Cloudflare
New Relic
| Feature | Cloudflare | New Relic |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $20/mo | Free / from $0.3/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.6 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | websites, web-applications, api-developers, enterprises | development-teams, sre-teams, startups, devops-engineers |
| Founded | 2009 | 2008 |
| Cdn | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ddos Protection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Dns | ✓ | ✗ |
| Workers Serverless | ✓ | ✗ |
| Zero Trust | ✓ | ✗ |
| Web Application Firewall | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ssl Tls | ✓ | ✗ |
| Pages | ✓ | ✗ |
| Apm | ✗ | ✓ |
| Infrastructure Monitoring | ✗ | ✓ |
| Log Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Browser Monitoring | ✗ | ✓ |
| Synthetics | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Assistant | ✗ | ✓ |
| Distributed Tracing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Error Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Cloudflare Pros
- Generous free tier includes CDN, DNS, and basic DDoS protection
- Global edge network with 300+ data centers
- Workers platform for serverless computing at the edge
- Fast DNS propagation and always-on DDoS mitigation
✗ Cloudflare Cons
- Advanced security features require expensive plans
- Support quality varies by plan level
- Some features have usage-based billing surprises
✓ New Relic Pros
- Generous free tier with 100GB/month data ingest
- Full-stack observability in one platform
- Usage-based pricing is cost-effective for many teams
- Strong AI assistant (New Relic AI) for troubleshooting
✗ New Relic Cons
- Per-user pricing for full platform access
- Data retention limits on free tier
- Can be complex to set up comprehensively
The Verdict
Cloudflare is built for websites and web applications, with a focus on cdn and ddos-protection. New Relic targets development teams and sre teams and leads with apm and infrastructure-monitoring.
On pricing, New Relic is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $0.3/mo compared to $20/mo for Cloudflare. That $19.7/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Bottom line: Cloudflare has a slight overall edge — but if generous free tier with 100gb/month data ingest matters most to you, New Relic may still be the right call.