A "Cloudflare Worker" is JavaScript you write that runs on Cloudflare's edge. A "Cloudflare Service Worker" is specifically a worker which handles HTTP traffic and is written against the Service Worker API. Currently, this is the only kind of worker we've implemented, but in the future we may introduce other worker types for certain specialized tasks.

It can do anything and everything. You're writing code, so the possibilities are infinite. Your Service Worker will intercept all HTTP requests destined for your domain, and can return any valid HTTP response. Your worker can make outgoing HTTP requests to any server on the public internet.

Netlify is a web development platform that multiplies productivity.

By unifying the elements of the modern decoupled web, from local development to advanced edge logic, Netlify enables a 10x faster path to much more performant, secure, and scalable websites and apps.

Our bet on the Jamstack is quickly coming true. The web is rapidly changing away from monolithic to decoupled apps, and web developers are storming ahead with more power than ever. Netlify is built to cater to that movement, and in just a few years we’ve onboarded more than a million and a half businesses and developers, and are building and serving millions of web projects daily around the globe.

Fun fact: in the time it took you to read the above, Netlify served over 600,000 requests.

1. Free plan
The Workers Free plan makes it easy to experience the Workers ecosystem without a commitment. The Free plan provides access to Workers and Worker KV, giving you the tools to start building your service. Learn about the Free plan limits.

2. Paid plan
To avoid the Free plan limits, you can subscribe to the Workers Paid plan for a minimum $5 USD per month for an account.

Free Plan

Netlify includes:

• 125,000 invocations per month
• 100 hours per month

Paid Plans

The monthly rate of $25USD includes 2M requests and 1k hours

Extra requests: $38 per 1M requests

Extra duration: $38 per 1k hours

Example Pricing:

$25USD per month incl. 2M requests

Cloudflare Workers respond very quickly, typically in under 200 milliseconds, when cold starting. In contrast, both Lambda and Lambda@Edge functions can take over a second to respond from a cold start. The differences are largely due to the fact that Cloudflare Workers run on Chrome V8 rather than Node.

Onboarding

Start building a database in production in 5 minutes.

Scalability

Automatically done through serverless technology.

Regions

You can pare with AWS and have the same scope. 

Backups

You can backup through Google Cloud.

Security

Across our global Edge, content deployed to the edge nodes is fully prerendered and static, offering no active processes or surface area for attack.

Application code runs on Netlify's build infrastructure (prior to deployment) and when using cloud functions (in production). Both environments are ephemeral, spinning up new, temporary containers just long enough to execute each task. That means there are no idle environments to attempt to exploit and limited exposure to public networks.

Netlify undergoes a SOC 2 Type 2 audit annually, performed by an independent auditor. (Our enterprise customers can request a full audit report.) Netlify is PCI compliant for all SAQ-A requirements to safely process credit card transactions.

Netlify deploys only to major cloud providers who regularly undergo extensive security audits and certifications.

Netlify leverages globally distributed data center partners that comply with leading security policies and frameworks.

Cloudflare Workers are written in JavaScript, executed using the V8 JavaScript engine (from Google Chrome). It choosed JavaScript and V8 for two main reasons.

1. Security

The V8 JavaScript engine is arguably the most scrutinized code sandbox in the history of computing, and the Chrome security team is one of the best in the world. Moreover, Google pays massive bug bounties to anyone who can find a vulnerability. (That said, we have added additional layers of our own sandboxing on top of V8.)

2. Ubiquity

JavaScript is everywhere. Anyone building a web application already needs to know it: whereas their server could be written in a variety of languages, the client has to be JavaScript, because that's what browsers run.

Manage everything in one project

Netlify Functions are files you write in JavaScript, TypeScript, or Go and then place inside your project under the path netlify/functions. (Easy, right? You can even configure that.) Normally, functions are synchronous with a maximum execution time of 10 seconds. But, adding -background to the end of the filename transforms any function into an asynchronous function that can run in the background with up to 15 minutes of runtime.

Build & test locally

You can use Netlify CLI to run a local development server that you can share with others, run a local build and plugins, and deploy your site. The 2.0 version of our Node-based CLI was rebuilt from the ground up to help improve the site-building experience.

Stage, preview, and rollback

Netlify Functions share all of Netlify’s beloved workflow features. Preview every commit with Deploy Preview links. Rollback when needed by simply clicking a prior deployment.

Run A/B testing and phased rollouts

Deploy and test multiple branches, and even control which users see which version. Plan full experiments and rolling upgrades that include both front and backend code changes. A/B test not just a button color, but an entire user workflow.