Glossary
What is Edge Computing?
In depth
Edge Computing is the evolution of CDNs (Content Delivery Networks) — between 2017-2020 Cloudflare Workers, AWS Lambda@Edge, and Vercel Edge Functions shifted from static content delivery to dynamic compute execution at edge nodes.
Provider stack 2026: **Cloudflare Workers** (300+ POPs, V8 isolates, $0-$5/M requests) — most distributed. **Vercel Edge Functions** (Next.js native, Workers-on-top) — best DX. **AWS Lambda@Edge** (CloudFront integration) — enterprise, complex. **Deno Deploy** (TypeScript native, Cloudflare-style) — emerging.
Use cases: (1) **A/B testing at edge** — variant routing without origin trip. (2) **Authentication / personalisation** — JWT validation + content gating <10ms. (3) **i18n routing** — redirect /ka, /en, /ru based on Accept-Language header. (4) **Image transformation** — resize/convert AVIF on-demand at edge. (5) **Bot protection / rate limiting** — block before reaching origin. (6) **Geolocation-based pricing** — show GEL to Georgians, USD to international. (7) **API caching** — store GET responses at edge, expire on POST.
Performance gains: traditional Tbilisi → US-East data center round-trip: 180ms TTFB. Cloudflare edge (Frankfurt POP): 35ms TTFB. 5× improvement, no code change. Compound effect — 5 sequential API calls become 175ms vs 900ms.
Limitation: edge compute has a restricted runtime — no filesystem, no native Node modules, typically max 50ms execution. Heavy compute (AI inference, video processing) still needs origin server. Best pattern: edge for cheap-and-frequent, origin for heavy-and-rare.
Examples
- 1Vercel Edge Function: locale-aware redirect in 5 lines of TypeScript
- 2Cloudflare Workers KV: 1M reads/day free tier — perfect rate limiting store
- 3Edge image transform: Next.js Image + Vercel = automatic AVIF + responsive sizes
- 4A/B test at edge: PostHog feature flag + Cloudflare Worker = no flicker
- 5TTFB measured from Tbilisi: Vercel/Cloudflare 35ms vs origin US 180ms
Related terms
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JAMstack
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Cloudflare
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Related services
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Edge Computing on a WordPress site?▾
Partially — a Cloudflare layer in front of WordPress caches static content, with edge functions for rate limiting + cookie consent. Full edge — WordPress static export + Cloudflare Pages.
Edge vs Serverless — what is the difference?▾
Serverless: AWS Lambda — single region, cold start 200-500ms. Edge: Cloudflare Workers — 300+ regions, cold start <5ms (V8 isolate). Edge is a subset of serverless.
Edge Computing pricing in 2026?▾
Cloudflare Workers: 100K requests/day free, $5/M after. Vercel Edge: included in $0/$20/$40 pro tier. AWS Lambda@Edge: $0.60/M requests + execution. For Georgian traffic levels, the free tier covers 90% of cases.
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