jQuery is an open-source and most popular javascript library which is used by millions of the website on the internet. It helps in event handling, Ajax, CSS animation, etc. In order to serve the jQuery file faster, we use the minified version of it so that it takes less download time on the client’s browser. However, the most important factor will always be the latency (response time) and we can improve the latency using a CDN link for jQuery file.
There are very few reliable public jQuery CDN. By public, I mean easy to access, direct and free. As a matter of fact, a free link can be abused easily so its performance requires a high level of maintenance and that’s the reason why we should only rely on big infrastructures like Google, Microsoft, etc. So today, we are about to find out which CDN network is best to serve a jQuery file.
So here are the fast public jQuery CDN link with the latest version.
Overview of Article
Table of Contents
1. Microsoft CDN
CDN Link
https://ajax.aspnetcdn.com/ajax/jQuery/jquery-3.4.1.min.js
As you can tell from the test result that Microsoft Ajax is the world’s fastest public jQuery CDN link. Surprisingly, it is the fastest bootstrap CDN too. It is comparatively better than Google jQuery CDN when we tested its performance from 14 major locations across the globe. The time-to-first-byte for it is less than 80 milliseconds which tells us that this is the best CDN for jQuery for sure.
2. Cloudflare CDN
CDN Link
https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.4.1/jquery.min.js
Cloudflare is our second choice for jQuery CDN because of its unmatched performance worldwide. Powered by 180 data centers, Cloudflare serves a CDN file from its edge-location which is closest to the user. It also automatically compresses jQuery file size automatically using Brotli compression method which is better than gzip compression method.
3. Google Hosted Library
CDN Link
https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.4.1/jquery.min.js
Google hosted library is the most popular jQuery CDN which is serving 45% of the jQuery files on the internet. Even with its high traffic, the CDN is very fast and consistent for most of the locations. It is powered by the Google cloud platform and provides around 100% uptime per month.
4. StackPath CDN
CDN Link
https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.4.1.min.js
jQuery official is powered by Stackpath CDN, which is fast. Although, I would not recommend it to use in Asian and Oceanic based traffic due to high latency. This CDN is not evenly distributed globally and that is why its recommended for American, African and European users only.
5. jsDelivr CDN
CDN Link
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/jquery@3.4.1/dist/jquery.min.js
jsDelivr is fast but inconsistent jQuery CDN. Sometime, Its performance may get affected by traffic load but however, it performs great for most of the time.
Frequently Asked Question
How to Use a Different Version of jQuert CDN?
You can always switch to a different version of jQuery by simply editing the numbers in URL. Let’s understand it with an example. Suppose you want to use jQuery 3.4.0 instead of 3.4.1 so you simply replace 1 with 0 in the official CDN link. Check the image below,
This the most effective way to get any previous or newer version fo jQuery file.
Why We Need jQuery CDN?
We use jQuery CDN to serve file faster for a global audience. As I mentioned above, a CDN link will reduce the response of DNS connect, send, wait and receive time. That is how your website will load comparatively faster than before. Also, the majority of jQuery CDN links are backed by very reliable servers which come with 100% uptime. Also, modern CDN network applies header expiration (cache control) and gzip compression to further reduce its overall size. So it is always great to serving your jQuery file using a CDN rather than hosting it locally.
Why Should We Use Minified jQuery?
As we know that large files take more downloading and parsing time by a web browser. Also, a minified version of CSS and JavaScript files comes with the same feature but in less size. Likewise, a minified version of jQuery file reduces the downloading time so that the browser can parse it faster. This simple trick can drastically improve the performance of a website by 10 to 20% (if effectively combine it with a CDN link).