this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2025
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I'm using CloudFlare to hide my home IP and to reduce traffic from clankers. However, I'm using the free tier, so how am I the product? What am I sacrificing? Is there another way to do the above without selling my digital soul?

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[–] dugmeup@lemmynsfw.com 22 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The simple answer is twofold

  1. Their attack surface is massive. By getting all this data from millions of devices they are fantastic at detecting and finding solutions for zero day attacks. This is a big selling point for enterprise who care about zero day a whole lot

  2. Free tier also used by IT tinkerers means when the question is asked "what X should we use? What have you used before?" CloudFlare is heads and shoulders above the rest. This is why Microsoft allowed a lot of world to pirate their OS.

[–] irmadlad@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

This is why Microsoft allowed a lot of world to pirate their OS.

Microsoft actually took a unique approach to piracy. In a lot of lesser developed countries in the past, users were 'allowed' to use pirated copies. There used to be a running joke that the Israelis ran their country on a single license of MS. How true that is remains to be seen. So, while companies bristle in public about piracy, it is indeed a topic of discussion in the board room and is often a part of their loss leader strategies.

Cloudflare kind of the same thing. I can tell you that even tho I realize a large portion of the user base here are anti-Cloudflare, and while there are definite pros and cons one needs to understand before using their services, and even tho I know there are other ways to skin the cat....... even on the free tier side, I am more apt to recommend that which works well for me.