Vendor comparison
Fastly Next-Gen WAF vs Cloudflare WAF: pricing compared
Edge-WAF shortlist. Fastly Next-Gen WAF (the former Signal Sciences) is technically excellent but priced quote-only across all three Security packages. Cloudflare publishes plans from Free to Enterprise. Detection quality versus pricing transparency.
Last verified June 2026
Decision in one paragraph
Fastly wins on detection quality (SmartParse, low false-positive rate, easy custom rules). Cloudflare wins on price transparency and on the developer-platform bundle around the WAF. Pick Fastly when you are engineering-led and accept the loss of list pricing for the detection model. Pick Cloudflare when you want to deploy this week and know the monthly bill in advance.
Side by side
Fastly Next-Gen WAF
- All three Security packages (Core, Core Plus, Total) are quote-only.
- Signal Sciences SmartParse detection engine is the technical differentiator.
- Per-endpoint observability via the Signal Sciences agent.
- Edge or core deployment; agent can run on origin or at the Fastly edge.
- Pre-acquisition Signal Sciences customers were re-papered onto Fastly contracts.
Cloudflare WAF
- Free through Business is published: $0, $20-25, $200-250.
- Bot Management Enterprise quote-only; below Enterprise is fully self-serve.
- Bundled CDN, DNS, Universal SSL at every paid tier.
- Global Anycast network with developer platform (Workers, R2, D1).
- API Shield is an Enterprise add-on.
Feature matrix
| Feature | Fastly NGWAF | Cloudflare |
|---|---|---|
| Published list pricing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Free tier | ✗ | ✓ |
| SmartParse detection engine | ✓ | ✗ |
| Bundled CDN | ✓ | ✓ |
| Self-serve onboarding | ✗ | ✓ |
| Agent deployment option | ✓ | ✗ |
| Per-endpoint observability | ✓ | ◐ |
| Edge-only deployment | ✓ | ✓ |
Headline pricing
| Vendor | Cheapest published rate | Pricing model | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fastly Next-Gen WAF | Quote only | Three security packages, all priced quote-only | Source (2026-06-19) |
| Cloudflare WAF | Free plan, WAF rules included | Flat monthly plan, WAF included on every paid tier | Source (2026-06-19) |
Direct answer
Which is cheaper at typical traffic?
Cloudflare is cheaper at every comparable tier because Fastly publishes nothing. Buyer-shared bands put Fastly Security Core in the $1,000+/mo range for production workloads; Cloudflare Business at $200-250/mo covers comparable feature surface at the expense of the SmartParse detection model.
Source: Use the cost calculator on the homepage to model your own workload.
Switching cost
If you are already on one and considering the other
Fastly-to-Cloudflare or vice versa requires DNS change, TLS cert re-issuance, and re-tuning of custom rules. Fastly Signal Sciences rules use a different syntax than Cloudflare WAF rules; expect a meaningful translation pass. Workers code on Cloudflare and VCL on Fastly are not interchangeable.
Where to read more
Cross-reference with the pricing-models explainer and the hidden-costs page before signing.
Last verified June 2026