🚨 Key Gotchas Found

Unilateral Service Termination Medium

Cloudflare can terminate your service for violating their Acceptable Use Policy, which includes vague provisions about "harmful" content that could be interpreted broadly.

"We may suspend or terminate your access to the Services if we determine that your use violates our Acceptable Use Policy or poses a risk to our network or other users."

Content Moderation Decisions Medium

As a CDN and security provider, Cloudflare's content decisions have amplified impact. Their removal of services from certain websites has effectively taken them offline globally.

"We reserve the right to disable access to content or websites that we determine, in our sole discretion, violate our policies or applicable law."

Liability Limitations Low

Cloudflare limits liability to amounts paid in the past 12 months, even for enterprise customers who may have significant damages from service interruptions.

"Our total liability to you for all claims arising from or related to these Terms shall not exceed the amounts paid by you during the 12 months preceding the claim."

Free Tier Limitations Low

Free tier users have minimal recourse or support. Cloudflare can change or discontinue free services without notice or compensation.

"Free Services are provided 'as is' and we may modify, suspend, or discontinue them at any time without notice or liability."

📊 Score Breakdown

Domain Transfer Rights 18/25
Service Termination 10/20
Pricing Transparency 14/20
Data Ownership 8/15
Dispute Resolution 3/10
Exit Rights 2/10

🤔 What This Means For You

Cloudflare is the best option among the providers I reviewed, particularly for their at-cost domain registration pricing. However, their position as infrastructure provider means their content decisions carry significant weight.

If you use Cloudflare, you should:

  • Understand that at-cost domain pricing is genuinely good value with no hidden renewal markups
  • Be aware that their content policies could affect your site if you're in controversial industries
  • Have backup DNS and CDN providers configured in case of service disputes
  • Consider paid tiers for better support and service level agreements
  • Keep domain transfer authorization codes accessible in case you need to move quickly