Cloudflare's free tier is the best deal in web infrastructure: DNS, CDN caching, TLS, and basic DDoS protection for unlimited bandwidth at no cost. Beyond that, Pages hosts static sites for free, Workers runs serverless functions at the edge, and R2 offers object storage without egress fees.
Who it is for
A developer running several small sites who wants DNS, TLS, and caching on one free account.
Key features
- DNS with proxied records and TLS
- CDN caching at no bandwidth cost
- WAF and DDoS protection on all plans
- Pages hosts static sites for free
- Workers runs functions at the edge
- R2 storage without egress fees
Where it falls short
The free tier is deliberately limited on advanced WAF rules, and the number of products under one dashboard is overwhelming for newcomers.
Pricing
Free tier covers DNS, CDN, TLS, and basic WAF for unlimited bandwidth; Pro is around $20 a month per domain, and advanced WAF rules are the gate.
Prices move; the tier structure is the part that stays true. Check current pricing on Cloudflare.
Alternatives to Cloudflare
Frequently asked
Is Cloudflare free?
Partly. Free tier covers DNS, CDN, TLS, and basic WAF for unlimited bandwidth; Pro is around $20 a month per domain, and advanced WAF rules are the gate.
What is Cloudflare best for?
A developer running several small sites who wants DNS, TLS, and caching on one free account.
What are the best alternatives to Cloudflare?
The closest substitutes we list are Railway and Vercel. They sit in a similar price bracket but make a different trade-off, so read the weaknesses section of each review before switching.
Which platforms does Cloudflare run on?
Cloudflare is available on Web and API.