Cloud CDN
6.8/10Google's content delivery network caches web and API content at Google edge locations, running on the global external Application Load Balancer.
Data last updated November 2026 · Our methodology
Overview
Cloud CDN is Google Cloud's content delivery network. You switch it on for a backend service or backend bucket behind the global external Application Load Balancer, and Google Front Ends then serve cacheable responses from edge locations around the world. Origins can be Cloud Storage buckets, Compute Engine VMs, GKE, App Engine, Cloud Run, or external origins on-premises or in another cloud. Features include signed URLs and signed cookies, custom cache keys, per-route cache policies, negative caching, request coalescing, dynamic compression, HTTP/3, and cache invalidation by path or cache tag. Cloud Armor edge policies inspect traffic before the cache lookup. Logs and metrics go to Cloud Logging and Cloud Monitoring, and you can configure it through the console, gcloud CLI, REST API, or Terraform. It fits teams already running workloads on Google Cloud, particularly GKE or Cloud Storage users who want caching without adding another vendor. There are no plans; you pay for what you use. Cache egress in North America and Europe starts at 0.08 USD per GiB for the first 10 TiB and falls to 0.02 USD above 1,000 TiB. Cache fill costs 0.01 to 0.04 USD per GiB, and every GET or HEAD lookup costs 0.0075 USD per 10,000 requests. Load balancer charges are billed on top. Recent 2026 releases added Cloud CDN support in GKE Gateway, the CDN-Cache-Control header, and a preview of edge image optimization. The main drawback is complexity. It is not a standalone CDN: you have to set up load balancer resources such as URL maps, backend services, and forwarding rules, and the layered billing makes costs hard to predict. Google points large-scale video delivery to its separate Media CDN product.
Our Rating
Who Cloud CDN is best for
Best software for DevelopersGood fit
You can configure it fully through gcloud, the REST API, and Terraform, and it attaches directly to GKE, Cloud Run, and Cloud Storage origins.
It comes with a 99.95% SLA with credits, volume discounts above 500 TiB per month, and is bundled into Google's enterprise front-end billing tier.
Signed URLs, custom cache keys, and Cloud Armor at the edge suit SaaS front ends that already run on Google Cloud.
Edge caching and cache-tag invalidation help storefronts hosted on Google Cloud, but setup takes cloud engineering skill.
Predefined dashboards and Cloud Logging integration help operations, though teams must manage load balancer resources.
Less suited
Configuring it through the load balancer and the per-request lookup fees make it harder to adopt than simple per-GB CDNs.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Connects directly to Google Cloud origins such as Cloud Storage buckets, GKE (including GKE Gateway since April 2026), Cloud Run, and Compute Engine, and it also accepts external origins.
- Cache egress falls to 0.02 USD per GiB above 1,000 TiB in North America and Europe, which makes it competitive at very large volumes.
- Cloud Armor edge security policies inspect all traffic before the cache lookup, so attack filtering and WAF rules sit in front of cached content.
- Invalidation has no per-request fee and supports cache tags, and each invalidation takes effect in about 10 seconds.
- You can automate everything through the REST API, gcloud CLI, and Terraform, and logs export to BigQuery or Cloud Storage.
Cons
- It is not a standalone CDN. You must configure the external Application Load Balancer's URL maps, backend services, and forwarding rules, and reviewers say this is hard for people new to CDNs.
- Billing has several layers (egress, cache fill, per-request lookups on every GET and HEAD, plus load balancer charges), so monthly costs are hard to forecast.
- The cache only fills when requests arrive, and there is no native way to pre-warm content across locations, which users have flagged.
- Reviewers say analytics are complex, and simple downloadable raw access logs are not offered the way some specialist CDNs provide them.
- Large-scale video and download delivery is steered to the separate Media CDN product, and Cloud CDN does not deliver RTMP or WebRTC.
Key Features
Cloud CDN Pricing
Pay as you go
- 99.95% monthly uptime SLA
- Cache fill 0.01 to 0.04 USD per GiB
- Load balancer charges billed separately
- Usage-based billing with no minimum commitment
- Cache lookups 0.0075 USD per 10,000 GET or HEAD requests
- No per-invalidation charge, up to 500 invalidation requests per minute per project
- Cache egress from 0.08 USD per GiB in North America and Europe for the first 10 TiB
Volume (500+ TiB per month)
- Contact sales for discounted pricing above 500 TiB of monthly egress
Frequently Asked Questions
Cloud CDN has no trial of its own. New Google Cloud customers get 300 USD in credits that last 90 days and can be spent on Cloud CDN usage. Signing up requires a payment method.
The SLA promises 99.95% monthly uptime. If it is missed, you get service credits of 10%, 25%, or 50% of that month's Cloud CDN bill, depending on how far uptime fell. You must request credits from Google support within 30 days.
No. Google removed invalidation charges. You can send up to 500 invalidation requests per minute per project, match by host, path, or up to 10 cache tags, and each request takes effect in roughly 10 seconds.
Yes. External backends on-premises or in other clouds are supported, along with private origin authentication. Request bytes sent from the load balancer to an external backend are billed at standard Compute Engine internet egress rates.
Yes. Cloud CDN is enabled on backend services or backend buckets behind the global external Application Load Balancer or the classic Application Load Balancer, and load balancer charges apply on top of CDN charges.
Yes. You can use Google-managed certificates when Cloud CDN is enabled. Supported protocols include TLS 1.2 and 1.3, HTTP/2, and HTTP/3 over QUIC.
Google recommends Media CDN for large-scale video streaming and large file downloads. Cloud CDN is aimed at web content, APIs, and assets served through the Application Load Balancer.
Similar Tools
See all alternativesAmazon CloudFront is the AWS content delivery network. It caches and serves websites, APIs and media from more than 750 edge locations, and includes DDoS protection, WAF and edge compute.
Premium managed WordPress hosting on Google Cloud, with Cloudflare CDN, daily backups, staging and an API, sold to businesses, agencies and enterprises.
German hosting and cloud provider offering shared web hosting, VPS, dedicated servers and public cloud services for small businesses through to enterprises.
Ranked near Cloud CDN in Hosting & Infrastructure
See Cloud CDN in the listCloud CDN is #28 in Hosting & Infrastructure by our score.
