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Cloudflare

by Cloudflare, Inc. · Platform

Global network offering authoritative DNS, CDN and reverse-proxy security, a domain registrar, Zero Trust access and the Workers serverless platform

ProprietaryFreemiumPaidUsage-basedEnterpriseCloud
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Link verified Nov 2, 2026

Overview

Cloudflare is a hosted network platform operated by Cloudflare, Inc. Sites place their DNS with Cloudflare and optionally proxy traffic through its edge, which provides caching, TLS, DDoS mitigation, a web application firewall and bot management in front of any origin. The same account gives access to a domain registrar, the Workers serverless runtime with KV, D1, R2 object storage and Pages static hosting, and the Cloudflare One suite (Access, Gateway, WARP and Cloudflare Tunnel) for Zero Trust connectivity.

It is often the first layer in a self-hosted stack: DNS records, origin protection and a tunnel from a home or office server can all be configured in one dashboard or through a documented REST API and Terraform provider. Plans range from a free tier for personal sites to enterprise contracts.

The trade-off is concentration: proxied traffic is decrypted at Cloudflare's edge, some features require moving DNS to Cloudflare, and the platform's breadth means many proprietary APIs with no self-hosted equivalent.

Capabilities

  • Authoritative DNS with API and DNSSEC
  • CDN caching, TLS and reverse-proxy protection (WAF, DDoS, bot management)
  • Domain registration
  • Workers serverless runtime with KV, D1, R2 and Pages
  • Zero Trust access, secure web gateway and Cloudflare Tunnel
  • REST API and Terraform provider

Typical workflows

  1. Host DNS and protect an origin server behind the proxy
  2. Publish a static site or Worker without managing servers
  3. Secure access to internal apps with Access policies

Strengths

  • Many services under one account and API
  • Free tier suitable for personal and small sites
  • Large anycast network

Limitations

  • Proxy mode terminates TLS at Cloudflare's edge
  • Proprietary services create lock-in
  • Some features require Cloudflare-hosted DNS

Prerequisites

  • A domain whose nameservers can be delegated to Cloudflare (for most features)

Who it is for

  • Web developers and self-hosters
  • Security and network teams
  • Serverless application developers

Alternatives & comparison

AWS covers DNS (Route 53), CDN (CloudFront) and edge functions as separate services with usage-based billing; Cloudflare bundles them around a proxied domain. Vercel focuses on front-end hosting rather than network security. GoDaddy overlaps on registrar and DNS only.

  • Amazon Web Services

    Amazon's public cloud with hundreds of usage-billed services spanning compute (EC2, Lambda), storage (S3), databases (RDS), networking, AI (Bedrock) and analytics

    ProprietaryUsage-based
  • GoDaddy

    Domain registrar and web-hosting company offering DNS management, SSL certificates, email and website builders, with a developer API for domains

    ProprietaryPaid
  • Let's Encrypt

    Nonprofit certificate authority that issues free, automatically renewable TLS certificates through the ACME protocol

    Open sourceFree
  • NGINX

    Event-driven HTTP server, reverse proxy, load balancer and mail proxy, distributed as open source under the 2-clause BSD license with a commercial Plus edition

    MixedOpen source
  • Vercel

    Front-end cloud from the makers of Next.js that deploys web applications from git with preview environments, serverless and edge functions and a global CDN

    ProprietaryFreemium
Compare Cloudflare with its alternatives →

Sources & verification

Primary sources consulted for this record. Claims are tied to the fields each source supports; the automated link checker re-verifies every URL on a schedule.

  • Official documentation
    Cloudflare Docs

    https://developers.cloudflare.com/

    Supports: capabilities, interfaces

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Official site
    Cloudflare

    https://www.cloudflare.com/

    Supports: name, summary

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Pricing page
    Cloudflare Plans

    https://www.cloudflare.com/plans

    Supports: pricing_model

    checked Nov 1, 2026
Confidence
High
Reviewed
Nov 1, 2026
Links
Verified · Nov 2, 2026

Spotted an error?

Broken link, outdated license, wrong category, or a tool that no longer exists? Tell us; reports are reviewed by the editor.

Let's Encrypt

Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) · DNS & domains

In-depth entry

Nonprofit certificate authority that issues free, automatically renewable TLS certificates through the ACME protocol

MPL-2.0FreeNov 2, 2026

OVHcloud

OVH Groupe SA · Cloud & hosting providers

European cloud and hosting provider offering dedicated bare-metal servers, public and hosted private cloud, VPS, domains and web hosting from data centers in Europe, Canada and elsewhere

ProprietaryPaidUsage-basedNov 2, 2026