Overview

Alibaba Cloud is the cloud computing brand of Alibaba Group, consistently ranking first in Asia Pacific and top three globally. Its CDN product has become the CDN acceleration service with the most and widest domestic node coverage, headquartered in China. As of 2026, Aliyun CDN deploys over 2,800 acceleration nodes across all 31 provincial-level regions in China with 150 Tbps total bandwidth reserve, serving as the underlying acceleration infrastructure for Alibaba's core businesses like Taobao, Tmall, DingTalk, and Amap.

Aliyun CDN delivers dynamic acceleration, full-site acceleration, and security acceleration through DCDN (Dynamic Content Delivery Network), cutting RTT by 30%–50%. It deeply integrates with ECS, OSS, WAF, Anti-DDoS, and SLS, allowing acceleration, security, and log management from a single console.

Key Strengths

  • Widest domestic coverage: 2,800+ nodes covering all provinces and lower-tier cities with BGP multi-line routing; static TTFB of 20–50ms in major cities.
  • Leading dynamic acceleration: DCDN reduces dynamic request latency by 30%–50% and packet loss by 60%+ via smart routing, TCP optimization, and connection reuse.
  • Image and video processing: Built-in image engine with 30+ real-time parameters; video transcoding, frame capture, segmentation, and encryption.
  • Deep ecosystem integration: One-click OSS origin, unified WAF protection, SLS logging, and CloudMonitor minute-level monitoring.
  • Proven at scale: Carries hundreds of Tbps of peak traffic during Taobao/Tmall Double 11, validated under billions of concurrent requests.

Product Ecosystem

CDN Acceleration (Core)

Static content acceleration for images, downloads, audio/video, and web pages.

DCDN Dynamic Acceleration

Dynamic API, full-site, and security acceleration in one delivery.

Image and Video Processing

Edge image optimization, video transcoding, and delivery.

Security Protection

WAF, Anti-DDoS, hotlink protection, and access control.

Alibaba Cloud Ecosystem Integration

Coordination with OSS, SLS, and CloudMonitor.

Limitations

  • Average overseas nodes: Around 800+ overseas nodes, behind Cloudflare and AWS CloudFront in density and depth.
  • Higher enterprise pricing: DCDN and HTTPS scaling require enterprise plans; 95th-percentile billing can spike in burst scenarios.
  • Complex configuration: Over 200 console configuration items with a steep learning curve; see the website CDN setup guide.

Use Cases

  • Large e-commerce and promotions (★★★★★): Industry benchmark for Double 11 and 618 billions-of-concurrency scenarios.
  • Video on demand and live streaming (★★★★★): HLS/DASH segment acceleration, real-time transcoding, and hotlink protection.
  • Gaming acceleration (★★★★☆): Patch distribution and cross-carrier dynamic acceleration with WAF and Anti-DDoS.
  • China UX optimization (★★★★★): Content platforms serving Chinese users; see the CDN provider selection guide.
  • Mixed domestic/overseas business (★★★☆☆): Use multi-CDN load balancing for overseas traffic.

Pricing

Plan Price Notes
Pay-as-you-go Usage-based Billed by actual traffic
Resource Packs Prepaid discount Traffic packs and HTTPS request packs
Enterprise Custom quote Full-site acceleration and advanced features

Note: Aliyun CDN pricing varies by traffic and plan; for cost optimization, see CDN cost optimization.

FAQ

  • Is Aliyun CDN free? It offers free quotas (e.g., monthly HTTPS requests); overages are usage-based; see CDN cost optimization.
  • How are overseas nodes? Around 800+; for overseas-heavy traffic, pair with Cloudflare; see multi-CDN load balancing.
  • Aliyun CDN vs Tencent Cloud CDN? Aliyun has stronger e-commerce/video validation; Tencent EdgeOne focuses on security acceleration; see Tencent EdgeOne.
  • Does it support dynamic acceleration? Yes, DCDN reduces dynamic request latency by 30%–50%; see the website CDN setup guide.
  • How to configure HTTPS? Supports free and custom certificates; see CDN SSL/TLS configuration best practices.