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Software · head to head

Cloudflare vs Grafana Cloud

Cloudflare logo

Cloudflare

Software

The web performance and security company

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Grafana Cloud logo

Grafana Cloud

Software

Composable observability platform

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 Cloud active Series (AS) billing model is difficult to predict and control; misconfiguration can cause sudden spikes and unexpected bills
  • They diverge on capability: Cloudflare covers Global CDN, Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cloudflare and Grafana Cloud actually diverge.

Attributes where Cloudflare and Grafana Cloud differ
AttributeCloudflareGrafana Cloud
PlatformsWebWeb (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API
Founded20092014

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Unknown), 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 Cloud

  • Grafana Dashboards
  • Prometheus Metrics
  • Loki Logs
  • Tempo Traces
  • Alerting
  • OnCall
  • Synthetic Monitoring
  • Incident Management

Both cover

  • SOC2
  • Cloud deployment
  • Web 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 Cloud
  • DDoS protection and bot blockingnot Grafana Cloud
  • Web application security and rate limitingnot Grafana Cloud
  • DNS management and domain protectionnot Grafana Cloud
  • Static and dynamic content cachingnot Grafana Cloud
  • Serverless computing via Cloudflare Workersnot Grafana Cloud
  • Database and storage services (D1, R2)not Grafana Cloud
  • Performance optimisation for Core Web Vitalsnot Grafana Cloud

Grafana Cloud

  • Infrastructure monitoringnot Cloudflare
  • Application monitoringnot Cloudflare
  • Log aggregationnot Cloudflare
  • Distributed tracingnot 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 Cloud

  • Active Series (AS) billing model is difficult to predict and control; misconfiguration can cause sudden spikes and unexpected bills
  • Reduced control and customization compared to self-hosted Grafana instances
  • Data sovereignty concerns for organizations requiring on-premises data retention
  • Limited reporting types compared to traditional BI tools for compliance and audit requirements

Pricing, plan by plan

Cloudflare

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cloudflare review.

Grafana Cloud

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 10k active series (metrics)
    • 50GB logs/traces per month
    • 3 active users
  • Pro$19/month
    • Usage-based pricing beyond free tier
    • 8 USD per active visualization user
    • Included Grafana Alerting
  • Enterprise$25000/year
    • Minimum annual commitment
    • Full-service deployment options
    • Premium support

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 Cloud if

  • You need grafana dashboards.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API.
  • You also want prometheus metrics.
Grafana Cloud review

Questions people ask

Is Cloudflare or Grafana Cloud better?
Neither clearly leads. Cloudflare starts at Free and Grafana Cloud at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cloudflare or Grafana Cloud?
Cloudflare starts at Free and Grafana Cloud at Free.
Does Cloudflare or Grafana Cloud run on more platforms?
Cloudflare runs on Web. Grafana Cloud runs on Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), 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 Cloud is typically brought in for.
What can Cloudflare do that Grafana Cloud cannot?
Cloudflare covers Global CDN, DDoS Protection, WAF, DNS. Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards, Prometheus Metrics, Loki Logs, Tempo Traces. Both handle SOC2, Cloud deployment, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Grafana Cloud: What are the exact limits of Grafana Cloud's free tier?

Grafana Cloud free tier includes 10,000 active series for metrics, 50GB logs and traces per month, 3 active visualization users, and 14-day retention with community support. No credit card required.

Source
Grafana Cloud: How is Grafana Cloud billed, and what are the per-unit costs?

Grafana Cloud Pro tier starts at $19/month platform fee plus usage-based charges. Metrics cost $6.50 per 1,000 active series above free limits, logs and traces are charged per GB ingested, and visualization users are $8 per active user.

Source
Grafana Cloud: Can I use Grafana Cloud for open-source Grafana deployments?

Grafana Cloud is the managed cloud service version. Open-source Grafana is free and can be self-hosted indefinitely on your own infrastructure.

Source
Grafana Cloud: What observability signals does Grafana Cloud include?

Grafana Cloud includes metrics (via Mimir), logs (via Loki), traces (via Tempo), profiles, and synthetics, with unified querying and visualization across all signals.

Source
Grafana Cloud: Does Grafana Cloud include alerting and how is it priced?

Yes, Grafana Alerting is included at no additional charge across all tiers. Rule storage, evaluation, and notification delivery are covered by the platform fee with no per-alert or per-notification fees.

Source
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