Cloudflare Application Security and Performance Reviews & Product Details

Cloudflare is very easy to use for end users, it works well, and is reliable. It is very easy for a user to join the ZTN, they just need to download the CloudFlare One agent, use their email address, and enter a authentication code. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

On the backend it can be tricky to setup and you need to know what you are doing and understand how it works, how to add allowed email domains, tunnelling, split tunnels. Once you have learned how to do it all correclty, they make an update to the admin interface and move everything around so now you have to hunt for the tunneling, split tunnels, allowed email domains, so learned knowledge and experience takes a hit until you can find where everything is again. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I use Cloudflare's free plan to manage DNS and proxy my portfolio domain, ayushyadav.dev. DNS changes propagate really fast, and adding or editing records in the clean dashboard takes just a minute. Turning on the orange cloud proxy gives me free SSL, and DDoS protection is on by default without any extra setup. For a freelance developer like me, the free plan is very generous. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The SSL modes (Flexible vs Full) and the caching rules were confusing when I started, and if you set them up wrong you can end up with redirect loops on your site. Some useful features are locked behind paid plans, and the documentation is quite long, so finding the exact answer can take a while. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Having good visibility into your applications and know what traffic is coming to them is something I want for my team as a DFIR Lead. Cloudflare Application Security and Performance allows me to gain that extra layer of visibility from our end user to our application. It also helps when analyzing a security event to see if anything is fishy or just more info about what happened during a security incident.

Knowing what requests are coming to our application helps me and my team when we have an incident and can help us analyze quicker if its normal or something bad may be occurring. Using the WAF from cloudflare allows us to see what may be going on inside our application and apply security measures if needed. I also enjoy being able to change rules during an incident. If something looks off we can modify our security controls to see what may be happening. This can also give us more info when we are doing triage or analyzing an incident. What occurred and where we can take our next steps. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Cloudflare has many different security controls that can be applied. It just takes time to get use to all of them and figure out what works for you. If you have knowledge on security it will help with using the rules and creating them to your needs. Some rule's may cause you to troubleshoot more on certain situations that can occur. If there was more reports and controls I could see this helping with larger companies. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I really like how Cloudflare Application Security and Performance combines security and performance in one place, making it simpler for our team and clients. The wide reach of the edge is impressive. I appreciate the WAF with managed roles, bot management, API protection, and DDoS protections, which reduce manual tuning and catch issues early. The caching and CDN features are a bonus. We see significant risk reduction with the least ongoing fuss from these tools. The initial setup was generally straightforward for basic protection, even if deeper rule tuning takes some time, which is expected. Overall, I find it's a strong, well-integrated platform. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find Cloudflare Application Security and Performance to have some downsides. For one, the rule tuning can get pretty complex at times, leading to occasional false positives. This adds a bit more work than I'd like. On top of that, the pricing structure is kind of tricky as usage grows, which can make cost management a concern. Simplifying advanced tuning and making cost modeling clearer would definitely be a big plus for me. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Cloudflare Application Security and Performance stands out by combining enterprise-grade protection with global edge acceleration in a single, cohesive ecosystem. The UI/UX makes complex infrastructure management easier through a clean, single-pane dashboard, while deep integrations—enabled by robust APIs, SIEM connectors, and serverless Cloudflare Workers—fit smoothly into existing DevOps workflows. On the performance side, its massive Anycast global network can dramatically reduce latency and help mitigate large Layer 7 DDoS attacks without bottlenecking traffic. Pricing/ROI also feels strong, thanks to a generous free tier and predictable upgrade paths that can reduce origin server costs. That said, the support and onboarding experience can be inconsistent: lower tiers lean heavily on self-service community documentation, while Enterprise tiers benefit from dedicated support managers. Lastly, its AI/Intelligence capabilities (including automated bot mitigation, WAF ML rules, and AI Gateway) help it proactively adapt to emerging zero-day threats in real time across billions of daily edge requests. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Even though the timeout feature for authentication is useful and improves security, it can be somewhat annoying. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I appreciate Cloudflare acting as our absolute first line of defense at the edge. We use API Shield to enforce strict volumetric rate limiting before requests ever reach our Kong Konnect gateway or Azure FastAPI backend. This is critical for our insurance claims platform; when field adjusters upload audio files for AssemblyAI transcription or massive CSVs for Modal Labs to process, Cloudflare ensures only authenticated, well-formed traffic enters our infrastructure. The bot management feature reliably identifies and blocks malicious headless browsers probing our endpoints. I also highly value that our team manages all these edge configurations through the Terraform provider, keeping our security policies cleanly version-controlled inside our GitHub Actions CI/CD pipeline. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

While the Terraform integration is powerful, managing complex custom WAF rules can cause headaches, especially when our QA team runs automated load testing against our FastAPI staging endpoints via GitHub Actions. We frequently have to write highly specific, temporary bypass rules to prevent Cloudflare from issuing managed challenges to our own internal CI/CD runners. Additionally, the dashboard routing logic has introduced some friction recently. Migrating our traffic logic from legacy Page Rules over to the newer Configuration Rules caused unexpected learning curves and a few brief deployment errors. Finally, Cloudflare's pricing for API security is highly fragmented. Critical features like Schema Validation and Sequence Analytics are locked behind expensive add-ons and require Enterprise contracts rather than being included in the standard Business plan. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The single most valuable aspect for us is the way security and performance sit together on the same edge network without forcing us to manage two separate systems. At Voyage Care we need the public website and related digital channels to stay fast and available for families and local-authority commissioners while still meeting strict expectations around protecting personal and sensitive enquiry data. Cloudflare’s WAF, DDoS mitigation and bot management run in the same place as the CDN and caching, so we get both protection and speed from one control plane. The rule-building interface is clear enough that our small internal IT team can adjust policies without constant external help, and the global network means users across the UK experience consistent response times even when traffic spikes after a local authority tender or media coverage. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The main friction we experience is the learning curve around some of the more advanced configuration options and the jump in complexity (and cost) when moving beyond the mid-tier plans. Certain detailed analytics and custom rule sets require more time to tune correctly than we initially expected, and the documentation, while extensive, can feel dense when you are trying to map healthcare-specific traffic patterns. Support response is generally solid, but for non-enterprise accounts the turnaround on nuanced configuration questions can take longer than ideal when we are under time pressure. None of these issues prevent us from using the platform successfully, but they do mean we allocate extra internal effort to keep the setup aligned with our operational needs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I like most is how Cloudflare bundles security and performance into one easy-to-manage platform. The WAF and DDoS protection handle most threats automatically, without me having to write complex rules, and the CDN noticeably improved my page load times while reducing origin server load. The dashboard is clean and intuitive—I can see blocked requests and traffic patterns in real time and make quick tweaks when needed. It’s basically a “set it up once and forget about it” solution that works reliably in the background. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I dislike is that the pricing gets steep quickly once you need more advanced features. The free and basic tiers cover the essentials, but options like custom WAF rules, advanced bot management, and DDoS analytics are locked behind higher plans, and the costs can add up fast. I’ve also run into a few false positives where legitimate traffic was flagged and blocked, which took time to untangle and allow again. Support response times on the lower tiers are slower than I’d like, and the sheer number of settings in the dashboard can feel overwhelming if you’re not already familiar with security configurations. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The standout strength is the tight integration of security controls and performance optimization on a single global edge platform. Bot management, WAF rules (both managed and custom), DDoS mitigation, CDN caching, and smart routing all operate together without requiring separate tools. In a high-volume retail technology environment this combination delivers clear visibility into both threats and traffic behavior through one interface, which simplifies day-to-day operations and reduces tool sprawl. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Advanced configuration carries a noticeable learning curve; building precise custom rules or fine-tuning bot and rate-limiting logic takes time and careful testing to avoid unintended impact on legitimate traffic. The dashboard can feel dense once you move beyond basic settings. Support experience and logging/export depth also depend on the plan tier, so larger organizations need to plan for the appropriate level of engagement and internal expertise. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One of Cloudflare’s biggest strengths is how it brings multiple capabilities together in a single platform. The Web Application Firewall (WAF), DDoS protection, bot management, SSL/TLS management, CDN, caching, and DNS services work seamlessly to protect applications while also improving performance.

Its global edge network significantly reduces latency, and the caching and optimization features noticeably improve page load times for users around the world. Setup is straightforward for common use cases, yet it still offers advanced customization through rules, Workers, and APIs when needed.

I also appreciate the visibility Cloudflare provides through its analytics and security dashboards. It’s easier to identify threats, monitor traffic, and troubleshoot issues early, before they impact users. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Some of the more advanced security features and rule configuration options come with a learning curve, particularly for teams that don’t have dedicated networking or security expertise. Also, many of the most powerful enterprise capabilities are limited to the higher-tier plans. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.