Cloudflare and Bunny both speed up websites, but they are not the same kind of product. Cloudflare is an edge security and DNS platform with CDN features. Bunny is a focused content delivery network with simple pricing and strong performance.
Setup model
Cloudflare
Cloudflare typically becomes your authoritative DNS provider and reverse proxy. All proxied traffic passes through Cloudflare’s network:
- Change nameservers to Cloudflare
- Cloudflare manages DNS records
- Orange-cloud (proxied) records route traffic through Cloudflare
- Cloudflare applies security, caching, and optimisation rules
This is powerful but means Cloudflare sits between your visitors and your origin server. If Cloudflare has an outage (rare but not unprecedented), your site may be affected.
Bunny CDN
Bunny can be added as a pull zone without changing nameservers or DNS providers:
- Create a pull zone pointing to your origin
- Configure a CDN hostname (e.g.,
cdn.example.com) - Update WordPress to serve assets from the Bunny hostname
Your DNS stays wherever it is. Traffic that does not hit the CDN goes directly to your origin. If Bunny has an outage, only cached assets are affected — your site still loads from origin.
Pricing models
Cloudflare
| Plan | Price | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | DDoS, Universal SSL, basic CDN, DNS, 3 Page Rules |
| Pro | $20/mo | WAF managed rules, image Polish, more Page Rules, real-time analytics |
| Business | $200/mo | Advanced WAF, custom SSL upload, 100% uptime SLA |
| Enterprise | Custom | Everything, dedicated support |
Bandwidth is included — no per-GB charges on any plan. This is a significant advantage for high-traffic sites.
Bunny CDN
| Service | Pricing |
|---|---|
| CDN bandwidth | From $0.01/GB (varies by region) |
| Bunny Optimizer (image optimisation) | From $9.50/mo per zone |
| Bunny Storage | From $0.01/GB/month |
| DNS | Free |
Bunny is usage-based. A site serving 100 GB/month pays about $1–$5 for CDN bandwidth depending on region. For low-traffic sites, this can be cheaper than Cloudflare Pro. For high-traffic sites (1 TB/month+), Cloudflare’s flat pricing wins.
Cost comparison
| Monthly traffic | Cloudflare Free | Cloudflare Pro | Bunny CDN (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 GB | $0 | $20 | ~$0.05 |
| 100 GB | $0 | $20 | ~$1–5 |
| 500 GB | $0 | $20 | ~$5–25 |
| 2 TB | $0 (fair use) | $20 | ~$20–100 |
Bunny is cheaper at low traffic. Cloudflare pulls ahead at high traffic due to included bandwidth.
Security
Cloudflare wins decisively here. It is a security platform; Bunny is a CDN.
| Feature | Cloudflare Free | Cloudflare Pro | Bunny |
|---|---|---|---|
| DDoS protection | ✓ (unmetered) | ✓ | ✗ (not the product) |
| WAF managed rules | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Bot management | Basic | Advanced (Pro+) | ✗ |
| Rate limiting | ✗ | ✓ (Pro+) | ✗ |
| DNSSEC | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (Bunny DNS) |
| SSL | Universal SSL | Advanced options | Free Let’s Encrypt |
| IP/country blocking | 5 rules free | Custom rules | Via edge rules |
For WordPress sites specifically, Cloudflare’s WAF (Pro) blocks common plugin vulnerability exploits, SQL injection attempts, and XML-RPC attacks. Bunny provides none of this.
Performance
Both are fast, but in slightly different ways:
| Metric | Cloudflare | Bunny CDN |
|---|---|---|
| Edge locations | 330+ | 110+ |
| HTTP/3 support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Brotli compression | ✓ (Pro) | ✓ (Bunny Optimizer) |
| Image optimisation | Polish (Pro) | Bunny Optimizer |
| Tiered caching | ✓ (Argo, paid) | ✓ (built-in, free) |
| Cache purge | Instant (free plan: limited) | Instant (unlimited) |
| Cache analytics | Limited on Free | Detailed, per-file |
Bunny often has slightly lower latency for CDN-only traffic because it is not running security inspections on every request. Cloudflare’s edge network is larger and its caching is more sophisticated (cache reserve, tiered cache, Argo routing).
For pure asset delivery speed, Bunny is competitive or slightly faster. For overall site performance including security, DNS speed, and caching rules, Cloudflare is more complete.
WordPress integration
Cloudflare
- Free plugin: Cloudflare WordPress plugin (cache purge, APO integration)
- APO (Automatic Platform Optimisation): $5/mo add-on, caches WordPress HTML at the edge
- Super Page Cache for Cloudflare (third-party plugin): Free, excellent HTML caching, worker mode
Bunny CDN
- Bunny CDN WordPress plugin: Free, rewrites asset URLs to Bunny CDN
- Bunny Optimizer: Handles image resizing, WebP conversion
- HTML caching: Not via Bunny — use a separate solution (page cache plugin or server-level cache)
Recommended stack
Cloudflare-first (most common):
- Cloudflare Free or Pro for DNS, SSL, and security
- Super Page Cache for Cloudflare plugin for HTML edge caching
- Cloudflare Polish (Pro) for image optimisation, or Bunny Optimizer as an add-on
Bunny-first (when DNS and security are already handled):
- Existing DNS provider (or Bunny DNS)
- Bunny CDN for static assets and images
- Separate WAF/security solution (Sucuri, Wordfence, or server-level)
- Page cache plugin for HTML caching
Verdict by use case
| Use case | Winner | Why |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress site needing security + CDN | Cloudflare | WAF, DDoS, bot management, and CDN in one |
| High-traffic site with large bandwidth | Cloudflare | Included bandwidth, no per-GB charges |
| Simple CDN for assets (DNS is fine) | Bunny CDN | Cheaper, simpler, no nameserver changes |
| Image-heavy site needing optimisation | Either | Both have good image tools |
| DNS management as primary need | Cloudflare | Better DNS product, more features |
| Non-technical user wanting easy setup | Bunny CDN | No nameserver changes, lower learning curve |
| Agency managing multiple client sites | Cloudflare | Per-site controls, WAF, consistency |
Practical recommendation
Use Cloudflare for most WordPress sites. It is the default for good reason: DNS, SSL, DDoS protection, and a CDN in one free package. Upgrade to Pro for the WAF if the site handles payments, memberships, or sensitive data.
Use Bunny CDN when your DNS and security are already handled (or handled separately) and you want a fast, simple, usage-based CDN for static assets. It pairs particularly well with sites that already use Cloudflare for DNS but want a separate CDN for performance or cost reasons — though this is an unusual setup for most small sites.