Cloudflare Web Application Firewall vs Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences) vs Wordfence Security

Comparing Cloudflare Web Application Firewall, Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences) and Wordfence Security across pricing, features, ease of use, and more. Each WAF has different strengths — the right choice depends on your specific requirements.

View Cloudflare Web Application Firewall Review

View Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences) Review

View Wordfence Security Review

Overview

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall, Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences) and Wordfence Security are popular web application firewall solutions. This comparison will help you understand the key differences and choose the right one for your needs.

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall: Industry-leading WAF with global CDN integration, offering robust protection against OWASP threats with easy setup and generous free tier.

Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences): Developer-friendly WAF using proprietary SmartParse technology, offering low false positives and seamless DevOps integration for modern application security.

Wordfence Security: The most popular WordPress security plugin with endpoint firewall, malware scanner, and login security protecting over 5 million sites worldwide.

Quick Comparison

Feature	Cloudflare Web Application Firewall	Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences)	Wordfence Security
Overall Rating	4.5/5	4.5/5	4.4/5
Free Tier	Yes	No	Yes
Pricing Model	Per domain / Per feature tier	Custom pricing based on requests and features	Freemium (Free tier + paid subscriptions)
Ease of Use	4.8/5	4.0/5	4.7/5
Value for Money	4.5/5	3.8/5	4.5/5
Support	4.0/5	4.5/5	4.2/5
Platforms	Any web application, WordPress, Shopify, AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes	Any web application, AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, Docker, Serverless, Nginx, Apache	WordPress (self-hosted)
Compliance	SOC 2, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP	SOC 2 Type II, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR	Contact vendor
Best For	Small to medium websites, WordPress sites, developers wanting easy setup, organizations needing integrated CDN+WAF	Modern DevOps teams, API-heavy applications, organizations frustrated with false positives, companies needing flexible deployment options	WordPress site owners, bloggers, small businesses on WordPress, WooCommerce stores, WordPress agencies managing multiple sites

Pricing Comparison

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall

Model: Per domain / Per feature tier

Free Tier Available

Free

$0/month

Pro

$20/month

Business

$200/month

Enterprise

Contact Sales

View full pricing →

Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences)

Model: Custom pricing based on requests and features

Essential

Custom pricing

Professional

Custom pricing

Premier

Custom pricing

View full pricing →

Wordfence Security

Model: Freemium (Free tier + paid subscriptions)

Free Tier Available

Free

Premium

$149/year (~$12.42/month)

Care

$590/year (~$49.17/month)

Response

$1,250/year (~$104.17/month)

View full pricing →

Features Comparison

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall

Managed Rulesets
Pre-configured rules from Cloudflare and OWASP that are automatically updated to protect against emerging threats.
Custom Rules
Create your own firewall rules using Cloudflare's expression language to block, challenge, or allow specific traffic patterns.
Rate Limiting
Protect against brute force attacks and API abuse by limiting request rates from specific IPs or patterns.
Bot Management
Advanced bot detection and mitigation using machine learning to distinguish good bots from malicious ones.
API Shield
Protect API endpoints with schema validation, mutual TLS, and anomaly detection.
Page Shield
Monitor and control third-party JavaScript to prevent supply chain attacks and data theft.

Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences)

SmartParse Technology
Intelligent parsing technology that understands application context to reduce false positives by 90%+.
Power Rules
Flexible rule language for creating custom detection and response logic based on any request attribute.
API Discovery
Automatic discovery and cataloging of API endpoints with security assessment.
DevOps Integration
Native integrations with CI/CD tools, infrastructure as code support, and developer-friendly APIs.
Multi-Environment Deployment
Deploy as cloud service, agent, or edge module across diverse infrastructure.
Real-Time Dashboards
Live visibility into attacks, decisions, and application health without sampling.

Wordfence Security

Endpoint Firewall (WAF)
Application-level firewall running within WordPress with deep visibility into user sessions and access levels.
Malware Scanner
Scans core files, themes, and plugins for malware, backdoors, SEO spam, and code injections.
Threat Defense Feed
Continuously updated firewall rules, malware signatures, and IP blocklist based on global threat intelligence.
Login Security
Two-factor authentication, login CAPTCHA, limit login attempts, and leaked password protection.
Live Traffic
Real-time view of all traffic including hack attempts, with ability to block by IP, country, or pattern.
Country Blocking
Block traffic from specific countries known for originating attacks (Premium feature).
Security Audit Log
Tamper-proof log tracking all security events across your site (Premium feature).
Vulnerability Database
Access to database of 12,000+ WordPress ecosystem vulnerabilities with scanner integration.

Our Verdict

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall, Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences) and Wordfence Security are all capable web application firewalls that can protect your applications from common threats.

Key considerations:

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall is well-suited for: Small to medium websites, WordPress sites, developers wanting easy setup, organizations needing integrated CDN+WAF
Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences) is well-suited for: Modern DevOps teams, API-heavy applications, organizations frustrated with false positives, companies needing flexible deployment options
Wordfence Security is well-suited for: WordPress site owners, bloggers, small businesses on WordPress, WooCommerce stores, WordPress agencies managing multiple sites

We recommend evaluating your options with a trial or free tier before committing. Consider your existing infrastructure, team expertise, compliance requirements, and budget.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the cheapest: Cloudflare Web Application Firewall or Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences) or Wordfence Security?

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall, Wordfence Security offer a free tier.

Which WAF is easiest to set up?

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall has the highest ease of use rating at 4.8/5 in our review.

Which WAF has the highest overall rating?

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall leads with an overall rating of 4.5/5.