What is Cloudflare?
Pros from reviewers
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Freemium model: Cloudflare offers a freemium model that allows users to distribute their services globally at a fraction of the cost. This model provides access to many features, from network and device security to WAFs, easy-to-use page rules, tunneling, and optimizations for delivery across the network
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Comprehensive security features: Cloudflare offers a wide range of security features, including CDN and DDOS protection, which function superbly. This allows companies to centralize their security needs
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Easy setup and integration: The process of setting up Cloudflare and adding a website is straightforward and intuitive. Cloudflare offers direct integrations with third-party providers like cPanel, making website addition as easy as a single click.
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User-friendly and customizable: Cloudflare is praised for its user-friendly interface and high customizability. It offers easy-to-use documentation and API, straightforward integration, and a strong user community. It also allows users to modify request and response headers
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Excellent free tier: Cloudflare's free tier is highly valued by users. It offers many advanced features even for free users, like DNSSEC in Cloudflare DNS, Cloudflare proxy, and 'I'm under attack' mode. Plus, Cloudflare optimizes the content of hosted websites by minifying codes, which makes websites much faster
Cons from reviewers
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Unintuitive settings: Some settings are not in obvious locations, requiring users to conduct research and read documentation to locate them, which can be time-consuming
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Inconsistent support: While the support team is generally able to resolve issues, the response times can be slow and sometimes frustrating, especially when dealing with complex problems
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Occasional false positives: The security features, while robust, can sometimes result in false positives, causing unnecessary alerts and potentially blocking legitimate traffic
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Limited SSL certificate options: The free and business plans do not allow users to bring their own SSL certificates, a basic and necessary feature for many businesses. To upload a custom SSL, users have to purchase an expensive enterprise plan
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Overly aggressive firewall: The firewall can sometimes be overly aggressive in filtering traffic, causing occasional user access issues. This can lead to a poor user experience and potential loss of traffic.
$250,000 in credits for 1 year on Cloudflare
Get $250,000 in credits for 1 year on Cloudflare and up to $250,000 savings with Secret.
Main features
Starting Price
Free Plan
Give your developers a platform
Load balancing and traffic management
Increase the performance of websites and applications
Choose a modern infrastructure
Get Zero Trust Services
Starting Price
N/A
Free Plan
No
Give your developers a platform
Load balancing and traffic management
Increase the performance of websites and applications
Choose a modern infrastructure
Get Zero Trust Services
$250,000 in credits for 1 year on Cloudflare
Get $250,000 in credits for 1 year on Cloudflare and up to $250,000 savings with Secret.
How Cloudflare compare to similar software?
Product
Price
N/A
Free plan
No
Main features
Pros
Cons
Alternatives
Deal
$250,000 in credits for 1 year on Cloudflare
Save up to $250,000
Both platforms are categorized as tools for content delivery networks. Cloudflare enhances performance and offers protection for websites, APIs, and SaaS connected to networks. On the other hand, Akamai focuses on providing mobile, cloud, media, and security solutions across various platforms.
Cloudflare stands out from its competitors by offering more than just DDoS protection, including CDN and SSL/TLS. Thanks to its global network of servers it offers the fastest content delivery while enhancing website performance. For their advanced security measures, they also deploy machine learning algorithms to improve in almost real-time, helping to prevent cyber attacks. Individuals and small businesses may opt for Cloudflare thanks to its free option for low volume NA/EU traffic, but also thanks to its user friendly interface and overal ease of use.
Akamai focuses on delivering enterprise-level solutions, as one of the largest CDN providers in the field. Similar to Cloudflare it too...
Cloudflare
CDN for professionals
$250,000 in credits for 1 year on Cloudflare
Save up to $250,000
Akamai
Leverage Akamai's advanced network solutions
While Google Cloud and Cloudflare are both leading cloud service providers, understanding their key differences is crucial for making an informed choice for your business. The primary distinction lies in their core focus and use cases.
Google Cloud is a comprehensive cloud computing platform that offers a wide range of services, including virtual machines, container orchestration, data analytics, AI and machine learning tools, and a global network infrastructure. It is designed to support complex, scalable applications and is particularly well-suited for businesses that require high-performance computing, large-scale data management, and seamless integration with other Google services like Google Workspace and BigQuery. Google Cloud is ideal for enterprises that need a robust, versatile cloud solution capable of handling diverse workloads across various industries.
In contrast, Cloudflare specializes in web performance, security, and content delivery network (CDN) services. While it...
Cloudflare
CDN for professionals
$250,000 in credits for 1 year on Cloudflare
Save up to $250,000
Google Cloud (GCP)
Cloud services by Google
$2,000 in credits for 1 year if you never raised funds // $350,000 in credits for 2 years if you did on Google Cloud (GCP)
Save up to $350,000
Both AWS CloudFront and CloudFlare will speed up your site. They’re good CDNs, and you won’t regret either choice, especially if you go for the free plan. That being said, we generally recommend CloudFlare to new users.
That’s because CloudFlare is much easier to use. AWS is fine too, but it’s complex. You can tailor its caching behaviours to your site’s size and needs. You can modify access controls, and in general you’ll have to do some work to optimize AWS for your business.
CloudFlare is smoother to setup. For example, you can access all of its DNS options by default. If you picked AWS CloudFront instead, you’d need to integrate with Amazon Route 53 to get the same DNS settings.
It’s also harder to update old sites with CloudFront. HTTP/2 is a new protocol for communication over networks, and both tools have it enabled by default. But CloudFlare makes it much easier to enable it for older sites.
CloudFlare is slightly better for security, too. While AWS CloudFront is secure as well,...
Cloudflare
CDN for professionals
$250,000 in credits for 1 year on Cloudflare
Save up to $250,000
AWS Activate
Amazon's cloud services platform
20-50% off your monthly spend and up to $2k in credits (must be spending $2.5k+/month to be eligible) on AWS Activate
Save up to $300,000
Who is Cloudflare best for according to our reviewers?
IT Teams: These users find Cloudflare's freemium model beneficial, allowing them to distribute services globally at a fraction of the cost. They appreciate the range of features available, from network and device security to WAFs, easy-to-use page rules, and optimizations for delivery across the network
Online Business Owners: These users find Cloudflare useful for storing additional data for their online businesses. They appreciate the support provided by the Cloudflare team in setting up the service, even if they find it initially confusing
Website Owners: These users appreciate Cloudflare for its freemium plan and the value it offers. They find the process of setting up the CDN straightforward and the onboarding process and website addition simple and intuitive. They also appreciate the direct integrations with third-party providers like cPanel.
Web Security Managers: Responsible for managing web resource security, these users appreciate Cloudflare for its continuous enhancements and introduction of new features, allowing them to centralize their security needs. They particularly value the CDN and DDOS protection
DNS Managers: These users use Cloudflare for DNS management, WAF, and caching. They find it user-friendly and highly customizable, with easy-to-use documentation and API, and straightforward integration. They value its functionality, performance, and strong services expertise
$250,000 in credits for 1 year on Cloudflare
Get $250,000 in credits for 1 year on Cloudflare and up to $250,000 savings with Secret.
Cloudflare Reviews
4.5
Cloudflare rating
26 Cloudflare Reviews
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Kelly Jones
CDN, Internal Network Security, WAF - Cloudflare Delivers it All
My overall experience with Cloudflare has been excellent. While their support can sometimes be frustrating, they always manage to resolve issues, often escalating them to their Tier 2 support for a more personal touch. When I first used Cloudflare as my CDN, I found it to be outstanding. It's a CDN for everyone, with a freemium model that allows you to distribute your services globally at a fraction of the cost. However, once you start using this freemium model, you quickly become immersed in all their features and are more than willing to pay for them. From network and device security to WAFs, easy-to-use page rules, tunneling, and optimizations for delivery across the network, you soon find yourself using all of it without the need for large IT teams. A few downsides are that sometimes things don't work as expected and it's unclear why. It seems the system's features grew faster than anticipated and their UI and UX couldn't keep up.
May 11, 2024
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Logan W
Efficient DNS Management with Cloudflare
As a web developer, I find Cloudflare's DNS management tools to be incredibly user-friendly and efficient. It has significantly reduced the time I spend on managing DNS records
May 5, 2024
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Ryan M
Genuinely Outstanding Service
Cloudflare provided me with truly excellent service, going the extra mile. A CSR even managed to get them to make an exception to one of their rules due to my health condition.
April 27, 2024
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Alice Davis
Cloudflare: An Excellent All-In-One Tool for Web Resource Security
When I joined my company, there was no one managing web resource security. I quickly selected Cloudflare, set it up, and have been overseeing analytics and activating new features ever since. We are satisfied with everything and intend to keep using Cloudflare. I value the fact that the service is continuously enhancing and introducing new features, enabling us to centralize our security needs. The two features I appreciate the most are the CDN and DDOS protection, which function superbly. Some settings are not in obvious locations, so I've had to conduct some research and read the documentation to locate them. I opted for Cloudflare because it's an all-in-one solution for comprehensive company security.
April 22, 2024
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Jordan Garcia
Cloudflare: Unparalleled Speed and Security
I have been using Cloudflare for several months now and I am extremely satisfied with its performance. The speed and security it provides for my website are unparalleled
April 15, 2024
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Arthur B
My SOP Segment 2 Review on Cloudflare
My second step in my Standard Operating Procedure is setting up Cloudflare. If it's a .com, it usually ranks first in the website creation process. I've managed to achieve a ~98% cache ratio every month with the Pro version, which is impressive. For those complaining about Cloudflare being a hosting company, it's not. If your site stopped working after moving to Cloudflare, it's likely due to propagation or a lack of professional setup. I don't agree with cat abuse, but if they were to take a stance on every issue, they'd quickly become overwhelmed. In summary, Cloudflare provides better security if you know what you're doing. The cost for the Pro version is reasonable compared to competitors, with only BunnyCDN offering better prices. However, I'd choose Cloudflare any day. You can cache your entire site on their servers. If you're unsure how to properly set it up, hire a professional. It takes less than an hour to configure.
April 15, 2024
