Company snapshot
| Category | Cloudflare | SkyparkCDN |
|---|---|---|
| Status | active | defunct |
| Founded | — | — |
| Headquarters | — | — |
| Website | — | — |
| Docs | — | — |
Overview
Cloudflare, founded in 2009, is a San Francisco-based company offering a global content delivery network (CDN), DDoS mitigation, and web security services. Its network accelerates content delivery and protects websites and applications from cyber threats. Cloudflare serves a wide range of customers, from small businesses to enterprises like Shopify, Medium, and IBM. The platform is known for its developer-friendly tools, including serverless edge computing and comprehensive security features. It provides a free tier alongside paid plans, catering to diverse user needs. Cloudflare’s services sit between end users and origin servers, acting as a reverse proxy to enhance performance and reliability.
SkyparkCDN, founded in 2013, was a Russian content delivery network (CDN) operator focused on accelerating web resources and providing DDoS protection. It served thousands of websites, particularly in the mid-market, with a strong presence in Russia and the CIS region. The company was acquired by G-Core in 2017 and rebranded as G-Core Rus, ceasing operations as a standalone entity. Its services are no longer offered under the SkyparkCDN name.
Network & Architecture
Cloudflare operates over 200 points of presence (PoPs) globally, spanning regions like North America, EMEA, APAC, Latin America, Africa, India, China, and the Middle East. Its Anycast network ensures low-latency content delivery by routing traffic to the nearest data center. The company has strong peering agreements, enhancing connectivity and reducing latency. Regional strengths include robust coverage in North America and Europe, with growing presence in APAC and Latin America. However, performance in certain African and Middle Eastern regions may vary due to fewer PoPs or local network constraints. Cloudflare’s architecture supports dynamic content acceleration and integrates with its security and edge computing services.
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Feature comparison
| Feature | Cloudflare | SkyparkCDN |
|---|---|---|
waf | ✓ | ✗ |
bot_mitigation | ✓ | ✗ |
ddos | ✓ | ✓ |
rate_limit | ✓ | ✗ |
http3_quic | ✓ | ✗ |
tls13 | ✓ | ✗ |
tiered_cache | ✓ | ✗ |
origin_shield | ✗ | ✓ |
instant_purge | ✓ | ✓ |
stale_while_revalidate | ✓ | ✗ |
stale_if_error | ✓ | ✗ |
image_optimization | ✓ | ✗ |
video_vod | ✓ | ✓ |
video_live | ✓ | ✓ |
drm | ✗ | ✗ |
hls_dash_packaging | ✗ | ✗ |
websockets | ✓ | ✗ |
signed_urls | ✓ | ✗ |
edge_compute | ✓ | ✗ |
functions | ✓ | ✗ |
kv_storage | ✓ | ✗ |
api_first | ✓ | ✓ |
realtime_logs | ✓ | ✓ |
log_push | ✓ | ✗ |
terraform | ✓ | ✗ |
Legend: ✓ = Supported, ✗ = Not supported, — = Not listed
Pricing
Cloudflare offers a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model, a free tier, and enterprise plans. The free tier includes basic CDN, DDoS protection, and an SSL certificate, suitable for small sites. Paid plans (Pro, Business, Enterprise) add advanced features like WAF, bot mitigation, and analytics, with pricing starting at $20/month for Pro plans. Enterprise pricing is customized, often requiring committed contracts. Data transfer and HTTP/HTTPS requests are included in subscription plans, with additional costs for features like edge computing or advanced WAF rules. Full details are available at https://www.cloudflare.com/plans/.
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Integrations & DevEx
Cloudflare supports Terraform for infrastructure-as-code (IaC), enabling automated configuration management. SDKs and APIs facilitate integration with CI/CD pipelines and custom applications. Real-time logs (Logpush) and analytics (Cloudflare Analytics) provide actionable insights, with RUM support for end-user performance monitoring. Migration tools, like the Cloudflare Dashboard and DNS import features, simplify onboarding from other providers. The developer platform, including Cloudflare Workers and Pages, supports building and deploying serverless applications and static sites, enhancing developer experience.
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When it fits
- Small businesses or developers needing a free or low-cost CDN with basic security and SSL support.
- Enterprises requiring robust DDoS protection, WAF, and global content delivery with strong developer tools.
- Teams leveraging edge computing for serverless applications or dynamic content acceleration.
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When it doesn’t
- Organizations needing specialized video features like HLS/DASH packaging, DRM, or RTMP ingest for advanced streaming use cases.
- Users in regions with limited PoPs (e.g., parts of Africa or the Middle East) where latency may be higher.
- Scenarios requiring origin shield for enhanced caching, which Cloudflare does not natively support.
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History & Notes
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SkyparkCDN was notable for its rapid growth in Russia, offering features like video streaming (live and VOD), DDoS protection, and instant cache purge. It pioneered HTTP/2 support in Russia in 2015 and transitioned servers to SSDs in 2016 for improved performance. After the 2017 acquisition by G-Core, its infrastructure and services were absorbed, with no reported revivals of the SkyparkCDN brand. Some sources, like Crunchbase, confirm its closure as a standalone entity.