is a complete solution that allows you to quickly serve up your WordPress site’s images via the global Amazon CloudFront VSTechPanel.com free CDN after they have been optimized.
However, Optimole is more than just a CDN. It can also automatically assist you.
- Resize your images, and consider adding a function that automatically selects the appropriate image resolution for each visitor’s device.
- Use lossy or lossless compression when compressing your photographs.
- In order to stop image theft, watermark your photos.
- Make your photos WebP-compatible.
- Load your photos slowly.
Cloudflare
Popular free security and CDN provider Cloudflare has a vast worldwide network. One of the largest global CDN networks available as of 2020 is Cloudflare, which has CDN edge servers spread throughout more than 200 cities and 90+ nations.
Through its free CDN service, Cloudflare can also deliver all of your website’s static material, such as CSS/JavaScript files, file attachments, and other non-image types of content.
A reverse proxy and security service are also offered by Cloudflare, which is more than just a CDN. Without getting into the technical weeds, this essentially means that you must redirect the nameservers for your domain toward Cloudflare, and that company will then take care of handling traffic management for your website.
Jetpack Site Accelerator
From the same company that created WordPress.com and WooCommerce, Automattic, comes the well-known WordPress plugin Jetpack.
Jetpack has a ton of functions, but its Site Accelerator feature is the one that matters in this case.
You can use WordPress.com’s worldwide server network to serve up all of your site’s static content when Site Accelerator is turned on. This applies to all static files you use, such as your photos, CSS files, static JavaScript files, and any others.
While having a free CDN for WordPress is fantastic, there are several drawbacks to be aware of:
- You might think that Jetpack is a little bit bloated if you don’t want to use the other features.
- You cannot “purge” the CDN cache, which essentially implies that once an image is in the CDN’s cache, it cannot be edited. As an alternative, you must upload a fresh file with a fresh filename.
- Although it doesn’t have as many servers as Cloudflare or the CDN that Optimole utilizes, CloudFront still provides a benefit over not using a CDN.
Bonus: CDN usage is generously provided gratis by cloud providers.
Last but not least, it’s important to point out that many cloud service providers provide large free trials or credits to try out their services, including their CDNs.
Here are two preferred choices:
- AWS (Amazon Web Services)
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP)