Pricing overview
jsDelivr operates under a unique pricing model within the Content Delivery Network (CDN) landscape. It is entirely free for all open-source projects, providing a global CDN service without any associated costs for bandwidth, requests, or storage. This model is sustained through partnerships with premium CDN providers and community support, rather than direct user fees. The service aims to make high-performance content delivery accessible to the open-source community, removing financial barriers that might otherwise prevent projects from utilizing a global CDN.
The free nature of jsDelivr extends across its core offerings, including the delivery of npm packages, GitHub repository files, and WordPress assets. Users do not need to sign up for specific plans or provide payment information to access the full capabilities of the service. This approach contrasts with commercial CDNs, which typically charge based on data transfer, requests, or a combination of factors. For developers and organizations working on open-source initiatives, jsDelivr eliminates the need to budget for content delivery infrastructure, allowing resources to be allocated elsewhere.
Plans and tiers
Unlike most commercial CDN providers, jsDelivr does not offer tiered plans or subscription levels. Its service is uniformly available to all users and projects that qualify as open-source, providing full functionality without distinctions based on usage volume, features, or support levels. There is no premium tier with additional features, nor is there a basic tier with limitations. All users receive the same global content delivery capabilities, designed for speed and reliability.
The absence of plans means there is no upgrade path to unlock more features or higher performance; the maximum available performance and feature set are provided by default. This simplifies the decision-making process for developers, as there is no need to compare different service levels or predict future usage to select an appropriate plan. The focus remains on supporting the open-source ecosystem by providing a robust and accessible CDN solution.
The following table illustrates the conceptual 'plan' offered by jsDelivr:
| Plan Name | Price | Key Limits / Features | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open-Source CDN | Free | Unlimited bandwidth, requests, and storage for open-source projects. Global network, cache invalidation, API access. | All open-source projects, libraries, frameworks, and assets hosted on npm, GitHub, or WordPress. |
Free tier and limits
jsDelivr's entire service functions as a comprehensive free tier for open-source projects, meaning there are no distinct limitations imposed on usage that would typically define a 'free tier' versus a 'paid tier' in other services. Users can leverage jsDelivr for their open-source assets without encountering caps on bandwidth, the number of requests, or storage capacity. This unlimited access is a fundamental aspect of jsDelivr's commitment to supporting the open-source community, as detailed in their official documentation on jsDelivr pricing information.
While there are no explicit numerical limits, the service is governed by fair use policies designed to prevent abuse and ensure equitable resource distribution across all projects. These policies are generally focused on preventing activities such as illegal content distribution, serving non-open-source or proprietary content, or using the CDN for purposes other than legitimate content delivery for open-source assets. For instance, using jsDelivr as a general-purpose file hosting service for private or commercial content would not align with its intended use. Projects must adhere to the open-source definition to qualify for jsDelivr's free service.
The absence of typical CDN limits, such as data transfer caps or request quotas, means that even very popular open-source libraries or frameworks experiencing high traffic volumes can rely on jsDelivr without incurring costs. This contrasts with many commercial CDN providers where exceeding free tier limits results in charges or service degradation. For example, some cloud providers offer free tiers for their CDN services, but these often come with specific monthly bandwidth or request limits, such as those detailed in the Google Cloud Free Tier documentation for Cloud CDN usage.
Real-world cost examples
Because jsDelivr is entirely free for open-source projects, all real-world cost examples for its intended use cases result in a cost of zero. This simplifies financial planning for developers and organizations managing open-source initiatives. Below are a few scenarios illustrating the financial implications:
Example 1: Hosting a popular JavaScript library
Consider an open-source JavaScript library, such as a UI framework, that is downloaded millions of times per month globally. If this library were hosted on a commercial CDN, even at a low per-gigabyte rate, the costs could quickly escalate. For example, a CDN might charge $0.08 per GB for data transfer. If the library's total monthly downloads amount to 50 TB, the monthly cost would be approximately $4,000 (50,000 GB * $0.08/GB). With jsDelivr, the cost for serving this same volume of data and number of requests remains $0.
Example 2: Delivering CSS and font files for a theme
An open-source WordPress theme, widely adopted by thousands of websites, often requires delivering CSS stylesheets, custom fonts, and small JavaScript files. Each website loading the theme would generate requests and bandwidth usage for these assets. If each site generates 100 MB of traffic per month from these assets, and there are 10,000 active installations, this amounts to 1 TB of data transfer per month. On a commercial CDN at $0.08/GB, this would cost $80 per month. On jsDelivr, the cost is $0.
Example 3: Providing assets for a documentation site
A large open-source project maintains a comprehensive documentation website, hosting images, code examples, and other static assets. This documentation site experiences varying traffic, peaking during new releases or announcements. If the site generates 2 TB of traffic monthly, a commercial CDN could charge around $160 (2,000 GB * $0.08/GB). Using jsDelivr to host these open-source assets would incur no cost, regardless of traffic fluctuations.
Key takeaway
In all legitimate open-source use cases, jsDelivr provides its CDN services at no financial cost to the user. This eliminates operational expenses related to content delivery for open-source projects, making it a highly attractive option for developers and maintainers who need global reach without a budget for CDN infrastructure.
How the pricing compares
jsDelivr's pricing model stands out significantly when compared to traditional commercial CDN providers and even other free or low-cost alternatives. The core distinction is its complete lack of direct charges for open-source projects, differentiating it from services that operate on usage-based billing or tiered subscription models.
Commercial CDNs (e.g., Cloudflare, Fastly, Akamai)
Commercial CDNs, such as Cloudflare's CDN services or Fastly, typically charge based on data transfer out of their network (egress bandwidth), the number of requests, or a combination of both. These services often have complex pricing structures that vary by region, service level, and volume. While they offer advanced features, dedicated support, and often serve proprietary or commercial content, their costs can become substantial for projects with high traffic volumes. For instance, a project requiring 100 TB of global data transfer monthly could face thousands of dollars in CDN fees on a commercial platform. jsDelivr directly addresses this financial barrier for open-source initiatives by providing equivalent content delivery without cost.
Cloud Provider CDNs (e.g., AWS CloudFront, Google Cloud CDN, Azure CDN)
Major cloud providers offer their own CDN services, such as AWS CloudFront, Google Cloud CDN, and Azure CDN. These are often integrated with their broader cloud ecosystems and billed as part of the overall cloud usage. While these services frequently include a free tier, these tiers typically come with specific, limited allowances for bandwidth and requests (e.g., 50 GB of data transfer and 2,000,000 HTTP/S requests per month for CloudFront's free tier). Exceeding these limits results in standard pay-as-you-go charges, which can accumulate rapidly for popular open-source projects. jsDelivr offers essentially an unlimited free tier specifically for open-source content, removing concerns about exceeding these caps.
Self-hosting and dedicated servers
An alternative to using a CDN is self-hosting assets on dedicated servers or virtual private servers (VPS). While this provides complete control, it introduces significant operational overhead, including server maintenance, scaling infrastructure to meet demand, ensuring global availability, and managing security. The costs associated with self-hosting include server rental, bandwidth charges from hosting providers, and labor for management. These indirect costs can often outweigh direct CDN fees, especially for projects aiming for global reach and high availability. jsDelivr offloads all these operational responsibilities and costs from open-source project maintainers.
Other free CDNs
While jsDelivr is not the only free CDN, its specific focus on open-source content and its backing by multiple premium CDN providers (Cloudflare, Fastly, G-Core Labs) contribute to its reliability and performance. Some other free CDNs might be community-driven with fewer resources, or offer limited features. jsDelivr's model ensures a robust, enterprise-grade CDN infrastructure is available for open-source without cost, making it a highly competitive option for its target audience.