Comparison

Cloudflare WAF vs ModSecurity

On the evidence we track, Cloudflare WAF leads this comparison with a composite score of 57/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
Cloudflare WAF57
ModSecurity32
Score
Vioscale score
Cloudflare WAF57 / 100medium · 53%
ModSecurity32 / 100low · 20%
Pricing
Free tier
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurity
Model
Cloudflare WAFfreemium
ModSecuritycommercial
Price level
Cloudflare WAFmid
ModSecurityfree
Starting price
Cloudflare WAF$20
ModSecurity
Transparent
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurity
Security
Gdpr
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurity
Pci
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurity
Reliability
Sla pct
Cloudflare WAF100
ModSecurity
Adoption
Dependent repos
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurity0
Github stars
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurity9,753
Activity
Commits last 30d
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurity0
Release
Cadence days
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurity85
History
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurity20 items
License
Spdx
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurityApache-2.0
Language
Primary
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurityC++
Market
Availability
ModSecurity

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for waf. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capabilities
Deployment model
Cloudflare WAF-
ModSecurity-
Owasp top 10 protection
Cloudflare WAF-
ModSecurity-
Custom rules engine
Cloudflare WAF-
ModSecurity-
Bot management
Cloudflare WAF-
ModSecurity-
API discovery protection
Cloudflare WAF-
ModSecurity-
Ddos l7 protection
Cloudflare WAF-
ModSecurity-
Rate limiting
Cloudflare WAF-
ModSecurity-
Threat intel feeds
Cloudflare WAF-
ModSecurity-
SIEM logging integration
Cloudflare WAF-
ModSecurity-
Kubernetes ingress support
Cloudflare WAF-
ModSecurity-
SOC2 type ii
Cloudflare WAF-
ModSecurity-
PCI DSS compliant
Cloudflare WAF-
ModSecurity-
Fedramp authorized
Cloudflare WAF-
ModSecurity-
Pricing model
Cloudflare WAF-
ModSecurity-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Cloudflare WAF

Leader

A cloud-based firewall that intercepts HTTP/S requests at Cloudflare's distributed network, using automated and customizable rules to block common vulnerabilities like SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks without adding latency to legitimate user requests.

Independently observed

ModSecurity

A flexible firewall module that monitors HTTP traffic and enforces security policies through a customizable rules engine.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Cloudflare WAF

Leader
from $20/moSubscriptionFree tier

Free tier available. Paid plans start at $20/month billed annually.

  • FreeFree
    • DNS
    • DDoS Protection
    • CDN
    • SSL Certificate
    • Managed Ruleset
  • Pro$20/mo billed annually or $25/mo billed monthly
    • DNS
    • DDoS Protection
    • CDN
    • SSL Certificate
    • Managed Ruleset
    • +3 more
  • Business$200/mo billed annually or $250/mo billed monthly
    • DNS
    • DDoS Protection
    • CDN
    • SSL Certificate
    • Managed Ruleset
    • +6 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • All Business plan features
    • Priority phone and professional services support
    • Extended log retention and SIEM integration
    • Role-based access control
as of verify ↗

ModSecurity

Open sourceFree tier
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurity
CLI
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurity
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurity
Self-hosted
Cloudflare WAF
ModSecurity

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.