Cloudflare is a standalone CDN and security platform with competitive pricing starting at $20/month, while AWS CloudFront is tightly integrated with AWS services and charges per GB transferred with no minimum fee. Cloudflare excels for independent websites seeking simplicity, while CloudFront wins for enterprises already in the AWS ecosystem.
Cloudflare vs CloudFront — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Global CDN and DNS provider specializing in security, DDoS protection, and performance optimization.
AWS's native CDN service tightly integrated with EC2, Lambda, S3, and other AWS services
Pricing Model. DDoS Protection Included. WAF Features. Global Edge Nodes. Average Latency (US-EU). AWS Integration. Setup Time
Choose Cloudflare if you need predictable monthly costs, built-in DDoS/WAF protection, and want a platform independent of AWS. Choose CloudFront if you're already operating within AWS with heavy data transfer needs, require maximum global latency performance, or need tight integration with Lambda@Edge and other AWS services.
Cloudflare: $10.20 | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Developer-focused | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Cloudflare DNS primary | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: DDoS, threat intelligence, WARP, Magic | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Community & documentation | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: $10.20 (at-cost) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Excellent for enterprise | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 4.5 stars | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 476 reviews | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Industry standard | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Highly accessible with strong freemium | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 74% planning to expand | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Comprehensive and standardized | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Superior and broader distribution | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 265,000+ | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 31% (Q3 2025: $562M) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Growing (not disclosed) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Workers Bindings, multimodal models, AI agents | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 230+ billion threats blocked | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Free tier + affordable paid plans | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Not specified | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Per-domain flat-rate plans | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Limited; requires manual configuration | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 100+ countries | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 230 billion threats (2026) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Yes, included in plans | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Cloudflare Workers (lightweight functions) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Limited, requires manual configuration | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Simple DNS-based setup | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Predictable, no hidden charges | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Unlimited on all plans | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Free tier available | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 310+ globally | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Included on all plans | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 24/7 community + paid support | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: No (requires external provider) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Not applicable | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 30-60 minutes | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 3.8M requests/month | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 3.2 Tbps (free tier) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: No native VMs; Workers $5-200/month | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: $20/month Pro plan | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 23ms (fastest DNS globally) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Supported Programming Languages (Workers/Serverless)
Cloudflare: JavaScript/TypeScript, Rust, C, C++ (WebAssembly) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 15 minutes (Enterprise) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: $12.00 | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 300+ across 100+ countries | AWS CloudFront: N/A
DNS Query Response Time (Global Average)
Cloudflare: ~65-85ms | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 3.2 Tbps | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Yes - full CDN, DNS, DDoS protection | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Cloudflare Workers - included | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Yes - full-featured | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 37% average | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Advanced (free tier + enterprise) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Free Universal SSL all plans | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Unlimited (CDN-based) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 71 Tbps | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Partial (requires Access addon) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 10-15 minutes | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Unlimited | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Not optimized | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Yes, included | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 5-10 (DNS propagation) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Cloudflare Workers (full serverless) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 25+ core services | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: $20 (Pro plan) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Yes, all plans | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 5 minutes (DNS change) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 1 (Cloudflare D1 beta) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: ~30ms (median global) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 150 Tbps (Pro plan) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 5-15 minutes | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Yes ($20/month plan) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Native REST + GraphQL APIs | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 1 (D1 SQLite) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Workers AI (beta), limited models | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Serverless Function Cost (1M executions/month)
Cloudflare: $1.50 (Workers) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Not offered (Kubernetes at edge via Workers) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Yes (with core features) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Global Website Speed Improvement (Average)
Cloudflare: 30-35% | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: L3/L4 included | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: $0/month | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: N/A (not a registrar) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: $0 (included) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Yes (Pro plan+) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 15-20 core services | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 30-60ms | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Full DDoS protection included | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Fixed plans from $20/month | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 99.99% | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 5 minutes via DNS change | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 21% of top 10K websites (not IaaS competitor) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Basic content filtering | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Secondary feature | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 56ms global average | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Limited support | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: $20/month | AWS CloudFront: Free tier, then pay-per-use
Cloudflare: $20 fixed (Pro plan) | AWS CloudFront: $8.50 transfer cost + data fees
Cloudflare: 275+ data centers | AWS CloudFront: 500+ edge locations
Cloudflare: ~75ms median | AWS CloudFront: ~55ms median
Cloudflare: Included (all plans) | AWS CloudFront: Shield Advanced $3,000
Cloudflare: $200 (Pro plan) | AWS CloudFront: AWS WAF from $5/rule + requests
Cloudflare: 300+ edge cities | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: <50ms (99% of internet users) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Generous free tier ($0; includes basic CDN, DDoS, SSL/TLS) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Limited; Workers AI in beta with emerging model support | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 5-15 minutes (DNS change + proxy setup) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: $34.2 billion (as of March 2025) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 10+ languages via Workers (JavaScript, Rust, Python, Go, etc.) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 3/10 (DNS change only) | AWS CloudFront: 4/10 (requires AWS console)
Cloudflare: Limited (Cloudflare Workers, separate cost) | AWS CloudFront: Native Lambda@Edge, $0.60/million requests
Cloudflare: Up to 30 seconds | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Included in all plans | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: JavaScript/WebAssembly (Workers) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Eventual consistency (varies) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Automated daily updates | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Automatic adaptive limiting | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cheapest Domain Registration Price (annual)
Cloudflare: $12.99 (via partner registrar) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: 200+ data centers | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Cloudflare: Included (free tier) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
Pro Plan Monthly Cost (entry-level paid)
Cloudflare: $20/month (Pro plan) | AWS CloudFront: N/A
How to choose between Cloudflare and AWS CloudFront
Cloudflare vs CloudFront — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Cloudflare vs CloudFront. Contains 150 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Cloudflare vs CloudFront — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Cloudflare vs CloudFront.
Yes, Cloudflare fully supports AWS origins including S3, ALB, EC2, and API Gateway. However, you lose AWS Shield integration and must manage DDoS/WAF separately. AWS CloudFront is tightly integrated with AWS IAM, native Shield, and Lambda@Edge, making it simpler for AWS-native workloads.
Which is cheaper for small websites with 10GB/month traffic?
Cloudflare's Pro plan at $200/month is significantly more expensive for small traffic. CloudFront's free tier makes sense here ($0.85 for 10GB), but Cloudflare's Business plan ($200) includes advanced WAF, bot management, and unlimited DDoS at any traffic level. For pure CDN cost alone, CloudFront wins; for total security cost, Cloudflare wins because you avoid Shield Advanced.
Cloudflare includes unlimited DDoS protection on all plans. AWS CloudFront requires Shield Standard (basic) or Shield Advanced ($3,000/month) for enterprise DDoS mitigation. Cloudflare's Pro plan ($200/month) includes advanced DDoS + WAF, making it 15x cheaper than AWS Shield Advanced while covering more security vectors.
Can I use both Cloudflare and CloudFront together?
Yes, you can layer Cloudflare in front of CloudFront, though this adds latency and complexity. This is common for enterprises wanting Cloudflare's advanced WAF + DDoS with CloudFront's Lambda@Edge capabilities. However, most organizations choose one or the other based on their primary infrastructure.
Which has better performance for video streaming?
CloudFront is optimized for video streaming with 500+ edge locations and native support for adaptive bitrate delivery. Cloudflare is stronger for web content (HTML, API, images). For large-scale video (Netflix-scale), CloudFront edges out Cloudflare; for mid-market video, both perform similarly.
How to Choose Between Cloudflare and AWS CloudFront
Pricing Model: Cloudflare has Fixed plans from $20/month + per-request overage, while AWS CloudFront has Pay-per-GB ($0.085/GB US) + data transfer fees.
DDoS Protection Included: Cloudflare has All plans include unlimited DDoS mitigation, while AWS CloudFront has Requires AWS Shield Standard (free) or Shield Advanced ($3,000/month).
WAF Features: Cloudflare has Advanced WAF in Pro plan ($200/month), while AWS CloudFront has AWS WAF separate service at $5 per rule group/month + request fees.
Global Edge Nodes: Cloudflare has 300+ data centers in 100+ countries, while AWS CloudFront has 500+ edge locations globally.
Average Latency (US-EU): Cloudflare has ~60-80ms median, while AWS CloudFront has ~50-70ms median.
AWS Integration: Cloudflare has Limited; basic S3 origin support, while AWS CloudFront has Native integration with ALB, ELB, S3, Lambda, API Gateway.
Setup Time: Cloudflare has 15-30 minutes (DNS change), while AWS CloudFront has 5-10 minutes (if already on AWS).