Amazon Cloud Services vs Cloudflare: Key Differences for DevOps
Amazon Web Services vs Cloudflare: What’s the Difference? Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Cloudflare are both major cloud providers, but they serve different purposes. AWS offers a full suite of cloud computing services, while Cloudflare focuses on performance and security at the network edge. Quick Overview Feature AWS Cloudflare Core Purpose Full cloud computing (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) Edge CDN, DNS, and security Popular Services EC2, S3, Lambda, Route 53 CDN, DNS, WAF, DDoS Protection Global CDN Amazon CloudFront Built-in and faster at the edge DNS Route 53 Fast DNS with built-in proxy/security DDoS Protection AWS Shield Included with Cloudflare proxy SSL/TLS ACM or manual setup Free and automatic Pricing Model Pay-as-you-go, complex Free tier + flat pricing When to Choose AWS Full infrastructure deployment (compute, storage, DB) Custom cloud-native app architecture Need for serverless (Lambda), container services (ECS, EKS) When to Choose Cloudflare CDN + DNS + WAF + DDoS on top of existing hosting Protect origin servers from attacks Easy HTTPS setup and caching without managing infrastructure Combined Approach (Best Practice) Often, they’re used together: ...