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Cloudflare vs Fathom

Based on 2669 and 17 real audits

MetricCloudflareFathomWinner
Performance5358Fathom
Accessibility8990Fathom
Best Practices8892Fathom
SEO9097Fathom
Security7262Cloudflare
TTFB344ms317msFathom
Composite7776Cloudflare
Performance
Cloudflare
53
Fathom
58
Accessibility
Cloudflare
89
Fathom
90
Security
Cloudflare
72
Fathom
62
SEO
Cloudflare
90
Fathom
97
Composite
Cloudflare
77
Fathom
76

Fathom outperforms Cloudflare in 5 of 7 categories, with a stronger composite score (76 vs 77). Cloudflare leads in security, composite score.

When to choose Cloudflare

Choose Cloudflare when your primary concern is security. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.

When to choose Fathom

Choose Fathom when your primary concern is server response time and SEO. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.

How this comparison was built

Scores are medians across 2669 audited Cloudflare sites and 17 audited Fathom sites in the BeaverCheck database. Every audit runs the same 100+ checks — Lighthouse performance, security headers, accessibility, SEO, server response time — against a real URL. No vendor input, no sponsorship, no affiliate links. Read the full methodology →

FAQ

Which is faster, Cloudflare or Fathom?
Based on real BeaverCheck audits, Fathom sites score higher on Lighthouse performance (58 vs 53 on average).
Which has better security, Cloudflare or Fathom?
Cloudflare sites score higher on security analysis (72 vs 62 on average).
Which has better accessibility, Cloudflare or Fathom?
Accessibility scores measured by Lighthouse WCAG 2.1 checks favor Fathom (90 vs 89). Both technologies can be made fully accessible with care — the difference reflects common patterns in the sampled sites, not inherent platform limits.
Which is better for SEO, Cloudflare or Fathom?
Fathom sites score higher on Lighthouse SEO signals (97 vs 90 on average), which cover meta tags, crawlability, mobile friendliness, and structured data. Content strategy and backlinks still matter more than platform choice for ranking.
Which has faster server response (TTFB), Cloudflare or Fathom?
Fathom sites show lower Time to First Byte (317 ms vs 344 ms on average). TTFB depends heavily on hosting and CDN setup rather than the technology itself, but the sampled sites suggest a meaningful difference in common deployment patterns.
Should I choose Cloudflare or Fathom for my website?
Both platforms have trade-offs. Fathom scores higher on overall composite score while Cloudflare may excel in metrics you care about most. Run a free BeaverCheck audit on a real site using each to compare the metrics relevant to your use case.

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