A
Cloudflare vs ZeroSSL
Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.
C
Choose Cloudflare if…
- you want the lower entry price ($5/mo vs $14.99/mo)
- you're in its core audience: website owners, developers
Z
Choose ZeroSSL if…
- you need an API to build on
- you're in its core audience: website owners, developers
Side by side
Feature Cloudflare ZeroSSL
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starting price$5/mo$14.99/mo
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
PlatformsWebWeb, API
CategoryDDoS protection & WAFSSL certificates
CompanyCloudflare, Inc.HID Global Corporation
Full feature lists
C Cloudflare
- Unmetered DDoS protection on all plans
- Web application firewall and bot protection
- Global CDN and DNS in 335+ cities
- Universal SSL certificates
- Zero Trust access, SWG and DEX
- Workers serverless functions billed by CPU time
- R2 object storage without egress fees
- D1 SQL, Workers KV and Durable Objects
Z ZeroSSL
- Free 90-day SSL certificates
- Annual, wildcard and multi-domain certificates
- Domain validation by email, server upload or CNAME
- Automated renewal through ACME clients
- REST API for issuance and CSR validation
- SSL monitoring and installation checks
- Audit log and management console
- Protect scans for malware, XSS and SQL injection
Their home pages
What each vendor shows first: the pitch, the plans and the sign-up.
ZeroSSL · zerossl.comWhat you'd pay
The cheapest plan that fits, per month, billed yearly where the plan offers it.
| Team size | Cloudflare | ZeroSSL |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person | $7 Zero Trust Pay-as-you-go | $14.99 Basic |
| 5 people | $20 Pro | $14.99 Basic |
| 20 people | $20 Pro | $14.99 Basic |
Work it out for your team
- CloudflareZero Trust Pay-as-you-go$7/mo
- ZeroSSLBasic$14.99/mo
The cheapest paid plan with a published price that fits. Custom and sales-quoted plans aren't included.
All plans and prices
Cloudflare
Free (Network & CDN)$0
Pro$20/mo billed annually or $25/mo billed monthly
Business$200/mo billed annually or $250/mo billed monthly
ContractCustom
Zero Trust Free$0
Zero Trust Pay-as-you-go$7/user/month
Workers Paid$0.30 / million requests + $0.02 / million CPU ms
ZeroSSL
Free$0
Basic$19.99/mo or $14.99/mo billed yearly
Premium$92.49/mo or $68.99/mo billed yearly
Business$174.99/mo or $129.99/mo billed yearly
Platinum$249.99/mo or $219.99/mo billed yearly
Strengths and limitations
Cloudflare
- Free plan includes unmetered DDoS protection, CDN and SSL
- Zero Trust free for up to 50 users
- Workers billed for CPU time, not idle wall time
- R2 storage has no egress fees
- Uptime SLA only on Business plan and above
- PCI DSS compliance requires Business plan
- Free Zero Trust plan keeps logs only 24 hours
ZeroSSL
- Free plan with 3 90-day certificates and no credit card
- Works with ACME clients and offers a REST API
- Paid plans include unlimited 90-day certificates
- Three domain validation methods
- Free plan is self-service only, with no support
- Annual and wildcard certificates require paid plans
- Annual certificates must be renewed by day 199 under Ballot SC-081v3
More comparisons
Other options to consider
A
Paid
I
II
Contact
D
D
From $3830/mo
L
LL
Free
L
Free, automated TLS certificates for any website from a nonprofit CA
SSL certificatesFree planAPI
S
SS
Free trial
Facts from each vendor's public pages, prices checked Nov 10, 2026. Editorial policy