AWS Shield vs Cloudflare DDoS Protection
On the evidence we track, AWS Shield leads this comparison with a composite score of 50/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.
Capabilities
Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for ddos protection. “-” means undocumented, not absent.
What each one is
The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.
AWS Shield
LeaderA managed DDoS protection service that provides automatic, real-time defense against distributed denial-of-service attacks. Offers a free standard tier for basic infrastructure protection and a premium tier with advanced threat detection, application-layer defense, and expert incident response.
Cloudflare DDoS Protection
A DDoS mitigation service that defends against volumetric attacks by leveraging Cloudflare's global network with 500 Tbps of capacity. Protects web applications, networks, and infrastructure at layers 3-7 with 24/7 support.
Pricing
List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.
AWS Shield
LeaderFree tier included with AWS account; Advanced tier available (pricing not specified in documentation)
- AWS Shield StandardFree
- Protection against common network and transport layer DDoS attacks
- Deterministic packet filtering
- Priority-based traffic shaping
- Works with CloudFront and Route 53
- AWS Shield Advanced-
- Automatic mitigation of sophisticated DDoS events
- Customized detection based on traffic patterns
- Application-layer attack detection (HTTP floods, DNS query floods)
- Real-time notifications via CloudWatch
- 24/7 Shield Response Team support
- +2 more
Cloudflare DDoS Protection
Free plan available. Paid plans from $20/mo (billed annually) or $25/mo (billed monthly) through $250/mo with custom enterprise pricing.
- FreeFree
- Fast, Easy-to-use DNS
- Unmetered DDoS Protection
- Universal SSL Certificate
- Free Managed Ruleset
- Pro$20/mo billed annually
- Fast, Easy-to-use DNS
- Unmetered DDoS Protection
- Universal SSL Certificate
- Free Managed Ruleset
- Web Application Firewall (WAF)
- Pro$25/mo billed monthly
- Fast, Easy-to-use DNS
- Unmetered DDoS Protection
- Universal SSL Certificate
- Free Managed Ruleset
- Web Application Firewall (WAF)
- Business$200/mo billed annually
- Fast, Easy-to-use DNS
- Unmetered DDoS Protection
- Universal SSL Certificate
- Free Managed Ruleset
- Web Application Firewall (WAF)
- +4 more
- Business$250/mo billed monthly
- Fast, Easy-to-use DNS
- Unmetered DDoS Protection
- Universal SSL Certificate
- Free Managed Ruleset
- Web Application Firewall (WAF)
- +4 more
- EnterpriseContact sales
Platform & deployment
Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.
Integrations
What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.
AWS Shield
Leader- AWS WAF
- Amazon CloudFront
- Amazon Route 53
- Elastic IP
- Elastic Load Balancing
- AWS Global Accelerator
- Amazon CloudWatch
- AWS Firewall Manager
- Amazon EC2
Cloudflare DDoS Protection
- Amazon S3
AWS Shield or Cloudflare DDoS Protection: which one depends on you
A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.
Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works
Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.