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Software · head to head

Fastly vs Vagrant

Fastly logo

Fastly

Software

High performance edge computing platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vagrant logo

Vagrant

Software

Development environments made easy

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Fastly bandwidth is priced per region, and delivery to India, Africa and South Korea is $0.28 per GB against $0.12 in North America and Europe; Vagrant vagrant 2.4.3 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
  • They diverge on capability: Fastly covers Edge Compute, Vagrant covers Box management.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fastly and Vagrant actually diverge.

Attributes where Fastly and Vagrant differ
AttributeFastlyVagrant
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
PlatformsWeb, ApiLinux, Windows, Mac
Founded20112010

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Fastly

  • Edge Compute
  • CDN
  • DDoS Protection
  • Real-time Analytics
  • Image Optimization
  • Video Streaming
  • API
  • Instant Purge

Only in Vagrant

  • Box management
  • Provider support
  • Multi-machine setups
  • Provisioners
  • Networking
  • Synced folders
  • Snapshots
  • Plugins

Both cover

  • Cloud deployment

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Fastly

  • Serving static and dynamic content through a global CDNnot Vagrant
  • Running edge logic and caching in front of an origin applicationnot Vagrant

Vagrant

  • Reproducible local development environments defined in a Vagrantfilenot Fastly
  • Provisioning identical VMs across VirtualBox, VMware and Hyper-V for a teamnot Fastly
  • Sandboxing multi-machine setups on a developer laptopnot Fastly

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Fastly

  • Bandwidth is priced per region, and delivery to India, Africa and South Korea is $0.28 per GB against $0.12 in North America and Europe
  • The same traffic therefore costs more than twice as much depending on where the audience is, which is invisible until the bill arrives
  • The free allowance is 100 GB of bandwidth and 1M requests a month
  • Requests are billed separately from bandwidth, at $0.01 per 10,000 above the first million
  • High volume rates past 50 TB are not published and require contacting sales

Vagrant

  • Vagrant 2.4.3 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
  • The Additional Use Grant forbids offering Vagrant to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions of Vagrant
  • Each version converts to the MPL 2.0 Change License only four years after that version is first published
  • Uses that fall outside the Additional Use Grant require a separately negotiated licence from the licensor

Pricing, plan by plan

Fastly

Free
  • Free TrialFree
    • CDN
    • DDoS protection
    • Real-time analytics
  • Pay-As-You-GoFree
    • Usage-based pricing
    • Advanced features
    • Priority support

Vagrant

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Development environment provisioning
    • Multiple providers
    • Provisioner support

Which should you pick?

Choose Fastly if

  • You need edge compute.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want cdn.
Fastly review

Choose Vagrant if

  • You need box management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac.
  • You also want provider support.
Vagrant review

Questions people ask

Is Fastly or Vagrant better?
Neither clearly leads. Fastly starts at Free and Vagrant at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fastly or Vagrant?
Fastly starts at Free and Vagrant at Free.
Does Fastly or Vagrant run on more platforms?
Fastly runs on Web, Api. Vagrant runs on Linux, Windows, Mac.
Can I use Fastly for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Fastly best used for?
Fastly is most often used for serving static and dynamic content through a global cdn, running edge logic and caching in front of an origin application. Of those, serving static and dynamic content through a global cdn and running edge logic and caching in front of an origin application are not what Vagrant is typically brought in for.
What can Fastly do that Vagrant cannot?
Fastly covers Edge Compute, CDN, DDoS Protection, Real-time Analytics. Vagrant covers Box management, Provider support, Multi-machine setups, Provisioners. Both handle Cloud deployment.
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