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Cloudflare
★ FeaturedThe internet''s edge network — free DDoS protection on 300+ PoPs, Workers serverless with sub-1ms cold start, R2 with zero egress fees.
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About Cloudflare
Cloudflare sits in front of 20% of the internet — CDN, DDoS mitigation, DNS, Workers serverless runtime, R2 object storage, and Pages static hosting. The free tier is remarkably generous for what it provides.
**What the free tier includes:**
- CDN on 300+ PoPs globally
- Unlimited DDoS mitigation
- DNS (fast authoritative DNS)
- SSL certificate
- 100,000 Workers requests/day
- Pages: unlimited bandwidth for static sites
**Cloudflare Workers vs AWS Lambda:**
| Metric | Workers ($5/10M requests) | Lambda ($0.20/1M requests) |
|--------|--------------------------|---------------------------|
| Cold start | <1ms (V8 isolate) | 100-500ms (container) |
| Locations | 300+ PoPs | 1 region (Lambda@Edge = more) |
| Max execution | 30 seconds | 15 minutes |
| Pricing (10M req) | $5 | $2 |
Workers use V8 isolates — same runtime as Chrome V8 engine, not a container. No container spin-up overhead. Sub-1ms cold start is the measured result of not starting a process at all.
**R2 object storage:**
S3-compatible with $0 egress (AWS S3 charges $0.09/GB egress). For applications serving large amounts of data, R2 saves thousands per month at high traffic volumes. Use the AWS S3 SDK with a Cloudflare R2 endpoint — compatible without code changes.
**Pages for static hosting:**
Deploy from Git, unlimited bandwidth, custom domains, HTTPS, 500 builds/month — all free. Competes with Vercel and Netlify for static and hybrid deployments.
Key Features
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CDN: cache static assets at 300+ PoPs globally — automatic invalidation on Pages deploy
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Workers: V8 isolate serverless with <1ms cold start, available in 300+ locations simultaneously
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R2: S3-compatible object storage, $0 egress, AWS S3 SDK compatible without code changes
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WAF: firewall rules blocking traffic by IP, country, user agent, or request pattern — 5 free rules
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Zero Trust: Cloudflare Access replaces VPN for internal tools — zero-trust network access free for 50 users
Pros
- ✓Free DDoS mitigation on 300+ PoPs — enterprise-grade protection for any website with a DNS change
- ✓Workers: <1ms cold start via V8 isolates — no container startup, runs in 300+ locations simultaneously
- ✓R2: S3-compatible storage with $0 egress fees — save $0.09/GB vs AWS S3 at high traffic volumes
- ✓Free tier covers 100K Workers requests/day and unlimited Pages bandwidth — side projects run free indefinitely
- ✓Pages: unlimited bandwidth on free tier — no surprise bills when a blog post goes viral
Cons
- ✗Workers 30-second CPU limit — not suitable for long-running jobs (use AWS Lambda or Railway for that)
- ✗Workers 128 MB memory limit — some workloads need more RAM than available in the V8 isolate environment
- ✗Support is slow on Free and Pro plans — Business or Enterprise plan required for reasonable response times
Who is using Cloudflare?
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Every website operator who wants free global CDN and DDoS protection — add any site with a DNS change
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Developers building edge APIs who want <1ms cold starts without paying per-request Vercel/Netlify pricing
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Teams storing and serving large media files who want to eliminate S3 egress costs with R2
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Startups building globally distributed applications who can''t afford AWS CloudFront pricing
Use Cases
- →Adding global CDN and DDoS protection to any website with a 5-minute DNS change — completely free
- →Building an edge API that runs in 300+ locations with <1ms cold start using Workers
- →Migrating S3 storage to R2 to eliminate $0.09/GB egress fees on a SaaS serving media content
- →Deploying a Next.js static export to Pages with unlimited bandwidth and custom domain at no cost
Pricing
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Free : $0/mo — CDN on 300+ PoPs, Unlimited DDoS, 100K Workers requests/day, Pages unlimited bandwidth, 5 WAF rules
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Pro : $20/mo — Image optimization, 25 WAF rules, Web analytics, Priority email support
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Workers Paid : $5/mo — 10M requests included, $0.30/million above, 100ms CPU/request
Pricing details may not be up to date. For the most accurate and current pricing, refer to the official website.
What Makes Cloudflare Unique?
The edge network with the most generous free tier in the industry — free DDoS on 300+ PoPs, Workers with sub-1ms cold start at $5/10M requests, and R2 with zero egress fees — in front of 20% of the internet.
How We Rated It
Workers cold start from Cloudflare published benchmarks and personal measurement. R2 vs S3 egress from AWS and Cloudflare pricing pages July 2025. DDoS scope from Cloudflare Magic Transit documentation.
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Accuracy and Reliability 4.7/5
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Ease of Use 4.6/5
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Functionality and Features 4.8/5
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Performance and Speed 4.8/5
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Customer Support 4.1/5
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Value for Money 4.9/5
AI summary
The internet''s edge network — free DDoS protection on 300+ PoPs, Workers serverless with sub-1ms cold start, R2 with zero egress fees.