Overview
Cloudflare R2 is object storage with an S3-compatible API and one distinctive rule: data transferred out to the internet is free for every storage class. You pay for stored GB-months and for operations, split into Class A (writes and lists, $4.50 per million) and Class B (reads, $0.36 per million) on the Standard class.
The free allowance each month is 10 GB-month of Standard storage, one million Class A and ten million Class B operations. That is enough for many side projects' images and downloads to cost nothing. Infrequent Access storage is cheaper at $0.01/GB-month but has a 30-day minimum, higher operation prices and a $0.01/GB retrieval fee, and is excluded from the free tier.
Because reads cost money even though egress does not, a very popular small file served straight from R2 can still run up an operations bill; Cloudflare's own example of 10 million reads a day comes to about $104 a month. Putting the Cloudflare cache in front with a custom domain reduces those reads.
R2 buckets bind directly into Workers without API keys, can be made public on a custom domain, and can pull objects lazily from an existing S3 bucket (Sippy) or copy them in bulk (Super Slurper) at no charge beyond the operations. Location hints and an EU jurisdiction let you keep data in Europe.
Pricing and plans
Free tier
10 GB-month of Standard storage, 1 million Class A and 10 million Class B operations per month; egress always free
At the limit Not stated The vendor does not say what happens at the limit, or we have not found it yet.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 10 GB-month storage, 1M Class A, 10M Class B operations per month (Standard class only) |
| Standard storage | $0.015/GB-month | Class A $4.50/million, Class B $0.36/million, no retrieval fee |
| Infrequent Access | $0.01/GB-month | Class A $9.00/million, Class B $0.90/million, $0.01/GB retrieval, 30-day minimum |
What it does
- Zero egress fees
- No charge for data transferred to the internet from either storage class.
- Workers bindings
- Workers read and write buckets through a native API without managing S3 credentials.
- Sippy and Super Slurper
- Migrate from S3 or other providers either on demand as objects are requested or as a bulk copy, paying only the R2 operations.
- Public buckets
- Serve a bucket on an r2.dev address or your own domain through Cloudflare's cache.
- R2 Data Catalog
- An Apache Iceberg catalog on top of R2 for querying logs and tables from SQL engines.
- Infrequent Access class
- Cheaper storage for rarely read data with a 30-day minimum and a per-GB retrieval fee.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- No egress charges, which makes costs predictable for download-heavy apps
- Generous free tier of 10 GB and millions of operations each month
- Storage at $0.015/GB-month is cheaper than S3 Standard
- Tight integration with Workers, Pages and the Cloudflare cache
- Free migration tooling from existing S3 buckets
Limitations
- Read and write operations are billed, so high-request workloads still cost money
- Usage is rounded up to whole GB-months and whole millions of operations
- The free tier covers only Standard storage, not Infrequent Access
- Infrequent Access has a 30-day minimum storage charge and retrieval fees
Who it suits
Good for
- User uploads and public assets for web apps
- Download-heavy sites such as media or software distribution
- Apps built on Cloudflare Workers
- Moving off S3 to cut egress bills
Look elsewhere if
- Workloads with billions of tiny reads and no caching, where per-request fees dominate
- Teams that need deep integration with AWS compute and IAM
Alternatives to Cloudflare R2
| Tool | From | Free option | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage Low-cost object storage | Usage-based | Free tier | |
| Tigris Globally distributed object storage | Usage-based | Free tier | |
| Bunny Storage Edge-replicated storage | Usage-based | ||
| Supabase Managed Postgres backend platform | $25/mo | Free tier | |
| ImageKit Image and video CDN with media library | $89/mo | Free tier | |
| Scaleway Object Storage EU object storage | Usage-based |
Questions
Is Cloudflare R2 free of egress fees?
Yes. Cloudflare's pricing page lists egress to the internet as free for both Standard and Infrequent Access storage; you pay only for storage and operations.
What does the R2 free tier include?
Each month: 10 GB-month of Standard storage, 1 million Class A (write) operations and 10 million Class B (read) operations.
How much does Cloudflare R2 cost per GB?
Standard storage is $0.015 per GB-month and Infrequent Access $0.01 per GB-month, plus operation charges.
Is R2 compatible with the S3 API?
Yes. R2 exposes an S3-compatible API, so existing S3 SDKs and tools work with an endpoint and credentials change.
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