Cloudflare retires legacy Host and Reseller APIs, opens new partner program to beta
Cloudflare is deprecating its two earliest partner APIs and, in the same breath, opening up its newer multi-tenant partner platform to a broader set of users via a self-serve program now in closed beta. The move targets small and mid-sized agencies, regional MSPs, and hosting providers that have relied on the company's legacy tooling for years.
The legacy Host and Reseller APIs, both launched in 2011, were the backbone of Cloudflare's first partner ecosystem. They powered the original CDN and DDoS rollouts through resellers, hosting providers, and third-party plugins for control panels like cPanel, Plesk, and WHMCS.
Support for these APIs ends on November 1, 2022. After that date, Cloudflare will disable management of zones, users, and configurations through those interfaces, and any plugins built on them will stop functioning. Existing domains created via these APIs will keep working — traffic will not be impacted during the deprecation period — and any active specialized subscriptions will be remapped to current zone plans.
Cloudflare says it has been coordinating with partners on the transition, recommending that users move to the dashboard for configuration management. Stray partners with questions can reach [email protected].
Why new tooling was necessary
The original APIs were built for a smaller, simpler Cloudflare. The company now runs a network spanning more than 275 cities and sells a much broader stack — Application Services, Zero Trust, Developer, and Network solutions — that the early APIs were never designed to scale with. The revamped Partner Platform announced a few years ago was built with that expanded portfolio in mind, and has been used by large integration and service partners supporting SASE and Zero Trust offerings.
Now that same platform is trickling down. The new Self-Serve Partner program is currently in closed beta, with initial test partners ramping since late last year.
What the new program offers
The self-serve program targets the long tail of partners that didn't qualify for or didn't want enterprise-level commitments. Key features include:
- Multi-tenant account support. Partners can spin up individual customer accounts and manage user access per account from the dashboard or via the Tenant API.
- Centralized self-serve billing. A single billing profile covers all accounts, with subscription management consolidated in one place.
- Full product catalog access. The entire range of Cloudflare self-serve products and add-ons is available through the dashboard and API — including load balancing, Spectrum for TCP/UDP apps, and Workers for edge code.
- Volume discounting. Partners get discounted subscription renewals as part of the program's commitments.
- No upfront commitments. Qualified partners can join without hitting minimums required by the Enterprise partner programs.
Self-Serve Partner Program | New Cloudflare One Partner Program | Enterprise Reseller & Services Program | |
|---|---|---|---|
Status | Closed Beta | Early Access | General Access |
Tiers | N/A | N/A | Select Advanced Elite |
Discount | Beta Discount - 20% | 25-50% | 30-40% |
Revenue Commitment | No | No | Yes |
Training & Enablement | Self-Serve | Cloudflare University Specialized Training | Cloudflare University Specialized Training In-Person Training |
Partner Account Resources | No - Self Serve | Yes - Tier Dependent | Yes - Tier Dependent |
Roadmap and rollout
Enrollment for the closed beta is open now, with access rolling out throughout the rest of the year. Cloudflare says it plans to continue developing the Partner Platform into 2023 across a few focus areas — including an enhanced partner dashboard, expanded Zero Trust bundles for partners, additional partner service opportunities, and select training and partner-only benefits.
