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Amazon CloudFront vs AWS

Based on 419 and 420 real audits

View Amazon CloudFront details | View AWS details
MetricAmazon CloudFrontAWSWinner
Performance3939Tie
Accessibility8888Tie
Best Practices8787Tie
SEO9191Tie
Security6666Tie
TTFB240ms239msAWS
Composite7272Tie
Performance
Amazon CloudFront
39
AWS
39
Accessibility
Amazon CloudFront
88
AWS
88
Security
Amazon CloudFront
66
AWS
66
SEO
Amazon CloudFront
91
AWS
91
Composite
Amazon CloudFront
72
AWS
72

AWS outperforms Amazon CloudFront in 1 of 7 categories, with a stronger composite score (72 vs 72). Amazon CloudFront leads in no categories.

When to choose Amazon CloudFront

Amazon CloudFront doesn't clearly lead AWS in any category on the sampled sites — pick it based on developer experience, ecosystem, or existing team skills rather than the audit scores.

When to choose AWS

Choose AWS when your primary concern is server response time. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.

How this comparison was built

Scores are medians across 419 audited Amazon CloudFront sites and 420 audited AWS sites in the BeaverCheck database. Every audit runs the same 100+ checks — Lighthouse performance, security headers, accessibility, SEO, server response time — against a real URL. No vendor input, no sponsorship, no affiliate links. Read the full methodology →

FAQ

Which is faster, Amazon CloudFront or AWS?
Based on real BeaverCheck audits, Amazon CloudFront sites score higher on Lighthouse performance (39 vs 39 on average).
Which has better security, Amazon CloudFront or AWS?
Amazon CloudFront sites score higher on security analysis (66 vs 66 on average).
Which has better accessibility, Amazon CloudFront or AWS?
Accessibility scores measured by Lighthouse WCAG 2.1 checks favor Amazon CloudFront (88 vs 88). Both technologies can be made fully accessible with care — the difference reflects common patterns in the sampled sites, not inherent platform limits.
Which is better for SEO, Amazon CloudFront or AWS?
Amazon CloudFront sites score higher on Lighthouse SEO signals (91 vs 91 on average), which cover meta tags, crawlability, mobile friendliness, and structured data. Content strategy and backlinks still matter more than platform choice for ranking.
Which has faster server response (TTFB), Amazon CloudFront or AWS?
AWS sites show lower Time to First Byte (239 ms vs 240 ms on average). TTFB depends heavily on hosting and CDN setup rather than the technology itself, but the sampled sites suggest a meaningful difference in common deployment patterns.
Should I choose Amazon CloudFront or AWS for my website?
Both platforms have trade-offs. Amazon CloudFront scores higher on overall composite score while Amazon CloudFront may excel in metrics you care about most. Run a free BeaverCheck audit on a real site using each to compare the metrics relevant to your use case.
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