Cloudflare is a CDN and security platform primarily offering DDoS protection, caching, and performance optimization, while Porkbun is a domain registrar focused on affordable domain registration and management. They serve different primary functions but can complement each other in a web infrastructure stack.
Cloudflare vs Porkbun — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
CDN and cybersecurity platform providing DDoS protection, performance optimization, and security services.
Affordable domain registrar offering competitive pricing, DNS management, and WHOIS privacy.
Primary Function. Basic Service Starting Price. DDoS Protection. Global Data Centers. Renewal Price for .com Domain. Page Rules/Configuration Options. SSL/TLS Certificates Included
Choose Cloudflare if you need enterprise-grade DDoS protection, global content delivery, advanced security features, and performance optimization—it's essential for high-traffic sites and those under attack. Choose Porkbun if you simply need an affordable, straightforward domain registrar with good customer support and no unnecessary upselling; you can use both together (Porkbun for domains, Cloudflare for protection/performance).
Cloudflare: Developer-focused | Porkbun: Beginner-friendly
Cloudflare: Cloudflare DNS primary | Porkbun: All providers supported
Cloudflare: DDoS, threat intelligence, WARP, Magic | Porkbun: Basic DNS only
Cloudflare: Community & documentation | Porkbun: Personalized & responsive
Cloudflare: $10.20 (at-cost) | Porkbun: $11.50 (stable)
Cloudflare: Excellent for enterprise | Porkbun: Good for small-medium
Cloudflare: Industry standard | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Highly accessible with strong freemium | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 74% planning to expand | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Comprehensive and standardized | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Superior and broader distribution | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 31% (Q3 2025: $562M) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Growing (not disclosed) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Workers Bindings, multimodal models, AI agents | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 230+ billion threats blocked | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Free tier + affordable paid plans | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Not specified | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Per-domain flat-rate plans | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Limited; requires manual configuration | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 100+ countries | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 230 billion threats (2026) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Yes, included in plans | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Cloudflare Workers (lightweight functions) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Limited, requires manual configuration | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Simple DNS-based setup | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Predictable, no hidden charges | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 275+ edge cities | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Unlimited on all plans | Porkbun: Not included
Cloudflare: Free tier available | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 310+ globally | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Included on all plans | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 24/7 community + paid support | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: No (requires external provider) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Not applicable | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 30-60 minutes | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 3.8M requests/month | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 121 Tbps network capacity | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: No native VMs; Workers $5-200/month | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: $20/month Pro plan | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 23ms (fastest DNS globally) | Porkbun: N/A
Supported Programming Languages (Workers/Serverless)
Cloudflare: JavaScript/TypeScript, Rust, C, C++ (WebAssembly) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 15 minutes (Enterprise) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 300+ across 100+ countries | Porkbun: N/A
DNS Query Response Time (Global Average)
Cloudflare: Yes - full CDN, DNS, DDoS protection | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Cloudflare Workers - included | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Yes - full-featured | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Advanced (free tier + enterprise) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Free Universal SSL all plans | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Unlimited (CDN-based) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Partial (requires Access addon) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 10-15 minutes | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: $20 | Porkbun: N/A (no subscription plans)
Cloudflare: Not optimized | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Yes, included | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 5-10 (DNS propagation) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Cloudflare Workers (full serverless) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 25+ core services | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: $20 (Pro plan) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Yes, all plans | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 5 minutes (DNS change) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 1 (Cloudflare D1 beta) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: ~30ms (median global) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 150 Tbps (Pro plan) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Yes ($20/month plan) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Native REST + GraphQL APIs | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: 1 (D1 SQLite) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Workers AI (beta), limited models | Porkbun: N/A
Serverless Function Cost (1M executions/month)
Cloudflare: $1.50 (Workers) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Not offered (Kubernetes at edge via Workers) | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: Yes (with core features) | Porkbun: N/A
Global Website Speed Improvement (Average)
Cloudflare: L3/L4 included | Porkbun: N/A
Cloudflare: $0/month | Porkbun: N/A (domain registration only)
Cloudflare: N/A (not a registrar) | Porkbun: $0.88
Cloudflare: N/A (not a registrar) | Porkbun: $8.97
Cloudflare: 300+ | Porkbun: N/A (registrar service)
Cloudflare: $0 (included) | Porkbun: $0 (included)
Cloudflare: Yes (Pro plan+) | Porkbun: Not included
Cloudflare: N/A | Porkbun: Unlimited free forwarding
Cloudflare: N/A | Porkbun: $0 (included)
How to choose between Cloudflare and Porkbun
Cloudflare vs Porkbun — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Cloudflare vs Porkbun. Contains 129 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Cloudflare vs Porkbun — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Cloudflare vs Porkbun.
Can I use Porkbun and Cloudflare together?
Yes, absolutely. Register your domain with Porkbun (for its affordability and simplicity), then point it to Cloudflare's nameservers for CDN, DDoS protection, and performance optimization. This is a common and recommended setup. Porkbun's DNS can be updated to use Cloudflare's nameservers in under 5 minutes.
Does Cloudflare provide domain registration?
Cloudflare Registrar does offer domain registration, but it is not their primary focus. Porkbun remains more competitive on pricing and has a stronger registrar-focused interface. Cloudflare Registrar costs wholesale price + $0.15 management fee per domain annually, making it comparable to Porkbun but without the aggressive first-year discounts.
What is the main difference in what they do?
Cloudflare operates in front of your website, improving performance and security via a global CDN and security layer. Porkbun manages your domain name itself. They serve complementary functions: Porkbun gets you on the internet (domain), Cloudflare protects and speeds up your content once you're there.
Is Cloudflare's free tier sufficient for a small business website?
Yes, for most small business websites. Cloudflare's Free tier includes unlimited bandwidth, DDoS protection, SSL encryption, and basic caching. It's missing advanced features like WAF (Web Application Firewall) and advanced rate limiting, which are on the Pro plan ($20/month). If you're not under active attack or handling very sensitive data, Free is adequate.
Porkbun offers basic email forwarding (redirecting domain emails to an existing inbox) for free. However, they do not provide full email hosting with mailboxes. For full email hosting, you'd need to integrate a service like Google Workspace, Proton Mail, or Microsoft 365.
How to Choose Between Cloudflare and Porkbun
Primary Function: Cloudflare has CDN, DDoS protection, security, performance optimization, while Porkbun has Domain registrar and DNS management.
Basic Service Starting Price: Cloudflare has $0/month (Free tier), while Porkbun has $0.88/year (first year .com domain).
DDoS Protection: Cloudflare has Unlimited on all plans starting at Free tier, while Porkbun has Basic DNS only, no DDoS protection.
Global Data Centers: Cloudflare has 300+ locations across 6 continents, while Porkbun has N/A (registrar service).
Renewal Price for .com Domain: Cloudflare has N/A (not a registrar), while Porkbun has $8.97/year after first year.
Consider: Page Rules/Configuration Options
Page Rules/Configuration Options: Cloudflare has 125+ on Pro plan, unlimited on Enterprise, while Porkbun has DNS records only (standard registrar features).
SSL/TLS Certificates Included: Cloudflare has Universal SSL on Free tier and above, while Porkbun has Yes, free with all domain registrations.