What Is Cloudflare and How Is It Used?

Originally published: 2024-05-14

Technical review: 22 October 2026

Cloudflare provides DNS, reverse proxy and various security and performance services. Available features depend on the plan and record settings. It does not replace hosting or application maintenance.

DNS-only versus proxied

A proxied web record routes HTTP/HTTPS traffic through Cloudflare; DNS-only resolves the destination directly. Not every record or protocol is suitable for proxying. Configure email-related records according to the service instructions. See the proxy status documentation.

A controlled migration

1. Back up DNS records and check web and email settings separately.
2. Verify the origin hostname and certificate.
3. Meet the requirements for certificate-verifying Full (strict) origin HTTPS. Do not reduce protection to conceal a certificate error.
4. Test cache rules for login, cart, checkout, APIs and personalised responses.
5. Test forms and email delivery after DNS changes too.

Plan the underlying service

Cloudflare does not automatically fix expensive database queries or inadequate application resources. Evaluate the application and cache together on WordPress hosting. For a custom service stack, size a cloud server using measured workload requirements.