# CloudFlare's Free CDN with Unlimited Bandwidth Explained

> CloudFlare offers free CDN service with unlimited bandwidth through strategic user growth and premium plans.
- Title: CloudFlare's Free CDN with Unlimited Bandwidth Explained
- Summary: CloudFlare offers free CDN service with unlimited bandwidth through strategic user growth and premium plans. CloudFlare provides free CDN with unlimited…
- Keywords: cloudflare, cdn, bandwidth, free tier, unlimited bandwidth, webmasters, stack overflow, technology, startups, CloudFlare's, Free, Unlimited
- Source: Stackexchange — https://webmasters.stackexchange.com/questions/88659/how-can-cloudflare-offer-a-free-cdn-with-unlimited-bandwidth/88685
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: cloudflare, cdn, bandwidth, free tier, unlimited bandwidth, webmasters, stack overflow, technology, startups
## CloudFlare Free CDN Service
CloudFlare offers unlimited bandwidth for free while other CDNs charge starting at $.10/gb.

> CloudFlare does not have bandwidth limits. As long as the domains being added comply with our Terms of Service, CloudFlare does not impose any limits.
## Free Tier Benefits
CloudFlare uses free users to analyze traffic, improve algorithms, and attract premium customers.

> They can offer this free plan because they earn enough from their Premium plans to cover the costs.
## Five Reasons for Free Tier
CloudFlare provides free tier for data collection, customer referrals, employee referrals, quality testing, and solving bandwidth chicken and egg problem.

> Five reasons we offer a free version of the service and always will: 1. Data: we see a much broader range of attacks than we would if we only had our paid users.
## Bandwidth Economics
CloudFlare calculates bandwidth on egress traffic, not ingress, which helps manage costs during DDoS attacks.

> CloudFlare is a caching proxy so egress (out) typically exceeds ingress (in), usually by around 4-5x.
## Terms of Service
CloudFlare may suspend accounts if users violate terms or cause excessive burden on their systems.

> If you cost them too much, they can stop providing you a service without notice.
## Freemium Model
CloudFlare uses freemium model to attract users and convert them to premium plans for advanced features.

> Freemium is a pricing strategy by which a product or service is provided free of charge, but money is charged for proprietary features.
## Business Model
CloudFlare achieves 70%+ gross margins and profitability through free tier users and premium plans.

> Today CloudFlare has 70%+ gross margins and is profitable (EBITDA)/break even (Net Income) even with the vast majority of our users paying nothing.
## User Experience
Free users help CloudFlare improve web application firewall and other security features.

> Their web application firewall is so smart because it's been created from data across the web.
## Bandwidth Limits
CloudFlare does not have bandwidth limits but may limit caching for heavy users.

> If you place a large burden on the CloudFlare systems, you are likely to be encouraged to upgrade to a paid plan.
## Free Tier Limitations
Free tier users may face reduced caching or other limitations as their usage increases.

> CloudFlare may suspend or terminate your account without notice if you cost them too much.
## Business Impact
CloudFlare's free tier helps them compete with other CDNs by offering unlimited bandwidth at no cost.

> It does not offer unlimited bandwidth. Unlimited bandwidth does not exist and is an impossibility.
## User Growth
CloudFlare's free tier attracts thousands of users who become premium customers over time.

> Many of our largest customers came because a critical employee of theirs fell in love with the free version of our service.
## Bandwidth Calculation
CloudFlare calculates bandwidth based on egress traffic, not ingress, to manage costs effectively.

> Our bandwidth bill is therefore calculated on egress so we don't pay for ingress.
## Free Tier Sustainability
CloudFlare's free tier is sustainable through premium users and data analysis from free users.

> They do this at scale and they've been doing it for a long time so I wouldn't worry about them going out of business.
## Key Takeaway
CloudFlare offers free CDN with unlimited bandwidth by leveraging free users for data and marketing, while charging premium users for advanced features.

> CloudFlare does not have bandwidth limits. As long as the domains being added comply with our Terms of Service, CloudFlare does not impose any limits.
## Key takeaway

CloudFlare provides free CDN with unlimited bandwidth by leveraging free users for data analysis and marketing, while charging premium users for advanced features.