If you serve video — whether short on-demand clips, large libraries, or live events — choosing the right video delivery stack matters for cost, startup complexity, and player performance. In this post we compare Bunny.net (Bunny Stream + CDN) with several popular options (Cloudflare Stream, AWS video services, Fastly, KeyCDN and others), show where each shines, and explain why Bunny is often the best choice for teams who want excellent real-world performance without an enterprise bill. bunny.net+1
When evaluating video delivery platforms, focus on a few concrete things:
What to look for in a video delivery solution
- Real user playback performance (time-to-first-frame, buffering, ABR quality)
- Global presence (PoPs and backbone capacity)
- Billing model transparency (per-minute vs per-GB vs add-on fees)
- Feature set (transcoding/encoding, player, DRM or signed-URL support)
- Operational complexity (how many services you glue together)
These axes determine both your viewer experience and your monthly bill. The rest of this post uses those categories to compare providers.
Quick summary of contenders
- Bunny.net (Bunny Stream + CDN) — simple pay-as-you-go pricing, free player, no separate transcoding fees, low per-GB rates and an easy dashboard. bunny.net+1
- Cloudflare Stream — tightly integrated, minute-based pricing (storage + delivery by the minute) and a strong global network. Good for teams already using Cloudflare. Cloudflare Docs+1
- AWS (CloudFront + Elemental/MediaConvert / MediaPackage) — extremely flexible and enterprise-grade, but complex and often more expensive as you add encoding/transcoding, storage, and CDN egress. Amazon Web Services, Inc.+1
- Fastly / other CDNs (KeyCDN, Akamai, etc.) — high performance and enterprise features, with varied pricing; some are optimized for very large scale but can be pricier and require more setup. Fastly+1
Pricing: transparent, predictable, and cheap (where Bunny shines)
Bunny’s pricing model emphasizes per-GB bandwidth plus low-cost storage and a low monthly minimum — the company advertises CDN egress from $0.01/GB in major regions and video storage from ~$0.01/GB with a $1 monthly minimum and no separate “transcoding fees.” That straightforward per-GB model makes cost forecasting easy for both small creators and mid-tier publishers. bunny.net+1
By contrast, Cloudflare Stream uses a per-minute pricing for storage and delivery (for many users that maps more predictably to watched time), while AWS charges separately for encoding/transcoding, storage, and CloudFront egress — which adds up and is harder to compare unless you run exact usage scenarios. For many teams that means Bunny will come in significantly cheaper at small-to-medium scale. Cloudflare Docs+1
Performance & global footprint
Real performance depends on caching, PoP coverage, and backbone capacity. Bunny advertises a modern global PoP footprint and a high-capacity backbone (statements on PoPs and backbone capacity are public on their site), and many independent tests and user reports highlight excellent real-world latency and cache-hit characteristics for static and VOD content. That solid network + per-region pricing lets you enable/disable zones to optimize cost vs latency by audience. bunny.net+1
Cloudflare and AWS have vast networks and rock-solid SLAs; Cloudflare’s advantage is extreme global density and additional services (Workers, DDoS, R2), while AWS scales to massive enterprise workloads and integrates into broader media pipelines. If your audience distribution is global and your traffic is huge, AWS or Cloudflare can be compelling — but many mid-market publishers find Bunny’s PoP+edge caching hits “good enough” at far lower cost. Cloudflare+1
Features: encoding, players, DRM, and edge tooling
Bunny Stream includes a built-in player, adaptive bitrate (ABR) playback, encoding support with no separate transcoding price on many plans, and tools for signed URLs and access control — everything a typical VOD publisher needs without stitching multiple services together. That reduces integration time and makes a single bill cover common needs. bunny.net+1
Cloudflare Stream likewise includes player + encoding as a turn-key product and simplifies delivery, but bills differently (minutes). AWS provides unmatched flexibility (live packaging, DRM, advanced transcoding profiles), useful for broadcasters or very complex workflows — but you’ll pay for that flexibility. Fastly/other CDNs often require you to bring separate encoding/storage or integrate third-party players unless you use an ancillary platform (increasing complexity). Cloudflare+1
Operational simplicity & developer experience
Bunny’s dashboard, simple storage + CDN model, and ready-made player mean developers get from upload to playback quickly. For teams that want straightforward API calls and quick rollouts, Bunny reduces dev time compared to assembling S3 + MediaConvert + CloudFront or building custom edge logic. Cloudflare’s Stream is also simple if you’re already in the Cloudflare ecosystem — it’s a solid second option. AWS and enterprise CDNs give more knobs, but you spend more time wiring things up. bunny.net+1
When another provider might be better
- Choose AWS if you need enterprise-grade DRM, complex live orchestration, or to embed video into a broader AWS media pipeline. Amazon Web Services, Inc.
- Choose Cloudflare Stream if you already use Cloudflare heavily and prefer minute-based billing or need deep integration with Cloudflare Workers and R2. Cloudflare Docs
- Choose Fastly / Akamai if your priority is the last-mile optimizations and they have specific edge features your app relies on (and budget isn’t the main constraint). Fastly+1
Real-world cost example (conceptual)
A simple conceptual example: if you stream 2 TB/month to viewers, Bunny’s $0.01–$0.03/GB regional pricing often results in a clearly lower egress bill than enterprise CDNs and can beat minute-based providers depending on average bitrate and watch-time. (Exact numbers depend on region, replication points, and whether you enable extra zones — always run a calculation using your bitrate and regional split.) Bunny publishes per-region GB pricing and zone controls that make these calculations straightforward. bunny.net+1
Support, reliability, and community
Bunny emphasizes responsive support and simple SLAs for smaller customers; reviews and company materials frequently highlight the “value customer support” angle. Larger vendors offer enterprise SLAs and 24/7 enterprise support tiers — useful for mission-critical broadcast scenarios, but often at significantly higher recurring cost. bunny.net+1
Verdict: why Bunny is the best value for most teams
If your priorities are: low cost, predictable per-GB billing, good global performance for VOD and small-to-medium live needs, and a fast, simple developer and ops experience, Bunny is a compelling choice. It bundles a player, distributed storage, CDN, and simple pricing into one service — which reduces both engineering overhead and surprising line-items on your bill. For startups, indie creators, SMB publishers, and apps that value cost predictability and performance over enterprise-only features, Bunny often represents the best value-per-dollar. bunny.net+1
Quick decision guide
- Want turn-key, low-cost video delivery? Bunny.net. bunny.net
- Need minute-based billing and deep Cloudflare integration? Cloudflare Stream. Cloudflare Docs
- Need enterprise media workflows and DRM? AWS Elemental & CloudFront. Amazon Web Services, Inc.
- Need edge-first, high-scale CDN tuning? Fastly / Akamai (budget permitting). Fastly
Call to action
Start with a small test: upload a typical video, measure time-to-first-frame across your main user regions, compare estimated monthly bills for your expected traffic pattern, and test the provided player SDK. If you value low friction, transparent per-GB pricing, and solid global performance, Bunny is likely the most cost-effective place to start. bunny.net+1