Infrastructure Decisions · judgement tool
Do I need a CDN?
Global users, static assets and egress decide it — and your host probably already fronts you with a CDN. Get a Not yet / Probably yes / Yes-priority verdict with provenance on every factor.
A judgement tool, not a tool ranking · thresholds are StackSays rules, not industry standards · official facts verified 2026-07-17 · share the URL to share your answers
Your situation
The recommendation updates as you answer. Share the URL to share it.
Recommendation
Not yet
Based on the factors you set — 2 pushing toward adopting, 2 against.
Why it's leaning yes on these
- +14 Static assets — Static assets are the ideal CDN payload — cache once, serve everywhereStackSays rule
- +10 Cacheable content — Public, cacheable content gets high hit rates at the edgeStackSays rule
Why it might be premature
- -16 Already fronted by a CDN — Vercel/Netlify/Cloudflare already put a CDN in front of your app (official) — you likely have one without adding anythingofficial fact
- -8 Global audience — If users are near your server, edge caching buys less on latencyStackSays rule
When to reassess
Revisit if you gain users in distant regions, start serving heavy media, or move off a platform that bundled a CDN.
Minimal implementation
Check whether your host already fronts you with a CDN (most PaaS do) before adding one. If serving media, put object storage behind a CDN (e.g. R2/Bunny) — often free egress there.
Risk of not doing it
Slow loads for distant users and higher origin bandwidth cost.
Cost & complexity once adopted
Low if your platform already includes it; adding a standalone CDN means cache-control headers and an invalidation story.
This is a judgement tool, not a leaderboard. The StackSays rule and StackSays estimate factors are StackSays logic and opinion; the official fact factors link to official sources below. No industry-standard threshold is implied — the answer is driven by the conditions you set.
Official facts cited
| Source | Verified |
|---|---|
| Vercel Edge Network / CDN (official) | 2026-07-17 |
| Cloudflare CDN caching (official) | 2026-07-17 |
Only the factors tagged “official fact” rest on these sources; rules and estimates are StackSays logic and are labeled as such.