ClearTech Loop: In the Know, On the Move

ClearTech Loop Special Edition: Rethinking CDN Pricing with AWS CloudFront

May 21, 2026
Rethinking CDN pricing with AWS CloudFront cover img

Download Transcript (pdf)

Cloud pricing has a way of looking simple right up until the bill arrives. 

You start with an application. Then you add performance. Then security. Then logging. Then DNS. Then monitoring. Then someone asks about DDoS protection, bot traffic, certificates, and what happens if usage spikes. 

Suddenly, the architecture makes sense, but the pricing model takes a meeting, a spreadsheet, and at least one person quietly questioning their life choices. 

In this ClearTech Loop Special Edition, Jo Peterson sits down with Cristian Graziano, Principal Product Manager at Amazon Web Services, to talk about AWS CloudFront flat rate plans and the bigger issue they are designed to address: helping customers deliver and secure internet facing applications without having to piece together every cost variable one service at a time.  

The conversation covers how CloudFront supports application performance, why pricing can become complicated when teams add services like WAF, DDoS protection, DNS, logging, and monitoring, and why predictable monthly pricing can make cloud adoption easier for developers, business units, smaller companies, and larger enterprise teams. 

Episode Highlights 

CloudFront is about performance, but the pricing model is the bigger story 

AWS CloudFront is a content delivery network that helps accelerate and secure applications by distributing traffic through edge locations around the world. 

That matters for gaming, ecommerce, SaaS platforms, digital publishers, business websites, customer dashboards, and any application where speed and reliability are not optional. 

But in this conversation, the bigger story is pricing. 

Cristian explains that customers often use CloudFront alongside other AWS services, including WAF, DDoS protection, DNS, logging, and monitoring. Those services may work well together, but they can also create separate pricing items that customers need to estimate, approve, and track.  

CloudFront flat rate plans are designed to simplify that model into a monthly price with no overage charges. AWS also describes the plans as combining CloudFront CDN, AWS WAF and DDoS protection, bot management and analytics, Route 53 DNS, CloudWatch Logs ingestion, TLS certificate, serverless edge compute, and S3 storage credits into monthly plans.  

Predictable pricing can make adoption easier 

The flat rate model matters because it gives teams a clearer way to understand what they are approving. 

That is not just a finance issue. It is an adoption issue. 

When a developer is getting started, a regional business is trying to launch a site, a SaaS company is scaling traffic, or a business unit inside a larger organization needs approval, pricing uncertainty can slow everything down. 

A fixed monthly plan helps reduce some of that friction. 

Security is part of the starting point 

One of the clearest moments in the conversation came when Cristian said: 

“Security is included by default.” 
Cristian Graziano, Principal Product Manager, AWS  

That matters because security should not feel like something teams bolt on after an application is already live. 

Cristian explains that WAF is included from the free tier, with additional security capabilities available in higher tiers. He also discusses the CloudFront console experience, including security metrics, bot controls, rate limiting, and guided rule configuration.  

The point is not just adding more security tools. It is making the safer path easier to use. 

About Cristian Graziano 

Cristian Graziano is a Principal Product Manager at Amazon Web Services. His work focuses on the customer experience for AWS CloudFront, including onboarding, the console experience, and pricing. In this ClearTech Loop Special Edition, he joins Jo Peterson to discuss how AWS CloudFront flat rate plans are designed to simplify the way customers package content delivery, security, and cost predictability for internet facing applications.  

Key Takeaways 

  • CloudFront flat rate plans are designed to simplify how customers package CDN performance, security, DNS, logging, monitoring, and related services.  
  • Predictable monthly pricing can make it easier for teams to approve, launch, and scale internet facing applications.  
  • Security is built into the starting point, with WAF included from the free tier and additional capabilities available in higher tiers.  
  • The value is not only technical. It is operational. Less pricing uncertainty means less friction for developers, business units, SMBs, and enterprise teams.  
  • The broader shift is toward infrastructure that is faster, easier to secure, and easier to explain to the business.  

Key Quotes 

  • “Security is included by default.” 
    Cristian Graziano, AWS  
  • “One plan. One monthly price. Less guesswork.” 
    Jo Peterson, ClearTech Research  
  • “The architecture makes sense, but the pricing model takes a meeting, a spreadsheet, and at least one person quietly questioning their life choices.” 
    Jo Peterson, ClearTech Research  

Listen • Watch • Subscribe