Easily compare Cloudflare and Imperva for POP locations, products, pricing, features & support. We hope this helps you better understand the similarities and differences between these content delivery networks.
Company
| Company | Cloudflare | Imperva |
|---|---|---|
| Short profile | Cloudflare provides a global CDN with unique performance capabilities and a strong focus on security. The company has a global infrastructure built from the ground up using only next-generation, high-performance equipment—no legacy software or hardware. The result is a CDN that's easy to set up, affordable, and built to continuously adapt and integrate emerging technologies to meet future needs of everyone's Internet properties. | Imperva's CDN (formerly Incapsula) makes your websites and applications faster, more reliable and safer. A global network of servers provides content caching, load balancing and failover, while an enterprise-grade cloud web application firewall and DDoS protection safeguard your site from the latest threats. |
Products
| Product | Cloudflare | Imperva |
|---|---|---|
| Dynamic content deliveryNon-cacheable content delivery. User login, shopping cart ... | Content Delivery Network | |
| Small file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of small files (file size <1 MB) | Content Caching | |
| Large file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of large files (file size >1 MB) | ||
| Live videoDelivery of live video. RTMP? Transcoding/transmuxing? | Stream Live | |
| Video on demandDelivery of on demand video | Stream | |
| Image OptimizationAutomatic image transformation/compression/optimization | Image Resizing, Mirage, Polish | Image Compression |
| DNSAuthoritative DNS for customer domain | DNS |
Name Server (NS) Protection
Name Server (NS) Protection is a secure proxy in front of your authoritative DNS
|
| WAFWeb Application Firewall | Cloud Web Application Firewall | Web Application Firewall |
| Anti-DDoSDDoS attack protection. Specific product(s) for this. | DDoS Protection | DDoS Protection |
| Private CDNDedicated edge resources & custom configs | ||
| Edge ComputeRun your code on CDN edge servers | Workers |
Network
How many POP locations do Cloudflare and Imperva have in different parts of the world?
| Region | Cloudflare | Imperva |
|---|---|---|
| North America | 54 | 12 |
| Latin America | 55 | 5 |
| Europe | 47 | 12 |
| Russia & CIS | 12 | 0 |
| Asia excl. China | 45 | 12 |
| China | 37 | 0 |
| Oceania | 14 | 3 |
| Middle East | 21 | 3 |
| Africa | 24 | 2 |
Pricing
| Pricing & contract duration | Cloudflare | Imperva |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum contract term | None | Unknown |
| Minimum monthly costs | $0 | Unknown |
| Requests costsCustomers pay for client to CDN requests | None | Unknown |
| Ingress costsCustomers pay for origin-to-CDN bytes transferred | None | Unknown |
| NA/EU traffic (low volume) | $0 | Unknown |
| APAC traffic (low volume) | $0 | Unknown |
| LATAM traffic (low volume) | $0 | Unknown |
Features
| Web acceleration | Cloudflare | Imperva |
|---|---|---|
| Instant setupSign up, configure, start testing. | ||
| Change propagation delayHow fast do config changes propagate to all POPs? | Instant | Instant |
Apex/root domain OK  No performance degradation when using http(s)://domain.com |
Global Anycast network | Anycasted network (regional) |
| HTTP/2 | FAQ | |
| HTTP/3 | HTTP/3 Prioritization | |
| WebSockets | WebSockets docs | WebSockets docs |
| IPv6Do the edge servers have IPv6? | IPv6 support | |
| Compression Reduce file size for faster delivery |
Resend from origin, or compress on edge | Compress on the edge |
| Origin pull - protocolHTTP only or HTTPS possible too? | HTTP and HTTPS |
HTTP and HTTPS.
Can be IP address
|
| Origin pull - Host headerUse client > edge value? Set specific value? | Can be an IP address |
Can configure specific other Host header.
Forward client request Host header is possible
|
| Origin ShieldOne POP pulls from origin, other POPs pull from the shield POP | Tiered Cache, included in all paid plans | |
| Waiting RoomDuring peak traffic, route users to a virtual waiting room | Cloudflare Waiting Room | Waiting Room |
| Push / uploadStore your content directly on CDN, no customer origin | ||
| Cache control - CDN caching | Page rules for overriding caching headers | Granular control/override rules possible |
| Cache control - client caching | Granular control/override rules possible | |
| Serve Stale CDN serves cached but expired content in case origin is in trouble |
Only 'stale while revalidate' | |
| Purge Invalidate or delete cached objects on CDN |
Purge Speed | Instant |
| Purge - capabilities | Purge per file and purge all | Purge all, by directory, by file extension, by tag(s) |
| Analytics | Web analytics, threats and more. Live-updating for paying customers | Real time perf and security events dashboard |
| Log files | Only for Enterprise customers, instantly available |
Available via UI, API, or full SIEM integration
Logs are not delayed
|
| API | Purge, analytics, configuration | Purge, analytics, configuration |
| HTTPS & Content Protection | Cloudflare | Imperva |
|---|---|---|
| CDN domain HTTPSUse the CDN's domain, like cloudfront.net | SNI | CDN and SSL/TLS |
| Customer domain HTTPSYour domain in the CDN's certificate | More info | |
| Customer cert HTTPSYour certificate on the CDN | ||
| Token authentication | More info | Via authentication header |
| Geo blocking | Access Rules | |
| Hotlink protectionThird parties cannot deeplink to your content | ||
| Basic authenticationUser logs in on the CDN to get content | Possible with Workers | Two Factor Authentication |
| IP white/blacklisting | Access Rules | IP address/ranges/subnets, self-service in UI |
Support
| Customer support | Cloudflare | Imperva |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation | Yes, public. Cloudflare Community. | Yes, public |
| Humans | Email support for all. Phone only for Enterprise customers | Imperva’s team of support engineers deliver technical assistance 24x7x365 via phone, email, or online via the self service portal |