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Cloudflare vs HSTS

Based on 2429 and 2852 real audits

View Cloudflare details | View HSTS details
MetricCloudflareHSTSWinner
Performance5150Cloudflare
Accessibility8989Tie
Best Practices8788HSTS
SEO8991HSTS
Security7071HSTS
TTFB313ms369msCloudflare
Composite7676Tie
Performance
Cloudflare
51
HSTS
50
Accessibility
Cloudflare
89
HSTS
89
Security
Cloudflare
70
HSTS
71
SEO
Cloudflare
89
HSTS
91
Composite
Cloudflare
76
HSTS
76

HSTS outperforms Cloudflare in 3 of 7 categories, with a stronger composite score (76 vs 76). Cloudflare leads in performance, TTFB.

When to choose Cloudflare

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

When to choose HSTS

Choose HSTS when your primary concern is SEO and best practices. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.

How this comparison was built

Scores are medians across 2429 audited Cloudflare sites and 2852 audited HSTS 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 HSTS?
Based on real BeaverCheck audits, Cloudflare sites score higher on Lighthouse performance (51 vs 50 on average).
Which has better security, Cloudflare or HSTS?
HSTS sites score higher on security analysis (71 vs 70 on average).
Which has better accessibility, Cloudflare or HSTS?
Accessibility scores measured by Lighthouse WCAG 2.1 checks favor Cloudflare (89 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 HSTS?
HSTS sites score higher on Lighthouse SEO signals (91 vs 89 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 HSTS?
Cloudflare sites show lower Time to First Byte (313 ms vs 369 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 HSTS for my website?
Both platforms have trade-offs. Cloudflare 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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