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Cloudflare's new free tier just killed my side hustle

Networking by MARIA3 7 replies 1K views
MARIA3

Member OP

3 #1

I was making a server up for small shops. DDoS protection, CDN, little of WAF. Charging $50/month, using Cloudflare old free plan. Now new free tier give same features I sell. My 12 customers all cancel in one week.

I think to make different offer but what? I am not programmer, only know how to change DNS records and make rule in firewall. Maybe resell something else?

This was my only income besides make server up for friend. Bad moment.

Regards

siesta first, deploy later
tinaworm

Member

#2

Market analysis of the announcement:

- unlimited bandwidth previously enterprise-only
- 100 rules versus 5
- no mention of log retention limits
- terms of service remain identical

Your business model contained the following structural flaws:

  • Single supplier dependency
  • Zero value-add beyond configuration
  • Pricing not justified by operational expenditure
  • No contractual lock-in with end users

Reselling another party's free offering is not a side hustle. It is arbitrage with negative expected value.

-t

worst bandwidth, best stories
AL

Member

#3

The new free tier is actualy prety good tho

I was paying for pro and now I dont hav to. Saved me 20 bux a month. Sorry bout ur hustle but thats how it gose

You figure it out he says

Runs words together sometimes

mediaaustin

Member

Deliverability Nerd

#4

This was always going to collapse.

For what it's worth, the actual deliverability angle here is interesting. Cloudflare's free tier now includes email routing with SPF/DKIM/DMARC handling. That was previously a paid feature buried in their Zero Trust SKU.

I saw three "email security consultants" on LinkedIn pivoting hard this week. Same model: resell free tools with markup. The blocklist monitoring space is next, mark my words.

Your real mistake wasn't the arbitrage. It was not building anything proprietary. A custom dashboard, a support relationship, anything sticky. You sold configuration labor as recurring revenue. — https://www.cloudflare.com

SPF, DKIM, DMARC — holy trinity ✉️
bravomartha

Member

#5

I HAVE BEEN RUNNING MY OWN HOSTING THING SINCE 2019 AND I NEVER TRUSTED CLOUDFLARE FOR ANYTHING EXCEPT DNS AND THE REASON IS THAT IN 2021 I HAD A CLIENT WHO USED THEIR FREE TIER AND GOT HIT WITH A 300 GBPS ATTACK AND THE FREE TIER JUST BLACKHOLED THE TRAFFIC AND THE SITE WAS DOWN FOR SIX HOURS AND I REMEMBER EXACTLY BECAUSE I WAS EATING PANCAKES FOR BREAKFAST THAT DAY MY CAT WAS SITTING ON THE ROUTER WHICH WAS WEIRD BECAUSE SHE NEVER DOES THAT AND THE WEATHER WAS RAINY AND I THOUGHT MAYBE THE STATIC FROM HER FUR CAUSED THE OUTAGE BUT IT WAS JUST CLOUDFLARE BEING CLOUDFLARE AND I TOLD MY CLIENT YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR AND NOW I SELL MY OWN DDOS PROTECTION USING A COMBINATION OF HOSTHATCH AND LEASEWEB AND SOME CUSTOM RULES I WROTE AND I CHARGE 200 A MONTH AND PEOPLE PAY IT BECAUSE I ACTUALLY ANSWER THE PHONE UNLIKE THESE BIG COMPANIES AND YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE THAT INSTEAD OF JUST RESELLING SOMEONE ELSES FREE STUFF I MEAN REALLY WHAT DID YOU EXPECT

svendeal

Member

Deal Sniper

#6

Which firewall rules were you actually selling, the 5 WAF ones

world record: 4min Arch install
YuriDavid

Member

#7

You were really making 600/month just changing dns records

indentation is not optional
ana_mad

Member

#8

Same thing happened to me with LetsEncrypt reselling in 2019. Brutal

swimming upstream since 2019 🐟

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