Cloudflare

Cloudflare

Cloudflare is more than a CDN; it is a global super-cloud. In 2025, Workers AI (Edge GPU inference) and R2 (Egress-free storage) are compelling reasons to build here.

When to Use

• Edge Compute: Cloudflare Workers start in <5ms globally. Perfect for APIs and Middleware.
• Storage: R2 is S3-compatible but has zero egress fees. Massive cost savings for data-heavy apps.
• Security: Zero Trust (Access) replaces corporate VPNs.

Core Concepts

Workers

V8 Isolate-based serverless functions. No cold starts. Write code in TS/​JS/​Rust/​Python.

Durable Objects

Stateful storage at the edge. Allows coordination (e.g., waiting lists, chat rooms) globally without a central DB.

Workers AI

Run open-source models (Llama 3, Whisper) on Cloudflare's network of GPUs with a simple API call.

Best Practices (2025)

Do:

• Use Wrangler: The CLI is fantastic for local dev and deploy (npx wrangler dev).
• Use R2: Move high-bandwidth assets from AWS S3 to R2 to kill egress bills.
• Use Pages: For hosting static sites + functions (full stack JAMstack).

Don't:

• Don't block good bots: Configure WAF carefully. Use "Managed Rulesets" rather than writing brittle regex rules securely.

References

• Cloudflare Developers