Cloudflare DDoS Protection

Name: Cloudflare DDoS Protection
Brand: Cloudflare
Rating: 3.4 (3140 reviews)

Leader

At Cloudflare, we have our eyes set on an ambitious goal — to help build a better Internet.

Est 2009|Valuation $112.6B|Raised $3B|1 Ref Customers

LinkedIn 1.2M|Website|Web traffic 91.2M|FTEs 5,483|HQ San Francisco, CA

MarketsWeb Application & API Protection (WAAP)Firewalls

Platform CoversAPI Management

01Competitive Landscape

Narrative analysis

Cloudflare vs Akamai (Prolexic) - Akamai Prolexic is commonly evaluated by buyers seeking dedicated scrubbing services and managed DDoS operations. Akamai often emphasizes routing traffic through scrubbing centers and offers managed service models. - Cloudflare differentiates through self-serve accessibility and an integrated suite; Akamai may be preferred where buyers require white-glove managed DDoS operations. Cloudflare vs Fastly - Fastly provides edge services and integrates DDoS protections with its platform; pricing and packaging typically involve sales engagement. - Cloudflare’s self-serve tiers and rapid deployment model can be an advantage for teams that require quick baseline protection. Market adoption trend inference Cloudflare is widely deployed across the internet. That ubiquity can increase buyer confidence in network capacity, but it also represents a systemic dependency risk; outages at the provider can affect many customers.

	Cloudflare DDoS Protection	Akamai Prolexic	Fastly (DDoS Protection)
Starting price	Free baseline; published paid per-domain plans for additional protections; enterprise pricing available on request	Typically enterprise / quote-based	Pricing is quote-based / contact sales
Suitable for	Teams seeking integrated CDN and security with rapid initial deployment and baseline protections	Large enterprises requiring dedicated scrubbing and managed DDoS services	Organizations focused on performance-centric edge deployments integrating security into the Fastly stack
Key strengths	Distributed edge mitigation model; integrated product set; large network footprint and adoption	Mature DDoS heritage; scrubbing center and managed-service depth	Edge performance focus; integration with Fastly edge platform
Key weaknesses	Effectiveness can be reduced if origin exposure or misconfiguration exists; advanced features often tier-gated; variable support experience on lower tiers	Can be costly and complex; may require significant integration effort	Pricing and packaging may require sales engagement; may not offer the same free baseline accessibility

01Competitive Landscape

Narrative analysis

Cloudflare vs Akamai (Prolexic)

Akamai Prolexic is commonly evaluated by buyers seeking dedicated scrubbing services and managed DDoS operations. Akamai often emphasizes routing traffic through scrubbing centers and offers managed service models.
Cloudflare differentiates through self-serve accessibility and an integrated suite; Akamai may be preferred where buyers require white-glove managed DDoS operations.

Cloudflare vs Fastly

Fastly provides edge services and integrates DDoS protections with its platform; pricing and packaging typically involve sales engagement.
Cloudflare’s self-serve tiers and rapid deployment model can be an advantage for teams that require quick baseline protection.

Market adoption trend inference Cloudflare is widely deployed across the internet. That ubiquity can increase buyer confidence in network capacity, but it also represents a systemic dependency risk; outages at the provider can affect many customers.

	Cloudflare DDoS Protection	Akamai Prolexic	Fastly (DDoS Protection)
Starting price	Free baseline; published paid per-domain plans for additional protections; enterprise pricing available on request	Typically enterprise / quote-based	Pricing is quote-based / contact sales
Suitable for	Teams seeking integrated CDN and security with rapid initial deployment and baseline protections	Large enterprises requiring dedicated scrubbing and managed DDoS services	Organizations focused on performance-centric edge deployments integrating security into the Fastly stack
Key strengths	Distributed edge mitigation model; integrated product set; large network footprint and adoption	Mature DDoS heritage; scrubbing center and managed-service depth	Edge performance focus; integration with Fastly edge platform
Key weaknesses	Effectiveness can be reduced if origin exposure or misconfiguration exists; advanced features often tier-gated; variable support experience on lower tiers	Can be costly and complex; may require significant integration effort	Pricing and packaging may require sales engagement; may not offer the same free baseline accessibility