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Tencent EdgeOne Hands-On: A Free Domestic CDN That's a Solid Cloudflare Alternative

Xiaozha 4 tags
Abstract illustration of a CDN content delivery network above the clouds

For domestic websites, CDN acceleration is essential for improving access speed.

Cloudflare is powerful, but its nodes in mainland China are limited, and some visitors end up with less-than-ideal speeds.

Tencent Cloud EdgeOne, Tencent’s edge acceleration service, offers high-quality CDN nodes within China and comes with a free tier — making it a solid Cloudflare alternative for domestic sites.

This article shares my hands-on experience with EdgeOne.

What Is EdgeOne?

Tencent Cloud EdgeOne is an all-in-one edge security and acceleration platform that integrates CDN, DDoS protection, WAF (Web Application Firewall), and edge computing.

Compared with traditional CDN, EdgeOne offers more comprehensive security features, making it a good fit for websites that care about security.

Core Features

  • Global acceleration: Covers all three major domestic ISPs as well as key regions overseas
  • DDoS protection: The free tier includes 2 Gbps of DDoS protection
  • WAF protection: Blocks SQL injection, XSS, and CC attacks
  • HTTPS certificates: Free SSL certificates with automatic renewal
  • Edge functions: Run JavaScript code at edge nodes
  • Real-time analytics: Detailed statistics on traffic, bandwidth, and request counts

Configuration Steps

1. Enable the Service

Log in to the Tencent Cloud console, search for “EdgeOne”, and click to enable it.

New users get a free trial quota.

2. Add Your Site

Enter your domain and EdgeOne automatically scans your existing DNS records.

Both NS-based and CNAME-based setup are supported.

3. Configure Caching Rules

4. Enable HTTPS

EdgeOne provides free SSL certificates — request one with a single click and it deploys automatically.

It also supports forced HTTPS redirects and HSTS configuration.

Performance Testing

I tested the same site with Pingdom and GTmetrix, comparing performance before and after enabling EdgeOne:

  • Load speed: Improved by 40–60% (for visitors in mainland China)
  • Time to First Byte (TTFB): Dropped from 800ms to 200ms
  • Bandwidth savings: Around 70% (via compression and caching)

Comparison with Cloudflare

For domestic sites, EdgeOne outperforms Cloudflare on access speed within mainland China.

However, Cloudflare still wins on global node coverage and feature richness.

If your users are mostly in mainland China, EdgeOne is the better choice; if you also need to serve overseas visitors, consider combining the two (EdgeOne for domestic traffic, Cloudflare for international traffic).

Free Tier

The EdgeOne free plan includes:

  • 10 GB of traffic per month
  • 1 million requests per month
  • 2 Gbps DDoS protection

For personal blogs and small sites, the free tier is more than enough.

Beyond that, you’re billed on a pay-as-you-go basis, and the pricing is fairly reasonable.

Summary

Tencent Cloud EdgeOne is an excellent choice for accelerating domestic websites: generous free tier, simple configuration, and built-in security protection.

For sites whose primary audience is in mainland China, it’s the best Cloudflare alternative.

My advice is to try the free tier first and decide whether to upgrade based on the actual results.

TencentEdgeOneCDNTutorial