Using a CDN with WordPress on Kualo

A content delivery network (CDN) serves your site's static assets from servers close to each visitor. This guide compares QUIC.cloud, Cloudflare, and BunnyCDN so you can pick the right option for your WordPress site on Kualo.

A content delivery network (CDN) serves your site's static assets - images, CSS, and JavaScript - from servers geographically close to each visitor, reducing latency and taking load off your origin server on Kualo.

What a CDN does

When a visitor loads your site, a CDN intercepts requests for static files and serves them from an edge node near that visitor rather than from your hosting server. The result is faster page loads for visitors worldwide and fewer requests hitting your origin. Dynamic content such as WordPress admin pages is still served from your hosting account as normal.

Which CDN should you choose?

There are three practical CDN options for WordPress sites on Kualo. The table below summarises the key differences to help you decide.

	QUIC.cloud	Cloudflare	BunnyCDN
Best for	Performance and optimisation	Security and DDoS protection	A straightforward, cost-effective alternative to both
How it connects	Plugin-level, no DNS change needed	DNS-level proxy (nameserver change required)	Pull zone or plugin integration, no DNS change needed
WordPress integration	Built into LiteSpeed Cache plugin	Optional Cloudflare plugin (not needed if using LS Cache)	Via LiteSpeed Cache CDN URL setting or a dedicated plugin
Free tier	Yes - sufficient for most small to medium sites	Yes	Pay-as-you-go (very low cost per GB)
DDoS / security features	Limited	Strong - WAF, bot management, DDoS mitigation	Basic
DNS change required	No	Yes	No

Our recommendation in plain terms:

Choose QUIC.cloud if your priority is site speed and optimisation - it integrates directly with LiteSpeed Cache and needs no DNS changes.
Choose Cloudflare if security is your main concern - it provides a Web Application Firewall, DDoS protection, and bot management that the others do not match.
Choose BunnyCDN if you want a simple, affordable CDN without the complexity of Cloudflare or the LiteSpeed Cache dependency of QUIC.cloud.

Before enabling any CDN proxy, make sure HTTPS is already working on your site. If you do not yet have an SSL certificate in place, run AutoSSL in cPanel first before continuing.

Connecting QUIC.cloud via LiteSpeed Cache

QUIC.cloud is LiteSpeed's own CDN and integrates directly with the LiteSpeed Cache plugin. Because our servers run LiteSpeed, this is a well-supported option with no DNS changes required.

If LiteSpeed Cache is not yet installed and configured on your site, read our guide on configuring LiteSpeed Cache with WordPress first.

Request a QUIC.cloud CDN licence

In your WordPress dashboard, go to LiteSpeed Cache > Dashboard.
If you have not already linked your site to a QUIC.cloud account, click Request Domain Key. LiteSpeed Cache will register your site automatically.
Once your domain key is active, go to LiteSpeed Cache > CDN.
Toggle Use QUIC.cloud CDN to On.
Save your changes. QUIC.cloud will begin serving your static assets from its edge network.

A free tier is available and is sufficient for most small to medium WordPress sites. Paid tiers offer higher bandwidth and additional features.

Connecting Cloudflare

Cloudflare proxies your entire site through its global network by pointing your domain's DNS at Cloudflare. It is the strongest option if security is your priority.

If you already have LiteSpeed Cache active on your site, you do not need the Cloudflare WordPress plugin - LiteSpeed Cache handles page caching and purging. The plugin is only useful if you are not using LiteSpeed Cache.

Add your site to Cloudflare

Create a free account at cloudflare.com if you do not already have one.
Click Add a site, enter your domain name, and choose the free plan.
Cloudflare will scan your existing DNS records. Review the list and confirm they look correct before proceeding.
Cloudflare will give you two nameserver addresses to use.

Update your nameservers

To use Cloudflare's full proxy, your domain must use Cloudflare's nameservers. If your domain is registered elsewhere, log in to your registrar and replace the current nameservers with the ones Cloudflare provides. If your domain is registered with Kualo, follow our guide on updating nameservers at Kualo.

DNS changes can take up to 24 hours to propagate fully, though they often complete within an hour.

If you currently manage your DNS records through cPanel's Zone Editor, those records will no longer be active once you switch nameservers to Cloudflare. You will need to manage DNS from the Cloudflare dashboard going forward. Our guide to managing DNS records in cPanel can help you note down your current records before you make the switch.

Key Cloudflare settings to review

Once your domain is active in Cloudflare, check these settings before your site goes live through the proxy.

SSL/TLS mode

This is the most important setting to get right. Go to SSL/TLS in your Cloudflare dashboard and set the mode to Full or Full (Strict).

Do not leave SSL/TLS on the default Flexible setting. Flexible mode sends traffic between Cloudflare and your origin over plain HTTP, which conflicts with Kualo's HTTPS setup and causes redirect loops. Always use Full or Full (Strict).

Caching level

Under Caching > Configuration, the default caching level of Standard is a sensible starting point. It caches static assets based on file extension and respects cache headers from your origin.

Automatic Platform Optimisation (APO)

If you are on a paid Cloudflare plan, Automatic Platform Optimisation for WordPress caches HTML pages at the edge as well as static assets, giving a more significant speed improvement. It is not available on the free tier.

The Cloudflare WordPress plugin

The official Cloudflare plugin is only worth installing if you are not using LiteSpeed Cache. If LiteSpeed Cache is active, it already handles automatic cache purging when you publish or update content - adding the Cloudflare plugin on top is unnecessary.

Connecting BunnyCDN

BunnyCDN is a straightforward, pay-as-you-go CDN that works well if you want a simple alternative to both QUIC.cloud and Cloudflare. It requires no DNS changes and integrates neatly with LiteSpeed Cache.

Set up a BunnyCDN pull zone

Create an account at bunny.net.
In the BunnyCDN dashboard, create a new Pull Zone and set your origin URL to your domain (for example, https://yourdomain.com).
BunnyCDN will give you a CDN hostname, for example yourzone.b-cdn.net.

Point LiteSpeed Cache at BunnyCDN

In your WordPress dashboard, go to LiteSpeed Cache > CDN.
Enable CDN and enter your BunnyCDN hostname in the CDN URL field under CDN Settings.
Save your changes. LiteSpeed Cache will rewrite static asset URLs to use your BunnyCDN hostname.

BunnyCDN charges per gigabyte of traffic served, with rates starting very low. For most small to medium WordPress sites the monthly cost is minimal.

Keeping your cache in sync when you publish content

A CDN caches content to serve it quickly, but that means a visitor could see a stale version of a page after you publish an update. Here is how to manage that with each option.

LiteSpeed Cache auto-purge

LiteSpeed Cache can automatically purge cached pages when you publish or update a post or page. Go to LiteSpeed Cache > Cache > Purge and review the purge settings. The defaults - purging the updated post, its category pages, and the home page - are sensible for most sites and do not require changes.

If you find visitors are seeing outdated content, you can also trigger a manual purge from the LiteSpeed Cache toolbar item at the top of your WordPress admin screen.

Cloudflare cache purging

If you are using LiteSpeed Cache alongside Cloudflare, LiteSpeed Cache handles purging automatically. Without LiteSpeed Cache, you have two options.

Manual purge - log in to your Cloudflare dashboard, go to Caching > Configuration, and click Purge Everything or use Custom Purge to clear specific URLs.
Short cache TTL - reduce the Browser Cache TTL and Edge Cache TTL in Cloudflare so cached copies expire sooner. This is less efficient than targeted purging but requires no manual action.

Purging your entire CDN cache too frequently defeats the purpose of having a CDN. For most WordPress sites, the default auto-purge behaviour in LiteSpeed Cache strikes the right balance. Only purge everything manually when you have made site-wide changes such as a theme update.

Using LiteSpeed Cache and Cloudflare together

You can run LiteSpeed Cache and Cloudflare at the same time, but you should avoid double-caching HTML pages, which can lead to stale content being served.

Let LiteSpeed Cache handle HTML page caching on the origin.
In Cloudflare, keep the default caching level (Standard) so Cloudflare caches static assets but does not aggressively cache HTML responses.
Do not enable Cloudflare's Cache Everything page rule for your entire site, as this will cache HTML at the Cloudflare edge and bypass LiteSpeed Cache's purge logic.

With this setup, LiteSpeed Cache controls page caching and purging, while Cloudflare accelerates static asset delivery and provides DDoS protection and DNS-level benefits.