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Cybersecurity · head to head

Authelia vs Cloudflare

Authelia logo

Authelia

Cybersecurity

Open-source authentication and two-factor portal for reverse proxies

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Cloudflare logo

Cloudflare

Networking

The web performance and security company

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Authelia depends on a reverse proxy: it is not a standalone identity provider; Cloudflare free tier limited to basic features (no advanced analytics or premium features)
  • They diverge on capability: Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Cloudflare covers Global CDN.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Authelia and Cloudflare actually diverge.

Attributes where Authelia and Cloudflare differ
AttributeAutheliaCloudflare
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feefreemium
PlatformsDocker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hostedWeb
CategoryCybersecurityNetworking
FoundedUnknown2009

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Authelia

  • Reverse proxy integration
  • Two-factor authentication
  • Access control rules
  • Lightweight backends

Only in Cloudflare

  • Global CDN
  • DDoS Protection
  • WAF
  • DNS
  • SSL/TLS
  • Load Balancing
  • Bot Management
  • Workers (Serverless)

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Authelia

  • Putting a login and 2FA in front of self-hosted services that have nonenot Cloudflare
  • Adding SSO across a small set of internal tools without a full identity platformnot Cloudflare
  • Home and small-team infrastructure behind a single reverse proxynot Cloudflare

Cloudflare

  • Global content delivery network (CDN) with 330+ data centres worldwidenot Authelia
  • DDoS protection and bot blockingnot Authelia
  • Web application security and rate limitingnot Authelia
  • DNS management and domain protectionnot Authelia
  • Static and dynamic content cachingnot Authelia
  • Serverless computing via Cloudflare Workersnot Authelia
  • Database and storage services (D1, R2)not Authelia
  • Performance optimisation for Core Web Vitalsnot Authelia

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Authelia

  • Depends on a reverse proxy: it is not a standalone identity provider
  • Configuration is YAML-first with no administrative interface, so changes mean editing files
  • Not a full IAM: user management, provisioning and federation are limited compared with Keycloak
  • Scales poorly as an organisation-wide identity solution, which is not its target

Cloudflare

  • Free tier limited to basic features (no advanced analytics or premium features)
  • Pro tier ($20-25/month) caps at professional websites (higher tiers needed for enterprise scale)
  • Caches only anonymous API GET responses (authenticated requests and non-GET methods not cached)
  • Geographic coverage limited to announced 330+ cities (may not cover all regions globally)

Pricing, plan by plan

Authelia

Free
  • AutheliaFree
    • Full functionality
    • No usage limits
    • Community support

Cloudflare

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cloudflare review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Authelia if

  • You need reverse proxy integration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted.
  • You also want two-factor authentication.
Authelia review

Choose Cloudflare if

  • You need global cdn.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want ddos protection.
Cloudflare review

Questions people ask

Is Authelia or Cloudflare better?
Neither clearly leads. Authelia starts at Free and Cloudflare at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Authelia or Cloudflare?
Authelia starts at Free and Cloudflare at Free.
Does Authelia or Cloudflare run on more platforms?
Authelia runs on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Self-hosted. Cloudflare runs on Web.
Can I use Authelia for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Authelia best used for?
Authelia is most often used for putting a login and 2fa in front of self-hosted services that have none, adding sso across a small set of internal tools without a full identity platform, home and small-team infrastructure behind a single reverse proxy. Of those, putting a login and 2fa in front of self-hosted services that have none and adding sso across a small set of internal tools without a full identity platform are not what Cloudflare is typically brought in for.
What can Authelia do that Cloudflare cannot?
Authelia covers Reverse proxy integration, Two-factor authentication, Access control rules, Lightweight backends. Cloudflare covers Global CDN, DDoS Protection, WAF, DNS.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Authelia: Is Authelia free?

Yes, open source with no licence fee.

Cloudflare: Does Cloudflare have a free tier?

Yes, Cloudflare includes a free tier with generous allowances: 100k daily requests for Workers, 10 GB monthly storage for R2, and 1 GB for Workers KV.

Source
Authelia: Does Authelia need a reverse proxy?

Yes. It integrates through forward authentication with Nginx, Traefik, Caddy or HAProxy rather than sitting in front of traffic itself.

Cloudflare: How much does Cloudflare cost beyond the free tier?

Cloudflare uses pay-as-you-go pricing beyond free allocations, charging per million requests, per GB-month of storage, or per vCPU-second depending on the service.

Source
Authelia: Authelia or Keycloak?

Authelia is far lighter and aimed at protecting self-hosted services behind a proxy. Keycloak is a full identity and access management platform, and much more to run.

Cloudflare: Does Cloudflare charge egress fees?

No, Cloudflare explicitly states no egress fees and no hidden costs; you only pay for the usage metrics specific to each service.

Source
Cloudflare: What's the Enterprise pricing model for Cloudflare?

Cloudflare Enterprise offers custom pricing and volume discounts available through direct sales for organizations with specialized needs and large-scale usage.

Source
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