Free-plan DDoS Attack Alerts Arrive in Cloudflare Dashboards

Cloudflare has extended its real-time HTTP DDoS attack alerts to customers on the Free plan. The alerts, which fire when an attack is automatically detected and mitigated by Cloudflare's edge, were previously limited to users on the Pro plan or higher. The feature now puts the same immediate visibility into the hands of every account, regardless of plan tier.

What the Alerts Cover

The notification system is focused on HTTP-based DDoS attacks, which target web servers, API gateways, mobile app backends, and other web properties. When an attacker floods such a server with more requests than it can process, the result can be anything from degraded performance to a complete outage. For businesses, that disruption translates directly into lost revenue and reputational damage.

Cloudflare's defense against these attacks relies on two core capabilities: enough bandwidth to absorb both legitimate and malicious traffic, and the intelligence to tell them apart. The company's network spans more than 250 cities across over 100 countries, with a capacity exceeding 100 Tbps—roughly fifty times the size of the largest attack ever recorded on the network. That footprint gives Cloudflare more than enough headroom to soak up attack traffic while keeping users online.

Once traffic reaches a Cloudflare data center, it passes through automated analysis systems that continuously inspect for attack signatures. When an attack is detected, a real-time mitigation rule is generated based on the observed pattern, and the system surgically blocks the offending requests while leaving legitimate traffic untouched. Customers can fine-tune how this system behaves through the HTTP DDoS Managed Ruleset within the dashboard.

For most users, no manual configuration will be necessary—the default protections handle the heavy lifting automatically. Those who want to adjust the settings can consult Cloudflare's Get Started guide or the original managed rules announcement for details on how the mitigation engine works.

Setting Up Your Alert

To enable the notifications, users need to create a policy in the dashboard. The process takes just a few steps:

  1. Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard and select your account.
  2. Navigate to Notifications from the Home screen.
  3. Click Add and select HTTP DDoS Attack Alerter.
  4. Enter an alert name and optional description, add recipient email addresses, and click Create.

A full breakdown of supported delivery methods and troubleshooting tips is available in Cloudflare's support documentation, Understanding Cloudflare DDoS Alerts.

Leveling the Visibility Field

The move to extend alerts to Free plan customers is part of Cloudflare's broader push to make enterprise-grade DDoS protections accessible to all users. The unfettered unmetered mitigation commitment already ensured that even non-paying accounts receive the same protection level. With the addition of real-time alerting, Free plan users now also gain immediate awareness when an attack is detected, without the need to manually monitor their analytics. The notification system gives smaller site operators the same fast feedback loop that larger organizations on higher tiers have been using, enabling them to respond quickly if an attack warrants manual intervention.