| Cloud Front Distribution | Transfer Acceleration | |
| Network | Uses optimized network path as Edge location | Uses optimized network path as Edge location |
| Request | Only first time the response comes from S3 bucket, subsequent responses comes from Edge location. | Everytime response comes from S3 bucket |
| if there is no significant improvement in retrieval time, AWS will skip the Transfer Acceleration path and transfer the data using normal network. | ||
| Cache | Caches data in Edge location | No Caching |
| File Size | Amazon suggests in FAQs to use CFD if the object size is less then 1GB, for PUT/POST commands for optimal performance | Transfer Acceleration optimizes the TCP protocol and adds additional intelligence between the client and the S3 bucket, making Transfer Acceleration a better choice if a higher throughput is desired |
Transfer acceleration rather expensive when compared with using a cloud front distribution with an advantage of auto opt out when acceleration is not so effective
