software
Cloudflare vs Fastly 2026: CDN & Edge Computing
Cloudflare offers broader DDoS protection, more affordable pricing starting at $20/month, and integrated security features, while Fastly excels in edge computing performance with superior real-time log streaming and custom VCL programming capabilities for complex use cases.
Cloudflare
Global CDN and DNS provider specializing in security, DDoS protection, and performance optimization.
Small to mid-market businesses, startups, and enterprises seeking affordable all-in-one security and CDN with minimal operational overhead.
Score71%
VS
Fastly
High-performance edge computing platform optimized for real-time log streaming and VCL-based traffic customization.
Media companies, high-traffic platforms, financial institutions, and enterprises requiring advanced edge computing, real-time observability, and custom traffic logic.
Score71%
Quick Answer
AI SummaryCloudflare offers broader DDoS protection, more affordable pricing starting at $20/month, and integrated security features, while Fastly excels in edge computing performance with superior real-time log streaming and custom VCL programming capabilities for complex use cases.
Our Verdict
AI-assistedChoose Cloudflare if you prioritize affordability, integrated security features, broad DDoS protection, and ease of use for small to mid-market applications—it's the more accessible all-in-one platform. Choose Fastly if you need advanced edge computing with real-time log streaming, VCL customization for complex traffic logic, and are willing to pay premium pricing for maximum performance flexibility.
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Cloudflare
6.7/10
Fastly
8.3/10
Choose Cloudflare if
Small to mid-market businesses, startups, and enterprises seeking affordable all-in-one security and CDN with minimal operational overhead.
Choose Fastly if
Best pickMedia companies, high-traffic platforms, financial institutions, and enterprises requiring advanced edge computing, real-time observability, and custom traffic logic.
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Key Differences at a Glance
- Starting Monthly Price:✓ Cloudflare wins($20/month vs $50/month)
- DDoS Protection Included:✓ Cloudflare wins(Yes, all plans vs Optional add-on)
- Edge Computing Language:Cloudflare Workers (JavaScript/WebAssembly) vs Fastly VCL (Varnish Configuration Language)
Key Facts & Figures
79 numeric metrics compared
| Metric | Cloudflare | Fastly | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| .com Domain Registration Price(USD/year) | $10.20 | — | — |
| Annual Savings (100 domain portfolio)(USD) | $130+ | — | — |
| Integrated Security Services(count) | DDoS, threat intelligence, WARP, Magic | — | — |
| .com Renewal Price(USD/year) | $10.20 (at-cost) | — | — |
| Customer Satisfaction Rating(out of 5 stars) | 4.5 stars | 4.8 stars | |
| Review Count(number of reviews) | 476 reviews | 543 reviews | |
| Countries with Presence(countries) | 200+ | — | — |
| DDoS Threats Blocked Annually(billions) | 230 | — | — |
| Regional Edge Caches(count) | 0 | — | — |
| Organizations Planning AI Integration(percentage) | 74% | — | — |
| Countries Covered(count) | 100+ countries | — | — |
| Annual Threats Blocked(billions) | 230 billion threats (2026) | — | — |
| Starting Price (Monthly)(USD) | Free tier available | — | — |
| Global Data Centers/CDN Nodes(count) | 310+ globally | — | — |
| Average Page Load Speed Improvement(percent) | 73% | — | — |
| Setup Time (minutes)(minutes) | 30-60 minutes | — | — |
| Free Tier Monthly Requests(requests) | 3.8M requests/month | — | — |
| DDoS Protection Capacity(Tbps) | 3.2 Tbps (free tier) | — | — |
| Pro Plan Monthly Price(USD) | $20/month Pro plan | — | — |
| Average DNS Query Response Time(milliseconds) | 23ms (fastest DNS globally) | — | — |
| Supported Programming Languages (Workers/Serverless)(languages) | JavaScript/TypeScript, Rust, C, C++ (WebAssembly) | — | — |
| Enterprise Support Response SLA(minutes) | 15 minutes (Enterprise) | — | — |
| .com Domain First Year Cost(USD) | $9.00 | — | — |
| .com Domain Renewal Cost(USD) | $12.00 | — | — |
| Global CDN Edge Locations(locations) | 300+ across 100+ countries | — | — |
| DNS Query Response Time (Global Average)(milliseconds) | ~65-85ms | — | — |
| DDoS Mitigation Capacity (Included)(Terabits per second) | 3.2 Tbps | — | — |
| CDN Edge Locations(count) | 275+ | — | — |
| Average Page Load Time Improvement(percent) | 37% average | — | — |
| DDoS Mitigation Capacity(Tbps) | 71 Tbps | — | — |
| WAF Managed Rules(rules) | 50+ | — | — |
| Setup Time (Average)(hours) | 10-15 minutes | — | — |
| Pro Plan Monthly Cost(USD per user) | $20 | — | — |
| Next.js Build Optimization(% faster) | Not optimized | — | — |
| Time to First Deploy(minutes) | 5-10 (DNS propagation) | — | — |
| API Rate Limit (Free)(requests per minute) | 120 | — | — |
| Available Services(count) | 25+ core services | — | — |
| Starting Monthly Cost(USD) | $20 (Pro plan) | — | — |
| Setup Time (Minutes)(minutes) | 5 minutes (DNS change) | — | — |
| Dedicated Database Services(services) | 1 (Cloudflare D1 beta) | — | — |
| Typical Edge Response Time(milliseconds) | ~30ms (median global) | — | — |
| Entry-Level Monthly Price(USD) | $20 | — | — |
| Maximum DDoS Mitigation Capacity(Tbps) | 150 Tbps (Pro plan) | — | — |
| Average Deployment Time(seconds) | 5-15 minutes | — | — |
| Minimum Monthly Cost (Production Setup)(USD) | $20 (Pro plan) | — | — |
| Managed Database Services(count) | 1 (D1 SQLite) | — | — |
| Serverless Function Cost (1M executions/month)(USD) | $1.50 (Workers) | — | — |
| CDN Edge Locations(locations) | 300+ | — | — |
| Global Website Speed Improvement (Average)(%) | 30-35% | — | — |
| Free Tier Cost(USD/month) | $0/month | — | — |
| SSL Certificate Cost(USD/year) | $0 (included) | — | — |
| Available Services/Features(count) | 15-20 core services | — | — |
| Average Global Latency(milliseconds) | 30-60ms | — | — |
| Starting Monthly Price(USD) | Fixed plans from $20/month | — | — |
| Uptime SLA Guarantee(percent) | 99.99% | — | — |
| Cloud Market Share(percentage) | 21% of top 10K websites (not IaaS competitor) | — | — |
| Entry-Level Pricing(USD/month) | $20 (Pro plan) | — | — |
| Average Edge Response Time(milliseconds) | 56ms global average | — | — |
| Platform Uptime SLA(percent) | 99.99% | — | — |
| Base Monthly Cost (Starter Tier)(USD) | $20/month | — | — |
| Data Transfer Cost at 100GB/month(USD) | $20 fixed (Pro plan) | — | — |
| Global Edge Locations(count) | 275+ data centers | 60+ PoPs | |
| Average Latency (US-West to Origin)(milliseconds) | ~75ms median | — | — |
| DDoS Protection Cost (Standalone)(USD/month) | Included (all plans) | — | — |
| WAF Monthly Cost (Enterprise Features)(USD/month) | $200 (Pro plan) | — | — |
| Global Data Center Locations(locations) | 300+ edge cities | — | — |
| Average Latency to End Users(ms) | <50ms (99% of internet users) | — | — |
| AI/ML Model Count Available(models) | Limited; Workers AI in beta with emerging model support | — | — |
| Setup Time for Basic Deployment(minutes) | 5-15 minutes (DNS change + proxy setup) | — | — |
| Cloudflare Market Valuation (2025)(USD Billion) | $34.2 billion (as of March 2025) | — | — |
| Supported Programming Languages(languages) | 10+ languages via Workers (JavaScript, Rust, Python, Go, etc.) | — | — |
| Setup Complexity (1-10 scale)(difficulty score) | 3/10 (DNS change only) | — | — |
| Starting Price (Monthly)(USD) | $20 | $50 | |
| Real-Time Log Streaming Latency(seconds) | Up to 30 seconds | Sub-second (<1 second) | |
| Cache Purge Speed(milliseconds) | Eventual consistency (varies) | Instant (<100ms globally) | — |
| Cheapest Domain Registration Price (annual)(USD) | $12.99 (via partner registrar) | — | — |
| Free Tier Monthly Cost(USD) | $0 | — | — |
| Global Data Centers(regions) | 200+ data centers | — | — |
| Pro Plan Monthly Cost (entry-level paid)(USD) | $20/month (Pro plan) | — | — |
Sourced from publicly available data ·
Key Differences
7 attributes compared head-to-head
Cloudflare leads2 ties
Cloudflare
Attribute
Fastly
- $20/month(winner)Starting Monthly Price$50/month
- Yes, all plans(winner)DDoS Protection IncludedOptional add-on
- Cloudflare Workers (JavaScript/WebAssembly)Edge Computing LanguageFastly VCL (Varnish Configuration Language)
- Up to 30 seconds delayReal-Time Log Streaming LatencyNear real-time (sub-second)(winner)
- 275+ data centers(winner)Global Edge Locations60+ PoPs (Points of Presence)
- Managed rules included(winner)WAF Rules ManagementVCL-based custom rules
- Automatic, includedAPI Rate LimitingVCL-configured
- Starting Monthly Price
Cloudflare
$20/month(winner)
Fastly
$50/month
- DDoS Protection Included
Cloudflare
Yes, all plans(winner)
Fastly
Optional add-on
- Edge Computing Language
Cloudflare
Cloudflare Workers (JavaScript/WebAssembly)
Fastly
Fastly VCL (Varnish Configuration Language)
- Real-Time Log Streaming Latency
Cloudflare
Up to 30 seconds delay
Fastly
Near real-time (sub-second)(winner)
- Global Edge Locations
Cloudflare
275+ data centers(winner)
Fastly
60+ PoPs (Points of Presence)
- WAF Rules Management
Cloudflare
Managed rules included(winner)
Fastly
VCL-based custom rules
- API Rate Limiting
Cloudflare
Automatic, included
Fastly
VCL-configured
Full Comparison
| Attribute | Cloudflare | Fastly |
|---|---|---|
| .com Domain Registration Price(USD/year) | $10.20 | — |
| Annual Savings (100 domain portfolio)(USD) | $130+ | — |
| .com Renewal Price(USD/year) | $10.20 (at-cost) | — |
| Pricing Accessibility(level) | Highly accessible with strong freemium | Premium-focused with higher entry cost |
| Flat-Rate Pricing Availability | Per-domain flat-rate plans | — |
Show 33 more attributesPricing Transparency Predictable, no hidden charges — Starting Price (Monthly)(USD) Free tier available — Free Tier Monthly Requests(requests) 3.8M requests/month — Entry-Level VM Cost (Monthly)(USD) No native VMs; Workers $5-200/month — Pro Plan Monthly Price(USD) $20/month Pro plan — .com Domain First Year Cost(USD) $9.00 — .com Domain Renewal Cost(USD) $12.00 — Entry-Level Web Hosting Price(USD/month) Not applicable — Domain Registration Cost (First Year)(USD) N/A — Shared Hosting Starting Price(USD/month) N/A — Free Plan Available Yes - full-featured — Renewal Domain Price(USD/year) N/A — Pro Plan Monthly Cost(USD per user) $20 — Free Tier Bandwidth Limit(GB/month) Unlimited — Starting Monthly Cost(USD) $20 (Pro plan) — Entry-Level Monthly Price(USD) $20 — Minimum Monthly Cost (Production Setup)(USD) $20 (Pro plan) — Domain Registration Cost (First Year)(USD) N/A — Free Plan Available Yes (with core features) — Shared Hosting Entry Price (Monthly)(USD) N/A — Annual Renewal Cost (Domain)(USD) N/A — Free Tier Cost(USD/month) $0/month — .com Domain First-Year Price(USD) N/A (not a registrar) — .com Domain Renewal Price(USD/year) N/A (not a registrar) — Starting Monthly Price(USD) Fixed plans from $20/month — Entry-Level Pricing(USD/month) $20 (Pro plan) — Base Monthly Cost (Starter Tier)(USD) $20/month — Data Transfer Cost at 100GB/month(USD) $20 fixed (Pro plan) — Free Tier Availability(text) Generous free tier ($0; includes basic CDN, DDoS, SSL/TLS) — Starting Price (Monthly)(USD) $20 $50 Cheapest Domain Registration Price (annual)(USD) $12.99 (via partner registrar) — Free Tier Monthly Cost(USD) $0 — Pro Plan Monthly Cost (entry-level paid)(USD) $20/month (Pro plan) — | ||
| User Interface Complexity(learning hours (estimate)) | Developer-focused | — |
| DNS Provider Flexibility(compatibility) | Cloudflare DNS primary | — |
| Integrated Security Services(count) | DDoS, threat intelligence, WARP, Magic | — |
| Edge Computing | Cloudflare Workers (lightweight functions) | — |
| Domain Registration Included | No (requires external provider) | — |
| Serverless Computing (Edge Workers) | Cloudflare Workers - included | — |
Show 4 more attributesBackend Function Support Cloudflare Workers (full serverless) — Available Services(count) 25+ core services — Lambda@Edge / Serverless Edge Support(capability) Limited (Cloudflare Workers, separate cost) — Email Hosting Included(boolean) No — | ||
| Customer Support Response(rating) | Community & documentation | — |
| Customer Support Availability | 24/7 community + paid support | — |
| Enterprise Support Response SLA(minutes) | 15 minutes (Enterprise) | — |
| Ideal for Enterprise Scale(rating) | Excellent for enterprise | — |
| Customer Satisfaction Rating(out of 5 stars) | 4.5 stars | 4.8 stars(winner) |
| Customer Satisfaction(stars) | 4.5 stars | 4.8 stars(winner) |
| Review Count(number of reviews) | 476 reviews | 543 reviews(winner) |
| Fortune 500 Adoption(%) | 30% | Not disclosed |
| Performance Optimization Score(out of 5) | Industry standard | 5.0/5.0 |
| Global Data Centers/CDN Nodes(count) | 310+ globally | — |
| Average Page Load Speed Improvement(percent) | 73% | — |
| Average DNS Query Response Time(milliseconds) | 23ms (fastest DNS globally) | — |
| Global CDN Edge Locations(locations) | 300+ across 100+ countries | — |
Show 13 more attributesDNS Query Response Time (Global Average)(milliseconds) ~65-85ms — CDN Edge Locations(count) 275+ — Average Page Load Time Improvement(percent) 37% average — Next.js Build Optimization(% faster) Not optimized — Typical Edge Response Time(milliseconds) ~30ms (median global) — Average Deployment Time(seconds) 5-15 minutes — Global Website Speed Improvement (Average)(%) 30-35% — Average Global Latency(milliseconds) 30-60ms — Average Edge Response Time(milliseconds) 56ms global average — Average Latency (US-West to Origin)(milliseconds) ~75ms median — Average Latency to End Users(ms) <50ms (99% of internet users) — Real-Time Log Streaming Latency(seconds) Up to 30 seconds Sub-second (<1 second) Cache Purge Speed(milliseconds) Eventual consistency (varies) Instant (<100ms globally) | ||
| AI Integration Commitment(percentage of customers) | 74% planning to expand | Not specifically documented |
| Developer Tool Specialization(level) | Comprehensive and standardized | Advanced and highly specialized |
| Time to First Deploy(minutes) | 5-10 (DNS propagation) | — |
| API-First Architecture | Native REST + GraphQL APIs | — |
| Edge Computing Language(text) | JavaScript/WebAssembly (Workers) | VCL (Varnish Configuration Language) |
| Global Network Coverage(level) | Superior and broader distribution | Strong but more selective |
| Regional Edge Caches(count) | 0 | — |
| CDN Edge Locations(locations) | 300+ | — |
| Global Edge Locations(count) | 275+ data centers(winner) | 60+ PoPs |
| Global Data Center Locations(locations) | 300+ edge cities | — |
Show 1 more attributeGlobal Data Centers(regions) 200+ data centers — | ||
| Paying Customers(thousands) | 265,000+ | Not publicly disclosed |
| Cloud Market Share(percentage) | 21% of top 10K websites (not IaaS competitor) | — |
| Annual Revenue Growth (YoY)(percent) | 31% (Q3 2025: $562M) | Data not available for 2025 |
| Net Income Achievement(million USD) | Growing (not disclosed) | $19.7 million (first full year) |
| 2026 Projected Operating Profit(million USD) | Not specified | $50-60 million (expected) |
| AI/ML Integration | Workers Bindings, multimodal models, AI agents | Compute@Edge customization, specialized tools |
| Security Threat Blocking(billion/annually) | 230+ billion threats blocked | Not publicly disclosed |
| DDoS Threats Blocked Annually(billions) | 230 | — |
| Annual Threats Blocked(billions) | 230 billion threats (2026) | — |
| WAF Included | Yes, included in plans | — |
| DDoS Protection(availability) | Unlimited on all plans | — |
Show 21 more attributesAutomatic DDoS Protection Included on all plans — DDoS Protection Capacity(Tbps) 3.2 Tbps (free tier) — DDoS Mitigation Capacity (Included)(Terabits per second) 3.2 Tbps — DDoS Protection Tier Advanced (free tier + enterprise) — SSL/TLS Certificates Free Universal SSL all plans — DDoS Mitigation Capacity(Tbps) 71 Tbps — WAF Managed Rules(rules) 50+ — DDoS Protection on Free Plan Yes, included — DDoS Protection Included Yes, all plans — Maximum DDoS Mitigation Capacity(Tbps) 150 Tbps (Pro plan) — WAF Included at Entry Level Yes ($20/month plan) — DDoS Protection (Free Plan) L3/L4 included — SSL Certificate Cost(USD/year) $0 (included) — WAF (Web Application Firewall)(availability) Yes (Pro plan+) — Basic DDoS Protection Included Full DDoS protection included — Advanced DLP Policies(pre-built policies) Basic content filtering — DDoS Protection Cost (Standalone)(USD/month) Included (all plans) — WAF Monthly Cost (Enterprise Features)(USD/month) $200 (Pro plan) — DDoS Protection Base Tier(text) Included in all plans Paid add-on WAF Rules Update Frequency(text) Automated daily updates Manual VCL configuration Free SSL Certificate(text) Included (free tier) — | ||
| Pricing Entry Point | Free tier + affordable paid plans | Enterprise-focused, premium pricing |
| Countries with Presence(countries) | 200+ | — |
| Organizations Planning AI Integration(percentage) | 74% | — |
| AWS Service Integration | Limited; requires manual configuration | — |
| AWS Integration | Limited, requires manual configuration | — |
| Supported Programming Languages(languages) | 10+ languages via Workers (JavaScript, Rust, Python, Go, etc.) | — |
| Countries Covered(count) | 100+ countries | — |
| Setup Complexity | Simple DNS-based setup | — |
| Setup Time (minutes)(minutes) | 30-60 minutes | — |
| Setup Time (Minutes)(minutes) | 5 minutes (DNS change) | — |
| Setup Time for Basic Deployment(minutes) | 5-15 minutes (DNS change + proxy setup) | — |
| Setup Complexity (1-10 scale)(difficulty score) | 3/10 (DNS change only) | — |
| Web Hosting Storage (Base Plan)(GB) | Not applicable | — |
| Supported Programming Languages (Workers/Serverless)(languages) | JavaScript/TypeScript, Rust, C, C++ (WebAssembly) | — |
| Free Plan Tier | Yes - full CDN, DNS, DDoS protection | — |
| Maximum Concurrent Users Supported(users) | Unlimited (CDN-based) | — |
| Zero Trust Architecture (Native)(level) | Partial (requires Access addon) | — |
| Setup Time (Average)(hours) | 10-15 minutes | — |
| Setup Time(days) | 5 minutes via DNS change | — |
| API Rate Limit (Free)(requests per minute) | 120 | — |
| Dedicated Database Services(services) | 1 (Cloudflare D1 beta) | — |
| Managed Database Services(count) | 1 (D1 SQLite) | — |
| Machine Learning Services(count) | Workers AI (beta), limited models | — |
| Serverless Function Cost (1M executions/month)(USD) | $1.50 (Workers) | — |
| Kubernetes Support | Not offered (Kubernetes at edge via Workers) | — |
| Available Services/Features(count) | 15-20 core services | — |
| Uptime SLA Guarantee(percent) | 99.99% | — |
| Platform Uptime SLA(percent) | 99.99% | — |
| Zero Trust Native Architecture(maturity level) | Secondary feature | — |
| MDM Platform Integrations(integrations) | Limited support | — |
| AI/ML Model Count Available(models) | Limited; Workers AI in beta with emerging model support | — |
| Cloudflare Market Valuation (2025)(USD Billion) | $34.2 billion (as of March 2025) | — |
| API Rate Limit Configuration(text) | Automatic adaptive limiting | VCL-based custom logic |
CloudflareFastly.com Domain Registration Price(USD/year)
$10.20
—
Annual Savings (100 domain portfolio)(USD)
$130+
—
.com Renewal Price(USD/year)
$10.20 (at-cost)
—
Pricing Accessibility(level)
Highly accessible with strong freemium
Premium-focused with higher entry cost
Flat-Rate Pricing Availability
Per-domain flat-rate plans
—
Show 33 more attributes
Pricing Transparency
Predictable, no hidden charges
—
Starting Price (Monthly)(USD)
Free tier available
—
Free Tier Monthly Requests(requests)
3.8M requests/month
—
Entry-Level VM Cost (Monthly)(USD)
No native VMs; Workers $5-200/month
—
Pro Plan Monthly Price(USD)
$20/month Pro plan
—
.com Domain First Year Cost(USD)
$9.00
—
.com Domain Renewal Cost(USD)
$12.00
—
Entry-Level Web Hosting Price(USD/month)
Not applicable
—
Domain Registration Cost (First Year)(USD)
N/A
—
Shared Hosting Starting Price(USD/month)
N/A
—
Free Plan Available
Yes - full-featured
—
Renewal Domain Price(USD/year)
N/A
—
Pro Plan Monthly Cost(USD per user)
$20
—
Free Tier Bandwidth Limit(GB/month)
Unlimited
—
Starting Monthly Cost(USD)
$20 (Pro plan)
—
Entry-Level Monthly Price(USD)
$20
—
Minimum Monthly Cost (Production Setup)(USD)
$20 (Pro plan)
—
Domain Registration Cost (First Year)(USD)
N/A
—
Free Plan Available
Yes (with core features)
—
Shared Hosting Entry Price (Monthly)(USD)
N/A
—
Annual Renewal Cost (Domain)(USD)
N/A
—
Free Tier Cost(USD/month)
$0/month
—
.com Domain First-Year Price(USD)
N/A (not a registrar)
—
.com Domain Renewal Price(USD/year)
N/A (not a registrar)
—
Starting Monthly Price(USD)
Fixed plans from $20/month
—
Entry-Level Pricing(USD/month)
$20 (Pro plan)
—
Base Monthly Cost (Starter Tier)(USD)
$20/month
—
Data Transfer Cost at 100GB/month(USD)
$20 fixed (Pro plan)
—
Free Tier Availability(text)
Generous free tier ($0; includes basic CDN, DDoS, SSL/TLS)
—
Starting Price (Monthly)(USD)
$20
$50
Cheapest Domain Registration Price (annual)(USD)
$12.99 (via partner registrar)
—
Free Tier Monthly Cost(USD)
$0
—
Pro Plan Monthly Cost (entry-level paid)(USD)
$20/month (Pro plan)
—
User Interface Complexity(learning hours (estimate))
Developer-focused
—
DNS Provider Flexibility(compatibility)
Cloudflare DNS primary
—
Integrated Security Services(count)
DDoS, threat intelligence, WARP, Magic
—
Edge Computing
Cloudflare Workers (lightweight functions)
—
Domain Registration Included
No (requires external provider)
—
Serverless Computing (Edge Workers)
Cloudflare Workers - included
—
Show 4 more attributes
Backend Function Support
Cloudflare Workers (full serverless)
—
Available Services(count)
25+ core services
—
Lambda@Edge / Serverless Edge Support(capability)
Limited (Cloudflare Workers, separate cost)
—
Email Hosting Included(boolean)
No
—
Customer Support Response(rating)
Community & documentation
—
Customer Support Availability
24/7 community + paid support
—
Enterprise Support Response SLA(minutes)
15 minutes (Enterprise)
—
Ideal for Enterprise Scale(rating)
Excellent for enterprise
—
Customer Satisfaction Rating(out of 5 stars)
4.5 stars
4.8 stars
Customer Satisfaction(stars)
4.5 stars
4.8 stars
Review Count(number of reviews)
476 reviews
543 reviews
Fortune 500 Adoption(%)
30%
Not disclosed
Performance Optimization Score(out of 5)
Industry standard
5.0/5.0
Global Data Centers/CDN Nodes(count)
310+ globally
—
Average Page Load Speed Improvement(percent)
73%
—
Average DNS Query Response Time(milliseconds)
23ms (fastest DNS globally)
—
Global CDN Edge Locations(locations)
300+ across 100+ countries
—
Show 13 more attributes
DNS Query Response Time (Global Average)(milliseconds)
~65-85ms
—
CDN Edge Locations(count)
275+
—
Average Page Load Time Improvement(percent)
37% average
—
Next.js Build Optimization(% faster)
Not optimized
—
Typical Edge Response Time(milliseconds)
~30ms (median global)
—
Average Deployment Time(seconds)
5-15 minutes
—
Global Website Speed Improvement (Average)(%)
30-35%
—
Average Global Latency(milliseconds)
30-60ms
—
Average Edge Response Time(milliseconds)
56ms global average
—
Average Latency (US-West to Origin)(milliseconds)
~75ms median
—
Average Latency to End Users(ms)
<50ms (99% of internet users)
—
Real-Time Log Streaming Latency(seconds)
Up to 30 seconds
Sub-second (<1 second)
Cache Purge Speed(milliseconds)
Eventual consistency (varies)
Instant (<100ms globally)
AI Integration Commitment(percentage of customers)
74% planning to expand
Not specifically documented
Developer Tool Specialization(level)
Comprehensive and standardized
Advanced and highly specialized
Time to First Deploy(minutes)
5-10 (DNS propagation)
—
API-First Architecture
Native REST + GraphQL APIs
—
Edge Computing Language(text)
JavaScript/WebAssembly (Workers)
VCL (Varnish Configuration Language)
Global Network Coverage(level)
Superior and broader distribution
Strong but more selective
Regional Edge Caches(count)
0
—
CDN Edge Locations(locations)
300+
—
Global Edge Locations(count)
275+ data centers
60+ PoPs
Global Data Center Locations(locations)
300+ edge cities
—
Show 1 more attribute
Global Data Centers(regions)
200+ data centers
—
Paying Customers(thousands)
265,000+
Not publicly disclosed
Cloud Market Share(percentage)
21% of top 10K websites (not IaaS competitor)
—
Annual Revenue Growth (YoY)(percent)
31% (Q3 2025: $562M)
Data not available for 2025
Net Income Achievement(million USD)
Growing (not disclosed)
$19.7 million (first full year)
2026 Projected Operating Profit(million USD)
Not specified
$50-60 million (expected)
AI/ML Integration
Workers Bindings, multimodal models, AI agents
Compute@Edge customization, specialized tools
Security Threat Blocking(billion/annually)
230+ billion threats blocked
Not publicly disclosed
DDoS Threats Blocked Annually(billions)
230
—
Annual Threats Blocked(billions)
230 billion threats (2026)
—
WAF Included
Yes, included in plans
—
DDoS Protection(availability)
Unlimited on all plans
—
Show 21 more attributes
Automatic DDoS Protection
Included on all plans
—
DDoS Protection Capacity(Tbps)
3.2 Tbps (free tier)
—
DDoS Mitigation Capacity (Included)(Terabits per second)
3.2 Tbps
—
DDoS Protection Tier
Advanced (free tier + enterprise)
—
SSL/TLS Certificates
Free Universal SSL all plans
—
DDoS Mitigation Capacity(Tbps)
71 Tbps
—
WAF Managed Rules(rules)
50+
—
DDoS Protection on Free Plan
Yes, included
—
DDoS Protection Included
Yes, all plans
—
Maximum DDoS Mitigation Capacity(Tbps)
150 Tbps (Pro plan)
—
WAF Included at Entry Level
Yes ($20/month plan)
—
DDoS Protection (Free Plan)
L3/L4 included
—
SSL Certificate Cost(USD/year)
$0 (included)
—
WAF (Web Application Firewall)(availability)
Yes (Pro plan+)
—
Basic DDoS Protection Included
Full DDoS protection included
—
Advanced DLP Policies(pre-built policies)
Basic content filtering
—
DDoS Protection Cost (Standalone)(USD/month)
Included (all plans)
—
WAF Monthly Cost (Enterprise Features)(USD/month)
$200 (Pro plan)
—
DDoS Protection Base Tier(text)
Included in all plans
Paid add-on
WAF Rules Update Frequency(text)
Automated daily updates
Manual VCL configuration
Free SSL Certificate(text)
Included (free tier)
—
Pricing Entry Point
Free tier + affordable paid plans
Enterprise-focused, premium pricing
Countries with Presence(countries)
200+
—
Organizations Planning AI Integration(percentage)
74%
—
AWS Service Integration
Limited; requires manual configuration
—
AWS Integration
Limited, requires manual configuration
—
Supported Programming Languages(languages)
10+ languages via Workers (JavaScript, Rust, Python, Go, etc.)
—
Countries Covered(count)
100+ countries
—
Setup Complexity
Simple DNS-based setup
—
Setup Time (minutes)(minutes)
30-60 minutes
—
Setup Time (Minutes)(minutes)
5 minutes (DNS change)
—
Setup Time for Basic Deployment(minutes)
5-15 minutes (DNS change + proxy setup)
—
Setup Complexity (1-10 scale)(difficulty score)
3/10 (DNS change only)
—
Web Hosting Storage (Base Plan)(GB)
Not applicable
—
Supported Programming Languages (Workers/Serverless)(languages)
JavaScript/TypeScript, Rust, C, C++ (WebAssembly)
—
Free Plan Tier
Yes - full CDN, DNS, DDoS protection
—
Maximum Concurrent Users Supported(users)
Unlimited (CDN-based)
—
Zero Trust Architecture (Native)(level)
Partial (requires Access addon)
—
Setup Time (Average)(hours)
10-15 minutes
—
Setup Time(days)
5 minutes via DNS change
—
API Rate Limit (Free)(requests per minute)
120
—
Dedicated Database Services(services)
1 (Cloudflare D1 beta)
—
Managed Database Services(count)
1 (D1 SQLite)
—
Machine Learning Services(count)
Workers AI (beta), limited models
—
Serverless Function Cost (1M executions/month)(USD)
$1.50 (Workers)
—
Kubernetes Support
Not offered (Kubernetes at edge via Workers)
—
Available Services/Features(count)
15-20 core services
—
Uptime SLA Guarantee(percent)
99.99%
—
Platform Uptime SLA(percent)
99.99%
—
Zero Trust Native Architecture(maturity level)
Secondary feature
—
MDM Platform Integrations(integrations)
Limited support
—
AI/ML Model Count Available(models)
Limited; Workers AI in beta with emerging model support
—
Cloudflare Market Valuation (2025)(USD Billion)
$34.2 billion (as of March 2025)
—
API Rate Limit Configuration(text)
Automatic adaptive limiting
VCL-based custom logic
Pros & Cons
10 pros·4 cons across both
Cloudflare
+5-2
Pros
- 275+ global edge locations providing superior geographic coverage and redundancy
- DDoS protection included on all pricing tiers starting at $20/month
- Managed WAF rules with automatic threat updates requiring minimal configuration
- Workers serverless platform supports JavaScript/WebAssembly for faster developer onboarding
- Integrated SSL/TLS with automatic certificate management and DNSSEC support
Cons
- Real-time log streaming has 30-second latency, limiting immediate incident response
- Less granular VCL-equivalent control for complex traffic routing logic compared to Fastly
Fastly
+5-2
Pros
- Near real-time log streaming with sub-second latency enabling immediate troubleshooting and security response
- VCL (Varnish Configuration Language) allows granular control over traffic behavior and edge logic
- Instant purge capability removes cached content across all 60+ PoPs in milliseconds
- Superior performance for video streaming and large-file delivery with optimized edge algorithms
- Detailed real-time analytics with live traffic graphs and per-request data visibility
Cons
- Higher entry price at $50/month base tier limits accessibility for small businesses
- DDoS protection requires separate paid subscription, adding to total cost of ownership
Frequently Asked Questions
5 questions
Cloudflare provides stronger DDoS protection as a standard feature on all pricing tiers, with automated mitigation and 275+ edge locations providing geographic redundancy. Fastly requires a separate DDoS add-on, making it more expensive for comprehensive protection. Cloudflare's approach is better for businesses without specialized DDoS expertise.
Resources & Learn More
Curated sources to dive deeper
Where to Buy
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Wikipedia
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