Exploring Cloudflare's Hidden Gems

This weekend, I dove into some of Cloudflare’s lesser-known but powerful features: Tunnels, Workers (serverless functions), Email Workers, and Email Redirects.

While most companies use Cloudflare for request optimization, WAF, bot protection, and general site performance, there’s so much more to explore! Many of these functionalities are often free and, in my opinion, can significantly speed up development.

For startups or proof-of-concepts, Cloudflare can be a game-changer. With Cloudflare Tunnels (50 free seats like ngrok but with more features), for instance, you could have a Raspberry Pi or a Mac Mini running a simple API from home, cutting down on initial infrastructure costs.

What’s also exciting is the ability to connect with Llama 3.1 (Llama 3.1) directly from Workers, enabling easy integrations with AI—completely free.

I’d highly recommend giving it a try! My only critique would be that the documentation could be stronger, but the potential these tools offer is well worth exploring.

For more details, check out my LinkedIn post: Cloudflare Insights.