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---
title: Comparison between Azure Front Door and Azure CDN services
description: This article provides a comparison between the different Azure Front Door tiers and Azure CDN services.
author: halkazwini
ms.author: halkazwini
ms.service: azure-frontdoor
ms.topic: concept-article
ms.date: 05/08/2025
---
# Comparison between Azure Front Door and Azure CDN services
Azure Front Door and Azure CDN are both Azure services that offer global content delivery with intelligent routing and caching capabilities at the application layer. Both services can be used to optimize and accelerate your applications by providing a globally distributed network of points of presence (POP) close to your users. Both services also offer various features to help you secure your applications from malicious attacks and to help you monitor your application's health and performance.
:::image type="content" source="./media/front-door-cdn-comparison/architecture.png" alt-text="Diagram of Azure Front Door architecture.":::
> [!IMPORTANT]
> - Starting August 15, 2025, Azure Front Door (classic) and Azure CDN from Microsoft (classic) will no longer support new domain onboarding or profile creation. Migrate to [AFD Standard and Premium](/azure/frontdoor/tier-migration) to create new domains or profiles and avoid service disruption. [Learn more](https://azure.microsoft.com/updates?id=498522)
> - Starting August 15, 2025, Azure Front Door (classic) and Azure CDN from Microsoft (classic) will [no longer support Managed certificates](/azure/security/fundamentals/managed-tls-changes). To avoid service disruption, either switch to Bring Your Own Certificate (BYOC) or migrate to [AFD Standard and Premium](/azure/frontdoor/tier-migration) by August 15, 2025. Existing managed certificates will be auto renewed before August 15, 2025, and remain valid until April 14, 2026. [Learn more](https://azure.microsoft.com/updates?id=498522)
> - Azure Front Door (classic) will be retired on March 31, 2027. To avoid service disruption [migrate to AFD Standard or Premium](/azure/frontdoor/tier-migration). [Learn more](https://azure.microsoft.com/updates?id=azure-front-door-classic-will-be-retired-on-31-march-2027).
> - Azure CDN Standard from Microsoft (classic) will be retired on September 30, 2027. To avoid service disruption [migrate to AFD Standard or Premium](/azure/cdn/migrate-tier). [Learn more.](https://azure.microsoft.com/updates?id=Azure-CDN-Standard-from-Microsoft-classic-will-be-retired-on-30-September-2027)
> [!NOTE]
> To switch between tiers:
> - From Azure Front Door (classic) to the Standard or Premium tier: use the [**migration capability**](migrate-tier.md).
> - From CDN Standard from Microsoft (classic) to the Standard or Premium tier: use the [**migration capability**](../cdn/migrate-tier.md).
> - From Azure Front Door Standard to Premium: use the [**upgrade capability**](tier-upgrade.md).
> - From Azure Front Door Premium to Standard: No seamless downgrade tool exists. You can recreate the profile instead.
## Service comparison
The following table provides a comparison between Azure Front Door and Azure CDN services.
| Features and optimizations | Front Door Standard | Front Door Premium | Front Door (classic) | CDN Standard from Microsoft (classic) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Delivery and acceleration** | | | | |
| Static file delivery | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dynamic site delivery | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| WebSockets | Preview | Preview | | |
| **Domains and certs** | | | | |
| Custom domains | ✓ (DNS TXT record based domain validation) | ✓ (DNS TXT record based domain validation) | ✓ (CNAME based validation) | ✓ (CNAME based validation) |
| Prevalidated domain integration with Azure PaaS service | ✓ | ✓ | | |
| HTTPS support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Custom domain HTTPS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bring your own certificate | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Supported TLS versions | TLS1.3, TLS1.2 | TLS1.3, TLS1.2 | TLS1.3, TLS1.2 | TLS1.3, TLS 1.2 |
| **Caching** | | | | |
| Query string caching | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cache management (purge, rules, and compression) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cache behavior settings | ✓ (using standard rules engine) | ✓ (using standard rules engine) | ✓ (using standard rules engine) | ✓ (using standard rules engine) |
| **Routing** | | | | |
| Origin load balancing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Path based routing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rules engine | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Server variable | ✓ | ✓ | | |
| Regular expression in rules engine | ✓ | ✓ | | |
| URL redirect/rewrite | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| HTTP/2 support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Routing preference unmetered | Not required as Data transfer from Azure origin to AFD is free and path is directly connected | Not required as Data transfer from Azure origin to AFD is free and path is directly connected | Not required as Data transfer from Azure origin to AFD is free and path is directly connected | Not required as Data transfer from Azure origin to CDN is free and path is directly connected |
| Origin port | All TCP ports | All TCP ports | All TCP ports | All TCP ports |
| Customizable, rules based content delivery engine | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (using standard rules engine) |
| Mobile device rules | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (using standard rules engine) |
| **Security** | | | | |
| Custom Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Microsoft managed rule set | | ✓ | ✓ (only default rule set 1.1 or less) | |
| Bot protection | | ✓ | ✓ (only bot manager rule set 1.0) | |
| Private Link connection to origin | | ✓ | | |
| Geo-filtering | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| DDoS protection | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Domain fronting block | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Managed Identities for origin authentication | Preview | Preview | | |
| **Analytics and reporting** | | | | |
| Monitoring metrics | ✓ (more metrics than Classic) | ✓ (more metrics than Classic) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Advanced analytics/built-in reports | ✓ | ✓ (includes WAF report) | | |
| Raw logs - access logs and WAF logs | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Health probe log | ✓ | ✓ | | |
| **Ease of use** | | | | |
| Easy integration with Azure services, such as Storage and Web Apps | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Management via REST API, .NET, de.js, or PowerShell | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Compression MIME types | Configurable | Configurable | Configurable | Configurable |
| Compression encodings | gzip, brotli | gzip, brotli | gzip, brotli | gzip, brotli |
| Azure Policy integration | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Azure Advisory integration | ✓ | ✓ | | ✓ |
| Managed Identities with Azure Key Vault | ✓ | ✓ | | |
| **Pricing** | [Azure Front Door pricing](https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/details/frontdoor/) | [Azure Front Door pricing](https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/details/frontdoor/) | [Azure Front Door pricing](https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/details/frontdoor/)| [Azure CDN pricing](https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/details/cdn/) |
| Simplified pricing | ✓ | ✓ | | ✓ |
## Services on retirement path
The following table lists services that are on retirement path, frequently asked questions regarding retirement, and migration guidance.
| Details | Front Door (classic) | CDN Standard from Microsoft (classic) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Retirement date | March 31, 2027 | September 30, 2027 |
| Date until new resources can be created | March 31, 2025 **| August 15, 2025 **|
| Documentation | [Azure update](https://azure.microsoft.com/updates/azure-front-door-classic-will-be-retired-on-31-march-2027/), [FAQ](classic-retirement-faq.md) | [Azure update](https://azure.microsoft.com/updates/v2/Azure-CDN-Standard-from-Microsoft-classic-will-be-retired-on-30-September-2027), [FAQ](../cdn/classic-cdn-retirement-faq.md) |
| Migration | [Considerations](tier-migration.md), [Step-by-step instructions](migrate-tier.md) | [Considerations](../cdn/tier-migration.md), [Step-by-step instructions](../cdn/migrate-tier.md) |
> [!NOTE]
> ** Azure-managed certificates will no longer be supported on Azure Front Door (classic) and CDN Standard from Microsoft (classic) starting August 15, 2025. Existing managed certificates will remain valid until April 14, 2026. [Learn more](https://azure.microsoft.com/updates?id=498522)
## Related content
- [Create an Azure Front Door](create-front-door-portal.md)
- [Azure Front Door routing architecture](front-door-routing-architecture.md)
- [Best practices for Azure Front Door](best-practices.md)
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