Tool profile
S3 compatible object storage for large files and app assets with tight Cloudflare platform integration.
User-generated content and static asset hosting with high read volume
Cloudflare R2 targets data sets where AWS S3 egress dominates cost: assets, user uploads, ML datasets, and Workers-adjacent object access. The headline differentiator on Cloudflare’s docs is no data transfer charges for egress from R2 to the Internet when served through supported R2 APIs—though connected metered services (e.g., Workers with CPU limits, other clouds) may still bill separately.
Per developers.cloudflare.com/r2/pricing (March 2026), Standard storage is $0.015 per GB-month, Class A operations (mutations like PutObject) $4.50 per million, Class B operations (reads like GetObject) $0.36 per million, with egress free as documented. Infrequent Access lowers storage to $0.01/GB-month but adds retrieval fees ($0.01/GB) and higher per-op pricing on the same table. Free tier (Standard only) includes 10 GB-month storage, 1 million Class A, and 10 million Class B operations monthly.
Rounding rules bill to the next whole million operations or whole GB-month—watch small overages. Compare AWS S3 + CloudFront when you already amortize AWS credits; compare Backblaze B2 for alternate egress-friendly positioning.
Quick fit
Editorial take
R2's headline is still the no-egress story, but the operational truth is storage class plus operation class. The catalog should keep Standard and Infrequent Access separate so read-heavy teams do not accidentally under-model retrieval and Class A or B costs.
What it does well
Primary use cases
Fit notes
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Pricing snapshot
Cloudflare's R2 pricing docs list Standard storage at $0.015 per GB-month, Class A operations at $4.50 per million, Class B operations at $0.36 per million, and no internet egress charges. The free monthly allowance is 10 GB-month of storage, 1 million Class A operations, and 10 million Class B operations. Infrequent Access lowers storage to $0.01 per GB-month but raises operation pricing and adds a $0.01 per GB retrieval charge.
Alation
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