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Software · head to head

Cloudflare vs Grafana

Cloudflare logo

Cloudflare

Software

The web performance and security company

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Grafana logo

Grafana

Software

Observability and Data Visualization

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Cloudflare free tier limited to basic features (no advanced analytics or premium features); Grafana the free tier retains metrics, logs and traces for 14 days only
  • They diverge on capability: Cloudflare covers Global CDN, Grafana covers Dashboard creation.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cloudflare and Grafana actually diverge.

Attributes where Cloudflare and Grafana differ
AttributeCloudflareGrafana
Pricing modelUnknownopen-source
PlatformsWebWeb, Api
Founded20092014

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

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 Cloudflare

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

Only in Grafana

  • Dashboard creation
  • Alerting
  • Data source integration
  • Visualization plugins
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST

Both cover

  • Web support
  • Api support

What people use each for

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

Cloudflare

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

Grafana

  • Dashboards and visualisation over metrics, logs and tracesnot Cloudflare
  • Running observability across infrastructure and applicationsnot Cloudflare

Where each one falls short

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

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)

Grafana

  • The free tier retains metrics, logs and traces for 14 days only
  • Free is capped at 10,000 active metric series and 50 GB each of logs and traces a month
  • The Pro plan carries a $19 a month platform fee before any usage charges
  • Logs and traces are billed on three separate meters, at $0.050 per GB processed, $0.400 per GB written and $0.100 per GB retained
  • Retaining data is an ongoing charge rather than a one off, so historical data costs every month it exists

Pricing, plan by plan

Cloudflare

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cloudflare review.

Grafana

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Dashboard creation
    • Alerting
    • Data source integration

Which should you pick?

Choose Cloudflare if

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

Choose Grafana if

  • You need dashboard creation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want alerting.
Grafana review

Questions people ask

Is Cloudflare or Grafana better?
Neither clearly leads. Cloudflare starts at Free and Grafana at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cloudflare or Grafana?
Cloudflare starts at Free and Grafana at Free.
Does Cloudflare or Grafana run on more platforms?
Cloudflare runs on Web. Grafana runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Cloudflare for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Cloudflare best used for?
Cloudflare is most often used for global content delivery network (cdn) with 330+ data centres worldwide, ddos protection and bot blocking, web application security and rate limiting, dns management and domain protection. Of those, global content delivery network (cdn) with 330+ data centres worldwide and ddos protection and bot blocking are not what Grafana is typically brought in for.
What can Cloudflare do that Grafana cannot?
Cloudflare covers Global CDN, DDoS Protection, WAF, DNS. Grafana covers Dashboard creation, Alerting, Data source integration, Visualization plugins. Both handle Web support, Api support.
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