Gcore vs AWS CloudFront

Why Switch from AWS CloudFront to Gcore?

AWS CloudFront is the world’s most widely used CDN, but it comes with a critical drawback for European businesses: it is operated by Amazon, a US corporation fully subject to the CLOUD Act, FISA Section 702, and other US surveillance legislation. Even when your CloudFront distribution serves content from EU edge locations, your configuration data, access logs, and account information are accessible to Amazon’s US-based infrastructure and, by extension, to US government requests.

Gcore, headquartered in Luxembourg, offers a comprehensive edge cloud platform — CDN, DDoS protection, edge compute, and streaming — built entirely outside US jurisdiction. With 180+ points of presence across six continents, Gcore delivers comparable global performance to CloudFront while keeping your data firmly under EU legal protection. For European businesses that need fast content delivery without compromising on data sovereignty, Gcore is the logical choice.

Beyond privacy, Gcore simplifies operations by bundling CDN, security, and streaming into a single platform. With AWS, achieving the same functionality requires stitching together CloudFront, Shield, WAF, MediaLive, and Lambda@Edge — each with its own billing model, configuration, and learning curve.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Gcore	AWS CloudFront
Global PoPs	180+ across 6 continents	600+ edge locations
HTTP/3 support	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
DDoS protection	✅ Built-in (L3/L4/L7, free)	⚠️ Basic free, Advanced $3,000/mo
Edge compute	✅ Edge Cloud (VMs, containers)	✅ Lambda@Edge, CloudFront Functions
Video streaming	✅ Native (live + VOD)	⚠️ Requires MediaLive/MediaPackage
Real-time analytics	✅ Included	⚠️ Extra cost (CloudWatch)
Origin shielding	✅ Yes	✅ Yes (extra cost)
WebSocket support	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Data jurisdiction	Luxembourg 🇱🇺	United States 🇺🇸
GDPR compliant	✅ Full (EU entity)	⚠️ Partial (US entity)
Free tier	1 TB/month CDN traffic	1 TB/month (12 months only)
Pricing model	Simple per-GB	Complex (per-GB + per-request + extras)

Pricing

Gcore offers straightforward pricing that avoids the complexity of AWS billing:

• Gcore CDN: From $0.028/GB with 1 TB/month free tier (permanent)
• Gcore DDoS Protection: Included at no extra cost
• Gcore Streaming: From $0.035/GB for video delivery
• AWS CloudFront: $0.085/GB (first 10 TB), plus per-request fees ($0.0075-$0.016 per 10,000 HTTPS requests)
• AWS Shield Advanced: $3,000/month + data transfer fees
• AWS MediaLive: From $0.354/hour per pipeline

For a European business delivering 10 TB/month of content, Gcore can be 40-60% cheaper than equivalent AWS services, especially when factoring in DDoS protection and real-time analytics that AWS charges separately for.

Privacy & Data Sovereignty

Gcore’s Luxembourg headquarters provides meaningful data sovereignty advantages for European businesses:

• Incorporated in Luxembourg — fully under EU and Luxembourg jurisdiction
• Not subject to the US CLOUD Act, FISA Section 702, or National Security Letters
• EU-based account management and configuration data storage
• GDPR compliant by design as a European entity
• ISO 27001 certified information security management
• SOC 2 Type II compliant
• PCI DSS certified for handling payment-related content delivery
• No obligation to provide backdoor access to any non-EU government

For European enterprises in regulated industries (finance, healthcare, government), using Gcore eliminates the legal risk associated with US-controlled cloud infrastructure.

Migration Guide

Migrating from AWS CloudFront to Gcore is straightforward for most CDN workloads. Estimated time: 1-3 days depending on complexity. Difficulty: Low to Moderate.

1. Create a Gcore account at gcore.com and set up your CDN resource. Configure your origin server (your existing web server or S3-compatible storage) as the content source. Gcore supports pull-based CDN, so no content upload is needed.
2. Configure caching rules to match your CloudFront behavior settings. Map your cache TTLs, query string handling, and header forwarding rules to Gcore’s equivalent configuration. Gcore’s dashboard makes this simpler than CloudFront’s distribution settings.
3. Set up SSL certificates for your custom domains. Gcore provides free Let’s Encrypt certificates with automatic renewal, or you can upload your own certificates. Enable HTTP/3 for optimal performance.
4. Enable DDoS protection and security features through the Gcore dashboard. Unlike AWS where you must separately configure Shield, WAF, and CloudFront, Gcore’s security features are integrated and enabled with simple toggles.
5. Test your configuration using Gcore’s staging environment. Verify that content is served correctly, caching behaves as expected, and purging works. Compare latency against your CloudFront baseline.
6. Switch DNS by updating your CNAME records to point to Gcore’s CDN endpoint. Use a low TTL during migration so you can quickly roll back if needed. Monitor performance during the transition.

Who Should Switch?

Gcore is ideal for:

• European businesses that need CDN and DDoS protection without US jurisdiction exposure
• Media and streaming companies that want integrated video delivery without stitching together multiple AWS services
• Companies in regulated industries (finance, healthcare, government) requiring EU data sovereignty documentation
• Organizations tired of complex AWS billing who want transparent, predictable CDN costs
• Developers who want a simpler platform without the AWS configuration overhead

The Bottom Line

Gcore delivers enterprise-grade CDN, DDoS protection, and streaming from a European base, with simpler pricing and integrated security features. For businesses primarily serving European audiences, Gcore’s 180+ PoPs provide excellent performance while keeping your infrastructure under EU jurisdiction.

AWS CloudFront remains the stronger choice if you are deeply embedded in the AWS ecosystem or need Lambda@Edge for complex serverless edge logic. But for European businesses that want fast, secure content delivery without the legal and operational complexity of AWS, Gcore is a compelling European alternative that proves you do not need a US hyperscaler for world-class edge infrastructure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Gcore replace AWS CloudFront as my primary CDN?

Yes. Gcore offers a global CDN with 180+ points of presence, HTTP/3 support, instant cache purging, and origin shielding — covering all the core functionality of CloudFront. For most workloads including static assets, video streaming, and dynamic content acceleration, Gcore is a drop-in replacement with comparable or better performance in European markets.

How does Gcore handle DDoS protection compared to AWS Shield?

Gcore includes built-in DDoS protection at both network (L3/L4) and application (L7) layers at no additional cost. AWS CloudFront provides basic DDoS protection through AWS Shield Standard for free, but advanced protection (Shield Advanced) costs $3,000/month. For most businesses, Gcore's included protection is sufficient and far more cost-effective.

Is Gcore truly GDPR compliant for EU businesses?

Yes. Gcore is incorporated in Luxembourg and operates under EU law. Your configuration data and logs are processed within EU jurisdiction. Unlike AWS, which is a US company subject to the CLOUD Act and FISA Section 702, Gcore has no legal obligation to provide data access to US authorities.

Does Gcore support video streaming and live broadcasting?

Yes. Gcore offers dedicated streaming infrastructure including live streaming with ultra-low latency (under 1 second), video hosting with adaptive bitrate, and a global delivery network optimized for video. This is a native feature, whereas AWS requires combining CloudFront with MediaLive, MediaPackage, and other services.

How does Gcore pricing compare to AWS CloudFront?

Gcore pricing starts at $0.028/GB with a free tier of 1 TB/month. AWS CloudFront starts at $0.085/GB for the first 10 TB. Gcore's pricing is significantly simpler — no separate charges for requests, invalidations, or real-time logging that add hidden costs to AWS bills. For European-focused traffic, Gcore is typically 30-50% cheaper.