Cloudflare partners with Internet Service Providers and network equipment providers to deliver a safer browsing experience to millions of homes

Cloudflare opens its DNS resolvers to ISPs and hardware vendors

Cloudflare is broadening access to its consumer DNS services, announcing that internet service providers and network equipment manufacturers can now integrate Cloudflare’s resolvers into their own products at no cost. The program formalizes a partnership model that several companies have already adopted, letting providers embed Cloudflare’s filtering and privacy features directly into the services and devices their customers already use.

The move builds on a trajectory that began in 2018 with the launch of 1.1.1.1, Cloudflare’s privacy-focused public DNS resolver. That service was followed in 2020 by 1.1.1.1 for Families, which layers content filtering on top of the core resolver. The company says both services are now available for free to any ISP or equipment maker that wants to offer them to end users.

Why families are the focus

The push toward family-oriented protections stems in part from shifts in online behavior that accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. With more children spending time on connected devices, the risk of accidental exposure to inappropriate or harmful content increased. Research cited by Cloudflare notes that around 67% of adolescents have access to a tablet, with children as young as two using media devices.

Cloudflare’s own setup guides for 1.1.1.1 for Families have been available since 2020, but the company acknowledges that manual configuration remains a barrier for many households. The new partnership program is designed to remove that friction by pushing the protection into the network stack that providers already manage.

Tiered resolvers for different protection levels

Cloudflare’s public resolvers come in three variants, each with a distinct purpose. Partners can choose which one to integrate based on the level of filtering they want to offer customers:

• Core privacy resolver (1.1.1.1) is built for speed and privacy. It supports encrypted queries via DNS over HTTPS (DoH) or DNS over TLS (DoT), reducing the risk of interception or man-in-the-middle attacks.
• Security resolver (1.1.1.2) includes all features of the core resolver and additionally blocks sites associated with malware, spam, botnet command and control, or phishing.
• Family resolver (1.1.1.3) adds protection against adult content on top of the security filtering. It blocks direct navigation to such sites and enforces Safe Search on public search engines.

Advanced options with Gateway

For partners or end users needing more granular control, Cloudflare points to its Gateway product. Gateway enables customized filtering policies, reporting, logging, analytics, and scheduling. It includes over 114 domain categories, from social media and gaming to “safe search” and even “home & garden.” Administrators can set time-based restrictions, such as limiting social media access during school hours or dinner.

The Gateway offering also supports a multi-tenant environment, allowing an ISP or device manufacturer to give individual subscribers the ability to configure their own filters for their homes.

Scale and infrastructure behind the offer

Cloudflare positions the partnership as a low-effort way for providers to add value without building security infrastructure themselves. The company’s network spans over 330 cities and interconnects with more than 12,500 networks, placing its resolvers within close reach of roughly 95% of the world’s internet-connected population.

The scale of traffic on the platform has grown considerably since the launch of 1.1.1.1 for Families. In 2020, Cloudflare was handling over 200 billion DNS queries per day. That figure now stands at 1.7 trillion queries per day.

Additionally, Cloudflare acts as a reverse proxy for nearly 20% of all websites globally, providing visibility into internet trends and emerging threats that informs its threat intelligence. Partners can rely on that research capability rather than maintaining their own threat analysis teams.

How providers can join

ISPs and equipment manufacturers interested in the program can sign up through a form on Cloudflare’s site. Once onboarded, partners can choose between integrating the public DNS resolvers or the more customizable Gateway product, depending on the needs of their customer base.