Sustainable Substitutes for Cloudfront

A CDN by Amazon, extending its infrastructure dominance.

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Reasons to avoid Cloudfront

Ethical and Sustainable Cloudfront Alternatives

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  • Feasibility: How easily can the average user switch to this substitute? Higher feasibility results in a higher ranking.
  • Editor's Rating: How sustainable is the substitute? The more sustainability attributes it fulfils, the higher it is ranked.

OVHcloud CDN

OVHcloud is a French cloud hosting provider with a strong focus on privacy and data sovereignty.

OVHCloud provides tools like the Environmental Impact Tracker to help customers understand and reduce their carbon footprint.
OVHCloud targets 100% low-carbon energy (mostly nuclear though) for data centers by 2025, with 92% already achieved.
OVHCloud does not collect or sell user data, ensuring privacy and security.
OVHCloud offers dedicated and private cloud solutions, giving users full control over their data and infrastructure.
OVHCloud commits to data privacy and does not use third-party cookies or trackers.
OVHCloud repurposes industrial buildings for data centers and focuses on circular economy practices to minimize e-waste.
OVHCloud is based in France, ensuring compliance with GDPR and European privacy and labor regulations.
Website
bunny-cdn logo

Bunny CDN

A fast CDN from Slovenia with over a hundred locations worldwide.

Bunny CDN explicitly states that it does not collect, store, or distribute user-identifiable information. They only gather anonymous data for performance optimisation and have a zero-logging policy for certain services like Bunny Fonts.
Bunny CDN is GDPR-compliant and prioritises user privacy and data protection.
Bunny CDN is based in Slovenia and operates data centres in Europe and globally.
Website

KeyCDN

A high-performance Content Delivery Network from Switzerland.

KeyCDN is headquartered in Switzerland and operates data centres across Europe.
KeyCDN adheres to GDPR principles, including data minimisation, lawfulness, fairness, and transparency. They collect only necessary data for security and fraud prevention and allow users to request deletion of personal data.
KeyCDN is GDPR compliant with strong data protection.
Website

The 9 main issues with Cloudfront

Big Tech - Big Tech companies do not nourish people and planet. This is especially true in times of political tension.

Cloudfront belongs to Amazon, one of the largest tech companies, contributing to market monopolisation and wealth accumulation of oligarchs. NPR: How 5 Tech Giants Have Become More Like Governments Than Companies (2017)

Privacy Concerns - User data is likely to be stored and used against users' best interest.

Amazon collects vast amounts of user data, throughout its ecosystem and uses it for targeted advertisement. Recent data breaches amplify the concerns.Source: Heise: GDPR infringement: Luxembourg court confirms record fine for Amazon (2025)

Lack of Transparency - Opacity in operations, data handling, or supply chains, making it difficult for users to understand practices.

Amazon lacks transparency in its pricing schemes and how user data from AWS is used and shared. Amazon claims to abide to GDPR, but the US CLOUD act stands in direct conflict with this claim.The Register: Even Netflix struggles to identify and understand the cost of its AWS estate (2024)Wire: What the CLOUD Act Really Means for EU Data Sovereignty (2025)

Tax Avoidance - Aggressive strategies are being deployed to avoid paying taxes.

Amazon's tax strategies have been widely criticised for aggressive tax avoidance practices.Source:Wikipedia: Amazon tax avoidance

Support of Authoritarian Regimes - Companies actively supporting, financing and legitimising regimes and unethical policies.

Amazon and Jeff Bezos support Donald Trump's agenda.Source: EthicalConsumer.org: The relationship between Amazon and Trump: profiting from power (2025)

AI Bloat - Service has unnecessary or harmful AI features.

Amazon has had huge lay-offs recently. It's built increasingly on AI tools which seems to have caused downtimes already. Source:The Guardian: Amazon’s cloud "hit by two outages caused by AI tools last year" (2026)

Data Monopolies - Control of vast amounts of user data, creating risks for privacy and potential misuse.

Amazon CloudFront, as part of AWS, handles a significant share of global CDN traffic and processes vast amounts of user and content data, contributing to Amazon’s data monopoly.

Greenwashing - Misleading consumers about the environmental impact or sustainability of products or services.

Amazon uses RECs to offset its carbon footprint and claims its data centers are powered by renewables, but its operations remain tied to fossil-fuel grids, leading to accusations of greenwashing.Source:Wired: Amazon, Google, Microsoft: Here's Who Has the Greenest Cloud (2019)

Exploitative Labour Practices - Poor working conditions and low wages for workers involved in production or services.

Amazon has a well-documented history of exploitative labour practices, including in its warehouses and cloud divisions. Recent layoffs underline the bad practices.Source:CNN: Amazon is laying off 16,000 employees as AI battle intensifies (2026)

Suggestions and Feedback

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