Cloudflare

Cloudflare is a global CDN and security platform that sits between website visitors and the origin server, protecting and accelerating web traffic. It provides DDoS mitigation, Web Application Firewall rules, SSL/TLS encryption, and performance optimizations including asset caching, image compression, and HTTP/3 support across its network of data centers in over 300 cities worldwide.

Beyond traditional CDN functionality, Cloudflare has expanded into edge computing through Cloudflare Workers, which allow running JavaScript, TypeScript, or WebAssembly at the edge without managing servers. Workers handle request routing, API gateway logic, A/B testing, and full application rendering close to the end user. The platform also offers DNS hosting, R2 object storage, D1 serverless databases, and Cloudflare Pages for static sites.

For web development, Cloudflare addresses both security and performance concerns that every production website faces. Setting up Cloudflare typically involves changing DNS nameservers, after which traffic flows through their network automatically. The free tier provides meaningful protection and caching for most sites. Many teams use Cloudflare as their default DNS provider, CDN, and edge platform, making it one of the most widely deployed infrastructure services on the web.