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AWS (Amazon Web Services) vs Cloudflare R2

AWS (Amazon Web Services) logo

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

Cloud

The leading cloud computing platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Cloudflare R2 logo

Cloudflare R2

File Storage

S3-compatible object storage that charges nothing for egress to the internet

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: AWS (Amazon Web Services) data transfer in is free and data transfer out is charged, which is the standard source of unexpected bills; Cloudflare R2 there is no archive tier below Infrequent Access, so genuinely cold data costs roughly ten to fifteen times what it would cost in a deep archive class and there is nowhere cheaper to lifecycle it to.
  • They diverge on capability: AWS (Amazon Web Services) covers EC2 - Virtual Servers, Cloudflare R2 covers Zero egress billing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Cloudflare R2 actually diverge.

Attributes where AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Cloudflare R2 differ
AttributeAWS (Amazon Web Services)Cloudflare R2
Pricing modelusage-basedPer gigabyte stored per month
PlatformsWeb, Api, Cli, MobileWeb, API
CategoryCloudFile Storage
Founded2006Unknown

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 AWS (Amazon Web Services)

  • EC2 - Virtual Servers
  • S3 - Object Storage
  • RDS - Managed Database
  • Lambda - Serverless Computing
  • CloudFront - CDN
  • VPC - Virtual Network
  • IAM - Access Management
  • CloudWatch - Monitoring

Only in Cloudflare R2

  • Zero egress billing
  • S3 API compatibility
  • Worker binding
  • Jurisdictional restriction
  • Infrequent Access tier
  • Custom domain serving

What people use each for

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

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

  • Web hostingnot Cloudflare R2
  • Data storagenot Cloudflare R2
  • Machine learningnot Cloudflare R2
  • Big data analyticsnot Cloudflare R2
  • Application developmentnot Cloudflare R2

Cloudflare R2

  • Serving a large media or asset library to the public where transfer out, not storage, is the dominant costnot AWS (Amazon Web Services)
  • Hosting a container or artefact registry that thousands of CI runners pull from every daynot AWS (Amazon Web Services)
  • Distributing model weights or open datasets that are downloaded far more often than they are updatednot AWS (Amazon Web Services)
  • Moving off S3 specifically to stop paying data transfer charges on a read heavy bucketnot AWS (Amazon Web Services)

Where each one falls short

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

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

  • Data transfer in is free and data transfer out is charged, which is the standard source of unexpected bills
  • Discounts require one or three year Savings Plan commitments rather than being automatic
  • Every service is priced separately, so a working architecture has no single published cost
  • The free tier is a promotional allowance rather than an ongoing free plan

Cloudflare R2

  • There is no archive tier below Infrequent Access, so genuinely cold data costs roughly ten to fifteen times what it would cost in a deep archive class and there is nowhere cheaper to lifecycle it to.
  • Class A operations are billed at 4.50 USD per million, so a workload that writes millions of small objects can spend more on operations than on the storage those objects occupy.
  • Infrequent Access carries both a retrieval fee and a thirty day minimum storage duration, so data that is deleted or re-read sooner ends up more expensive than if it had stayed on Standard.
  • You choose a location hint rather than a region, so you cannot prove to an auditor which datacentre holds an object unless you use a jurisdiction restricted bucket, and jurisdictions are limited.
  • Support level follows your Cloudflare account plan rather than the storage spend, so a team on a low tier account gets ticket support with no storage specific SLA, and an R2 incident is a Cloudflare incident you cannot fail over from because the free egress only exists inside Cloudflare.

Pricing, plan by plan

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

Free
  • AWS Free TierFree
    • EC2 750 hours/month
    • 5GB S3 storage
    • 20GB data transfer
  • Pay-As-You-GoFree
    • No upfront payment
    • No long-term commitments
    • Pay only for what you use

Cloudflare R2

Free
  • Free tierFree
    • 10 GB stored per month
    • 1 million Class A operations
    • 10 million Class B operations
  • Standard$0.015/month
    • Per gigabyte stored per month
    • 4.50 USD per million Class A operations
    • 0.36 USD per million Class B operations
  • Infrequent Access$0.01/month
    • Per gigabyte stored per month
    • Per gigabyte data retrieval fee
    • Thirty day minimum storage duration

Which should you pick?

Choose AWS (Amazon Web Services) if

  • You need ec2 - virtual servers.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Cli, Mobile.
  • You also want s3 - object storage.
AWS (Amazon Web Services) review

Choose Cloudflare R2 if

  • You need zero egress billing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want s3 api compatibility.
Cloudflare R2 review

Questions people ask

Is AWS (Amazon Web Services) or Cloudflare R2 better?
Neither clearly leads. AWS (Amazon Web Services) starts at Free and Cloudflare R2 at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, AWS (Amazon Web Services) or Cloudflare R2?
AWS (Amazon Web Services) starts at Free and Cloudflare R2 at Free.
Does AWS (Amazon Web Services) or Cloudflare R2 run on more platforms?
AWS (Amazon Web Services) runs on Web, Api, Cli, Mobile. Cloudflare R2 runs on Web, API.
Can I use AWS (Amazon Web Services) for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is AWS (Amazon Web Services) best used for?
AWS (Amazon Web Services) is most often used for web hosting, data storage, machine learning, big data analytics. Of those, web hosting and data storage are not what Cloudflare R2 is typically brought in for.
What can AWS (Amazon Web Services) do that Cloudflare R2 cannot?
AWS (Amazon Web Services) covers EC2 - Virtual Servers, S3 - Object Storage, RDS - Managed Database, Lambda - Serverless Computing. Cloudflare R2 covers Zero egress billing, S3 API compatibility, Worker binding, Jurisdictional restriction.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

AWS (Amazon Web Services): What are AWS's payment options and pricing models?

AWS offers four pricing approaches: pay-as-you-go (you pay only for what you use), flat-rate plans combining multiple services into one monthly price without overages, Savings Plans offering discounts on compute and machine learning with 1- or 3-year commitments, and volume-based tiered pricing where costs decrease as usage increases.

Source
Cloudflare R2: Is egress really free, with no hidden transfer charge?

Yes for data served out of R2 to the internet. You still pay per operation for the requests that serve it, and if you pull data into R2 from another provider you pay that provider the egress on the way in.

AWS (Amazon Web Services): Are there contracts, termination fees, or commitments required for AWS?

No long-term contracts are required for AWS services. No termination fees apply once you stop using the service. Savings Plans provide optional 1- or 3-year commitments with discounted hourly rates, but you can revert to pay-as-you-go pricing anytime.

Source
Cloudflare R2: How does the total cost compare with S3 for a public download bucket?

Storage is more expensive per terabyte than S3 Infrequent Access, but S3 charges roughly 90 USD per terabyte served. Any bucket that serves more than about a fifth of its stored volume each month is cheaper on R2.

AWS (Amazon Web Services): Does AWS offer a free tier?

AWS provides a free tier that offers hands-on experience with AWS products at no charge. The free tier allows new customers to try eligible services before committing to paid usage.

Source
Cloudflare R2: Can I use R2 without using the rest of Cloudflare?

Yes, it works through the plain S3 API from anywhere. You lose the Worker binding and the free CDN caching in front of it, which is where a lot of the practical benefit sits.

AWS (Amazon Web Services): How do I estimate my AWS costs?

AWS provides the AWS Pricing Calculator and Cost Explorer tool to estimate costs for single or multiple services. AWS also offers cost optimization recommendations, performance reporting, and budget alerts to help track and control spending.

Source
Cloudflare R2: Does R2 have a cold archive class like Glacier?

No. Infrequent Access is the coldest tier, at two thirds of the Standard rate plus retrieval fees.

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