FlyingCDN is an automated CDN service from FlyingPress (Gijo Varghese). It is the official CDN service for FlyingPress users – however, it is not autonomous since it operates on Cloudflare Enterprise.
Is FlyingCDN a better option than other WordPress CDN providers?
Why should you choose it?
This CDN offers multiple edges over a typical CDN or even Cloudflare’s free or premium plans. It previously operated under Bunny CDN but recently switched to Cloudflare Enterprise. Most users will definitely find this a good thing because, compared with BunnyNet, you get extra features and more POPs.
Flying CDN caches users’ website content on multiple servers so visitors can access content quickly. Also includes auto-optimization and smart caching that speed up loading times, even during heavy traffic.
When considering a CDN, selecting a reliable web host is crucial. And fully compatible with any web host, including LiteSpeed Hosting, so you can be confident in its versatility. And FlyingPress is the most suitable plugin for optimizing WordPress sites (plenty of features with a simple user interface).
I don’t plan to explain the meaning or process of CDN at the end of this article – Instead, I will give you a brief FlyingCDN review. So, optimize your visitors’ browsing experience with FlyingPress and Flying-CDN.
Features And Integrations
With one of the largest and fastest EDGE networks, Cloudflare is regularly rated among the fastest CDNs. It can reduce latency – security errors, and more.
It’s probably the most powerful WordPress CDN out there. Has robust security features like firewalls, DDoS protection, Wildcard SSL, bot management, etc.
Users get extra features like APO, better routing, Argo, dynamic caching, load balancing, and polish image optimization with Enterprise+FlyingCDN.
Edge Page Caching, AKA Full Page Caching
You’ll also benefit from Argo if you have an online store or dynamic content. With full-page caching, users will get faster time to first byte. TTFB depends on other factors, too, like your web host, so choose a reliable one like Vultr.
Cloudflare caches HTML, so you’ll see a huge difference when you test your site with tools like KeyCDN and Speedvitals. This is an example of my website’s Time to First Byte after integrating FlyingCDN.
You will most likely see your site’s Time to First Byte worldwide stay below 100 milliseconds when you use full-page caching. It is capable of delivering dynamic content, such as shopping carts and user-cached pages.
This works with Cloudflare APO and integrates with other features, such as Argo Smart routing, Tiered caching, Device caching, etc. Plugins – server-side caches can also speed up the process.
TTFB indicates the time when the browser receives its first byte of data from a server.
When the TTFB is low, users get a better experience because the page loads instantly. A high Time to First Byte means being stuck on an empty screen waiting for the server to respond.
There’s a significant impact on Web Vitals when TTFB’s high.
You can increase TTFB by using a CDN, improving database capacity (caching in memory), and upgrading your WEB hosting. You can get better performance with a VPS with cloud control panels.
Integrate with FlyingCDN
The first thing you need to do is be a FlyingPress customer. You can only access the Flying-CDN if you are a FlyingPress cache plugin user. I don’t see another way to integrate this service since it requires an API key.
Then, go to your CDN dashboard and add your website (don’t use ‘www’ so you can point it later). Input your server’s IP address – During the process, you will receive an IP address and CNAME record, which you should use to update your website’s DNS records.
Don’t activate the proxy if you are using Cloudflare DNS.
Watch this official YouTube video to learn how to integrate:
Verify It Works
With the KeyCDN HTTP Header Checker, you can ensure the CDN works on your site. Check the site URL, and you’ll see the first request headers:
x-flying-press-cache: HIT
cf-cache-status: HIT
cdn: FlyingCDN
flyingcdn-cache: HIT
server: cloudflareIf all cache-status are HIT, everything is fine.
TTFB affects your web host and caching strategies, such as full-page caching – Web hosts like Rocket.net use this approach.
Flying CDN vs BunnyCDN vs Cloudflare Pro
| FlyingCDN | BunnyCDN | Cloudflare Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Start $5/M | Minimum $1/M | $25/M |
| Full-page Cache | ✓ | × | APO |
| Optimizing Images | ✓ | Paid | Polish/Mirage |
| Points of Presence | 300+ | 120+ | 250+ |
| Access All Locations | ✓ | ✓ | × |
| Simple Configs | ✓ | × | × |
| Automatic Process | ✓ | × | × |
| Customizable | × | ✓ | ✓ |
| UI | Minimal | Extensive | In-depth |
| Cache Hit Ratio | Very high | High | Average |
What makes Cloudflare Enterprise different?
When compared to lower plans, Cloudflare Enterprise has access to all global edge locations. It also includes advanced features and enhanced security features—performance and security are better than other Cloudflare plans.
Price Comparison
If you buy Cloudflare Enterprise directly, you’ll pay thousands of dollars. But FlyingCDN has no hidden costs, and the prices are affordable compared to Cloudflare Pro/Business, KeyCDN, Rocket, and even BunnyCDN.
It’s $5 per 100 GB of bandwidth per site. Web hosting companies usually have tools that let you track how much bandwidth you’re using. Small to medium-sized sites typically don’t use more than 100GB of bandwidth per month.
For example, FC is more affordable than KeyCDN because using KeyCDN for a website with 1 TB of bandwidth will cost almost $50 monthly.
And the minimum usage fee is $4, with a minimum payment of $49. However, FlyingWPCDN costs $50 monthly for a site with 1 TB bandwidth, so it’s a cheap option. It also has plenty of enterprise optimizations and security features.
So, this is a good choice if you want to use it instead of Bunny for any website. I wouldn’t recommend this option if you like to keep things in your way. However, I don’t think you can buy Enterprise CDN service at this price.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Robust CDN: Content delivery is the primary function of a CDN, and F-CDN does it well with 310 edge locations (120+ countries). Even behind proxies, Cloudflare works well despite not being a traditional CDN service.
- Full Page Caching: In my opinion, this is one of the most significant features that every website wants. This is because most CDNs do not support HTML caching – with FlyingCDN+Cloudflare Enterprise, you can get the TTFB under 100 ms. If a website is fast, it’s got the fastest TTFB.
- Image optimization: Cloudflare polishes image optimization pre-setup, so it has optimizations like WebP (automatically converting images without URL changes), adaptive images (the right image size), and compressing images without quality loss to make them smaller.
- Security features: Cloudflare is known for its website security, so Enterprise offers exceptional security features. Your website won’t need security plugins or other services.
- WooCommerce-ready: This makes browsing faster by caching pages, even with shopping cart items. Your static content is still cached, but the origin host will handle critical dynamic requests.
- Adapt to traffic spikes: Cache-hit optimization helps avoid extra queries for page speed, reduces server load, and easily handles traffic spikes. Flying CDN POPs are up to the task, no matter what you’re building.
Cons:
- Only for FlyingPress users: This is a significant limitation since it is still available only to users of the FlyingPress cache plugin.
- Not customizable: it does not allow users to customize anything, which may be okay for average users but can be a concern for advanced users.
- No custom URL: There’s no way to make your hostname look like cdn.example.com. Since Cloudflare isn’t a CDN like a normal one, your website URLs will not be affected because it acts as a proxy.
- Limited details: Compared to other CDN dashboards, the UI provides only a few details. The view isn’t inspiring; users will just see credit balance, bandwidth usage, and integration details.
- Non-removable: Users cannot discover which features are enabled or disabled, but it is fine if you are aware of Cloudflare Enterprise.
- Insufficient Doc: lacks help pages or blogs like the plugin.
Bottom Line
- FlyingCDN is a solid choice for many users who like things automated without manual setup—but you have to be a FlyingPress user to use it.
- Add the domain, point it to the DNS record, and you’re done.
- The lack of customization makes it less suitable for advanced users.
This content delivery network is not a suitable solution for techies who want to change how things work to suit their requirements. But it’s a hassle-free service that won’t add issues to your site, even with optimization features.
Adaptive image feature might not work on some websites, but the rest worked fine in my experience. Works with WordPress documentation websites. It works regardless of the website type, whether static or dynamic, and the traffic level it receives. The final decision rests with you—test it out to see if you like it or not.
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