Are you starting a new business, working at a startup, freelancing, or simply interested in launching your own website or application? If so, you’re in the right place. This blog post will explore the many free services Cloudflare offers for deploying websites, building full-stack applications, and more.
Free Cloudflare Services Overview#
Cloudflare provides a variety of solutions, many of which are free or have free tiers. Here’s a comprehensive (but non-exhaustive) breakdown of some key services:
| Cloudflare Solution | Description | Is there a Free version? |
|---|---|---|
| Registrar | Domain registrar with no-markup pricing | At-cost pricing |
| Pages | Free deployment and hosting of websites | ✅ |
| Workers | Serverless execution environment to build full-stack applications | ✅ |
| Zaraz | Third-party tool manager built for speed, privacy, and security | ✅ |
| R2 | Object storage for any type of asset or unstructured data | ✅ |
| CDN | Global static and dynamic content delivery | ✅ |
| DDoS Protection | Unlimited and unmetered website DDoS protection | ✅ |
| WAF | Customizable application firewall | ✅ |
| Rate Limiting | Basic IP-based Rate Limiting | ✅ |
| Bot Fight Mode | Basic bot detection and mitigation | ✅ |
| Turnstile | Smart CAPTCHA alternative | ✅ |
| Email Routing | Custom email addresses and routing | ✅ |
| DMARC Management | Helps stop brand impersonation | ✅ |
| Zero Trust | Perimeterless security for employees, networks, and applications | ✅ |
| Radar | Global Internet traffic, attacks, and technology trends and insights | ✅ |
Domain Registration with Cloudflare Registrar#
Cloudflare Registrar offers domain registration at cost, with no markup, ensuring affordable and transparent pricing. This includes free WHOIS redaction services. For more details, check out the developer documentation.
Building and Deploying Full-Stack Applications#
Once you have your domain, you’ll need a place to host your website or application. Cloudflare Pages allows you to host HTML, CSS, and JS files or JAMStack sites globally, ensuring your application is close to your users. Combine this with Cloudflare Workers to add server-side code and create full-stack applications.
Integrate your domain with the Pages project as a Custom Domain to make your site live. Utilize Web Analytics and Cloudflare Zaraz to manage and optimize third-party tools.
Explore the Cloudflare Developer Platform for more exciting solutions with free tiers.
Object Storage with Cloudflare R2#
Cloudflare R2 offers generous free tiers for object storage. According to the pricing documentation, “egressing directly from R2, including via the Workers API, S3 API, and r2.dev domains does not incur data transfer (egress) charges”. Use the Workers API and S3 API to manage assets like images and documents. For practical examples, see the egress-free object storage in multi-cloud setups and explore Presigned URLs.
Enhancing Application Performance & Security#
Benefit from Cloudflare’s free services to enhance the performance and security of your domain, hosted website, and assets:
- SSL Certificate: Universal SSL
- Global Caching: Configurable via Cache Rules
- DDoS Protection: Unmetered DDoS protection
- WAF: Free Managed Ruleset
- Rate Limiting: IP-based rate limiting
- Bot Fight Mode: Basic bot detection and mitigation
Additionally, enable DNSSEC with one click, and benefit from built-in IPv6 compatibility.
The Smart CAPTCHA Alternative#
Improve your site’s security with Turnstile, a smart CAPTCHA alternative that’s easy to implement. This service is also available for sites not using Cloudflare.
Custom Email Solutions#
Leverage your domain for email without setting up your own infrastructure using Cloudflare Email Routing. Manage and secure your emails with Cloudflare DMARC Management, which helps track the sources sending emails from your domain.
Cloudflare Zero Trust#
Protect your web applications and team with Cloudflare Zero Trust, free for up to 50 users. Follow the implementation guides for setup instructions.
Bonus Resources#
For more information and inspiration, check out these resources:
- Free and privacy-friendly public DNS resolver 1.1.1.1
- Free access to global Internet traffic, attacks, and technology trends with Cloudflare Radar
- Five Great (free!) Ways to Get Started With Cloudflare
- Blazing Fast Development with Full-Stack Frameworks and Cloudflare
- Get Started (Free Plan) Learning Path
- Build your own AI application with Cloudflare + AI
Review the pricing plans for more details on all available options and features.
With these tools, you can effectively deploy and secure your web projects without breaking the bank. Happy building!
Disclaimer#
Educational purposes only.
This blog post is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or necessarily reflective of the opinions of any entities mentioned.
All free resources and solutions listed were free at the time of writing but might change in the future.
ChatGPT was used to improve the text of this blog post.