# Cloudflare WAF: how AI models rank it, September 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition. Named in 27 judge labels across 1 categories by 12 of 12 models. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/cloudflare-waf/

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web application firewalls | 34% | 2 | 11% | 27 |

## What the models said for it

- "The best web application firewall for a company with a limited budget is Cloudflare WAF, which offers strong protection with a generous free tier and easy setup." (Llama 4 Maverick, WAF)
- "the best default choice is usually Cloudflare WAF if you want the fastest deployment, strong protection, and low operational overhead" (Perplexity Sonar, WAF)
- "Cloudflare WAF (free tier) is widely regarded as the best web application firewall for companies with a limited budget" (Grok 4.1 Fast, WAF)
- "Choose Cloudflare if you want top-tier performance, global scale, and an intuitive, developer-friendly interface." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, WAF)

## And against it

- "Cloudflare's WAF scored the *lowest* Security Quality (True Positive Rate) of any major vendor — around 67%" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, WAF)
- "Evasion via parsing/content-type tricks; not top in padding/large payload tests." (Grok 4.1 Fast, WAF)
- "Cloudflare WAF | ✅ Vulnerable" (Kimi K2, WAF)

## 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, September 2026 Edition, it-ai-index.com.