What Cloudflare Workers does
Cloudflare Workers is a serverless platform that runs code across Cloudflare's global network and scales automatically. It is for developers building APIs, full-stack web apps with frameworks such as React, Vue or Next.js, edge logic such as authentication and caching, and scheduled jobs. Workers use V8 isolates to avoid cold starts and can run near data with Smart Placement. Code can be written in JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Rust or WASM, and connects to R2, D1, KV, Queues and Workers AI. Gradual rollouts and instant rollbacks manage deploys, and the open-source workerd runtime supports local development. Billing is usage-based, charging for CPU time rather than idle time spent waiting on I/O.
How Cloudflare Workers compares with its closest alternatives
All 5 closest alternatives have a free plan, as Cloudflare Workers does. Among the 2 that list a starting price, the cheapest is Netlify at $19 a month and the median is $19.50. Cloudflare Workers starts at $5 a month, below that median. All 5 offer an API, as Cloudflare Workers does. Cloudflare Workers offers a web app and a command-line tool. Of the alternatives, all 5 offer a web app and 3 offer a command-line tool. Cloudflare Workers was founded in 2009; the alternatives were founded between 2014 and 2022. The alternatives with a known headquarters are in the United States.