Zero Trust Security Finally Within Reach for Small Teams
Cloudflare for Teams launched with a broad goal: make Zero Trust security available to organizations of every size, not just enterprises with dedicated security staff and deep pockets. Today marks another step in that direction with the introduction of Cloudflare for Teams Free, a plan that protects up to 50 users at no cost.
Two Sides of the Same Security Coin
Cloudflare for Teams pairs two complementary products under one dashboard. Cloudflare Access handles inbound connections, acting as a gatekeeper that verifies identity before anyone reaches your protected applications. Cloudflare Gateway covers the other direction, serving as a Secure Web Gateway that filters and secures your users' outbound traffic to the Internet.
That combination creates a single, unified approach to securing users, applications, and networks without the complexity of traditional perimeter-based security tools.
A Free Plan Born from Necessity
The origins of the free tier trace back to the upheaval earlier this year. When the pandemic forced organizations to move employees home seemingly overnight, Cloudflare responded by making Cloudflare for Teams completely free—no restrictions, no cost—until September 1, 2020, with complimentary one-on-one onboarding for anyone who wanted help getting started.
Those onboarding sessions did more than ease adoption; they transformed the product. Feedback from new users shaped improvements that benefited everyone. While that unrestricted free program has ended, the reality of distributed work has not. The new Cloudflare for Teams Free plan emerged from that reality—a way to keep helping organizations of any size adapt to a security model that appears permanent.
What the Free Tier Includes
Cloudflare for Teams Free brings enterprise-grade Zero Trust features to smaller teams. Subscribers get full Access and Gateway functionality for up to 50 users, including:
- Identity-based access control for both internal and SaaS applications
- Integration with social and enterprise identity providers such as AzureAD and GitHub
- DNS-level content and security filtering across multiple network locations
- 24-hour log retention for visibility into traffic and access events
Creative Uses for Teams Free
The flexibility of the free plan has already sparked practical applications. Some of the most interesting uses we've observed:
- Protecting startup development environments—restrict access to your codebase and internal tooling while you build.
- Securing home Wi-Fi—route router traffic through Gateway to enforce malware and phishing filtering for the entire household.
- Locking down personal websites—put Access in front of WordPress admin panels so only you (and invited collaborators) can make changes.
- Shielding guest networks—deploy Gateway at retail locations to enforce Acceptable Use Policies on customer Wi-Fi.
Standalone Plans and Bundled Standard Tier
Beyond the free offering, Cloudflare has restructured its paid options to give organizations more flexibility in how they scale Zero Trust adoption.
Organizations that need only one half of the platform can now purchase Cloudflare Access or Cloudflare Gateway standalone. Access standalone scales up or down dynamically at $3 per user—perfect for variable team sizes. Gateway standalone supports 1 to 20 network locations at $5 per user, covering both DNS and HTTP security controls without forsaking reliability or speed.
For teams that want both products unified under one plan, Teams Standard bundles all Access and Gateway features at $7 per user.
Getting Started
New users can sign up through the Cloudflare for Teams dashboard, where a self-guided onboarding flow walks through setup. Existing Cloudflare customers can jump straight in from their active account. From account creation, most customers are just three steps from deploying either Access or Gateway—the right starting point depends on whether inbound application security or outbound traffic filtering matters more to your organization.
