# Cloudflare's free tier WAF: how AI models rank it, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. Named in 2 judge labels across 2 categories by 2 of 14 models. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/cloudflare-s-free-tier-waf/

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web application firewalls | 2% | 11 | 0% | 1 |
| Application shielding | 0% | 76 | 100% | 1 |

## What the models said for it

- "Cloudflare's free tier WAF is the best option for a company with a limited budget." (Grok 4.1 Fast, WAF)

## And against it

- "Cloudflare's free tier WAF, for example, has limited configuration options that may give false confidence" (Kimi K2, App shielding)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat. A larger change is movement; a smaller one is noise.

- Web application firewalls: 0% to 2%, +2. New · not ranked in September 2026 · rank 11 of 82.
- Application shielding: 0% to 0%, ±0. New · not ranked in September 2026 · rank 76 of 87.

## Record

- Method: https://it-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://it-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, it-ai-index.com.