Softwr

Networking · head to head

Cloudflare vs Nebula

Cloudflare logo

Cloudflare

Networking

The web performance and security company

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Nebula logo

Nebula

Networking

Certificate based overlay network from Slack, with identity and firewall rules carried in the certificate

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); Nebula the open source project has no user interface, no enrolment workflow and no revocation service, so certificate issuing, distribution and expiry become scripts you write and then have to keep working.
  • They diverge on capability: Cloudflare covers Global CDN, Nebula covers Certificate carried identity.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cloudflare and Nebula actually diverge.

Attributes where Cloudflare and Nebula differ
AttributeCloudflareNebula
Pricing modelfreemiumOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD
Founded2009Unknown

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

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 Nebula

  • Certificate carried identity
  • Group based host firewall
  • Lighthouse discovery
  • Noise protocol encryption
  • Unsafe routes
  • Managed option

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

Nebula

  • Flattening a network across several clouds and datacentres without VPC peering or route tablesnot Cloudflare
  • Very large fleets where a central policy service on the connection path is unacceptablenot Cloudflare
  • Environments that already run an internal certificate authority and want the network to use itnot Cloudflare
  • Replacing per host iptables rules with policy written against roles that follow the hostnot 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)

Nebula

  • The open source project has no user interface, no enrolment workflow and no revocation service, so certificate issuing, distribution and expiry become scripts you write and then have to keep working.
  • Revoking a compromised host means distributing a blocklist entry to every other host and reloading them, which is a fleet wide operation rather than a click, and easy to get wrong under pressure.
  • Changing a host group membership means reissuing and redeploying its certificate, so policy changes are a deployment rather than a configuration edit.
  • There is no identity provider integration or single sign on in the open source version, so it maps well to servers and badly to a fleet of user laptops.
  • NAT traversal is best effort and hosts behind symmetric NAT need a relay configured deliberately, so connectivity failures show up as intermittent rather than immediate and are awkward to diagnose.

Pricing, plan by plan

Cloudflare

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cloudflare review.

Nebula

Free
  • NebulaFree
    • Full functionality under the MIT licence
    • No host limit
    • You operate the certificate authority and lighthouses
  • Defined Networking$undefined/month
    • Hosted control plane and enrolment
    • Managed certificate lifecycle and revocation
    • Policy and DNS interface

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 Nebula if

  • You need certificate carried identity.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD.
  • You also want group based host firewall.
Nebula review

Questions people ask

Is Cloudflare or Nebula better?
Neither clearly leads. Cloudflare starts at Free and Nebula at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cloudflare or Nebula?
Cloudflare starts at Free and Nebula at Free.
Does Cloudflare or Nebula run on more platforms?
Cloudflare runs on Web. Nebula runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD.
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 Nebula is typically brought in for.
What can Cloudflare do that Nebula cannot?
Cloudflare covers Global CDN, DDoS Protection, WAF, DNS. Nebula covers Certificate carried identity, Group based host firewall, Lighthouse discovery, Noise protocol encryption.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Nebula: Does it use WireGuard?

No. Nebula predates the common WireGuard mesh tools and uses the Noise protocol framework with its own certificate format.

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
Nebula: Can I run it without Defined Networking?

Yes, entirely. Defined Networking sells the control plane conveniences, not the network itself.

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
Nebula: How do I revoke a host?

Add its certificate fingerprint to the blocklist in the configuration of the other hosts and reload them. There is no online revocation check.

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
Nebula: Is it a good fit for laptops?

Less so than the identity provider based tools. There is no single sign on, so every laptop needs a certificate issued and renewed by whatever process you build.

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