--- title: "What is Edge Network?" description: "Edge Network is a cloud platform — CDN, compute, storage, DNS, bot protection, and AI site assistants — running on a distributed network of nodes, with zero egress fees and generous free tiers. The company, the products, and how it works." url: https://edge.network/academy/what-is-edge-network/ --- # What is Edge Network? [Back to Academy](https://edge.network/academy) Information 6 min read # What is Edge Network? Not the concept — the company. Who we are, what we run, and why the platform is built the way it is. ## Edge Network, in one paragraph **Edge Network** (often just "Edge") is a cloud platform offering CDN, compute, object storage, DNS, bot protection, and AI site assistants. Instead of running everything from centralised data centres, it operates a distributed network of nodes — including hardware contributed by independent operators — placing capacity closer to the people using it. The commercial result of that architecture: zero egress fees on every product, genuinely useful free tiers, and billing designed so a surprise bill can't happen. A note on names: "edge network" is also a generic term for [infrastructure placed near users](https://edge.network/academy/what-is-an-edge-network) — the concept this company is named after and built on. This page is about Edge Network the platform, found at edge.network. ## What Edge offers Six products on one account, one console, and one prepaid balance. Full rates on the [pricing page](https://edge.network/pricing). [### CDN Global content delivery with zero egress fees. Free tier: 3 deployments and 500k requests a month, then $0.25 per million requests.](https://edge.network/cdn)[### Compute Virtual machines priced per resource — vCPU, RAM, disk — billed hourly from a prepaid balance.](https://edge.network/compute)[### Storage S3-compatible object storage on NVMe. Free to 5 GB, then $0.015/GB-month, with free egress at any scale.](https://edge.network/storage)[### DNS Authoritative anycast DNS, free for everyone — up to 50 zones with unlimited records.](https://edge.network/dns)[### Shield Bot protection without puzzles: invisible checks, a 1–100 humanity score, and verified AI-agent access. Free forever.](https://edge.network/shield)[### Assist Conversational AI for any website, grounded in your own content. 250 answered questions a month free, then $0.01 per question.](https://edge.network/assist) ## How it's different ### A distributed network, not data centres Edge runs on a global network of contributed and strategically placed nodes rather than a handful of centralised data centres. Capacity lives closer to users, and bandwidth isn't a scarce, capitalised resource. ### Zero egress fees No Edge product charges for data transfer out, at any volume, in any region. Bills are based on what you use or store — never on bytes moved. ### No surprise bills, by design Free tiers hard-cap instead of silently billing. Paid usage draws from a prepaid balance against budgets you set. A surprise bill is structurally impossible. ### Built for AI agents A first-class Agent API and MCP server let coding agents discover, deploy, and manage Edge resources autonomously — including self-signup with no human in the loop. ## A short history Edge has been building the distributed network since 2018 — first the network layer itself, run with independent node operators, then the products on top of it. The network settles node earnings and governance on [XE, its own fast, feeless ledger](https://edge.network/academy/what-is-xe), and network changes are decided through [public governance proposals](https://governance.edge.network). 2018 Edge founded, with a vision for decentralised cloud infrastructure 2020 Mainnet launch with the first independent node operators 2022–2025 CDN, DNS, Compute, and Storage launched to the public 2026 Shield (bot protection) and Assist (AI site assistants) launched The fuller story, including the team, is on the [about page](https://edge.network/about). ## See it for yourself Free account, no card required — DNS and Shield free forever, free tiers on everything else. [Start Free](https://edge.network/console) [View Pricing](https://edge.network/pricing) ## Related articles [What is an Edge Network? (the concept) 8 min](https://edge.network/academy/what-is-an-edge-network) [Terminology 8 min](https://edge.network/academy/terminology) [Zero Egress Fees Explained 6 min](https://edge.network/academy/zero-egress-explained) Coming soon ### Edge Accreditation Become a certified Edge practitioner. A structured programme covering the whole platform, with a verifiable certificate at the end. Sign up now for updates. [Learn more about accreditation](https://edge.network/accreditation)