Napkin vs Fastly Compute@Edge
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Napkin and Fastly Compute@Edge.
Quick Verdict
3.5/5
Napkin
0 reviews
3.8/5
Fastly Compute@Edge
0 reviews
Fastly Compute@Edge is rated higher (3.8 vs 3.5). Napkin lets you write and run Node.js and Python serverless functions directly in the browser with zero setup, deploying them as authenticated HTTP endpoints. Fastly Compute@Edge runs WebAssembly serverless functions at Fastly's edge PoPs globally. Ultra-low latency, near-instant startup, and support for Rust, JavaScript, Go, and other WASM-compiled languages.
Napkin Write and deploy Node.js and Python functions as HTTP endpoints from a browser editor |  Fastly Compute@Edge Serverless on Fastly's programmable CDN edge | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.5 (0 reviews) | 3.8 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best for | Developers who need an HTTP endpoint today — webhooks, bots, scheduled automations, and prototypes — without opening a cloud console or running infrastructure. | Latency-sensitive edge logic — personalization, auth, routing, API gateways, streaming — especially for teams already on Fastly's CDN or requiring per-request sandbox isolation |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ✓ | |
| DDoS protection | ✓ | |
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ||
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | — | 100+ city-level PoPs across North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia/NZ |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tier | free tierapi accesseu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenter |
| Visit Napkin → | Visit Fastly Compute@Edge → | |
Napkin
Pros
- + Genuinely free plan: $0/month with 25,000 API calls, unlimited functions, custom domains, and team invites
- + One-click deploy from a browser editor — Node.js and Python, no cloud console or CLI required
- + Clear published limits: 500 MB/0.5 vCPU free (2 GB/2 vCPU Pro), 15s/30s timeouts, explicit rate caps
- + Endpoint SSL, auth, production logs, and scheduled triggers included on both tiers
- + Pro tier is capacity-only at $10 per user per month — no feature gating, no sales call
Cons
- - No published SLA, regions, or data residency; small-vendor reliability story
- - Free tier caps at 5 requests/second and a 15-second timeout — real design constraints
- - Browser-only workflow with no local development story and no obvious export path
- - Node.js and Python only — no Go, Rust, PHP, or Ruby runtimes
- - Stale limit figures circulate on marketing and third-party pages, so verify before budgeting
Fastly Compute@Edge
Pros
- + Per-request WebAssembly sandboxes with very fast startup — effectively no cold starts
- + Generous free allowances: 10 million requests and 100 million vCPU-milliseconds free every month
- + Billing by requests and vCPU only (duration meter removed for new purchases) rewards efficient code
- + Runs globally on Fastly's 100+ PoP network with HTTP/3, IPv6 and DDoS mitigation included
- + Official SDKs for Rust, JavaScript, Go and C++, plus KV Store, Secret Store, Object Store and Fanout
Cons
- - WASM compilation and capability-based sandboxing add real tooling friction versus mainstream serverless
- - Free-trial state on first deploy, account-type-dependent limits, and two legacy pricing regimes complicate planning
- - Edge state stores use Fastly-specific APIs — no S3-compatible or Redis-compatible interface
- - Outside the official SDK languages, you are a pioneer; long-running workloads do not fit
- - Production use pushes toward a sales conversation rather than pure self-serve
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