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Cloudflare vs PHP

Based on 2145 and 1061 real audits

View Cloudflare details | View PHP details
MetricCloudflarePHPWinner
Performance4947Cloudflare
Accessibility8889PHP
Best Practices8688PHP
SEO8991PHP
Security6866Cloudflare
TTFB298ms430msCloudflare
Composite7574Cloudflare
Performance
Cloudflare
49
PHP
47
Accessibility
Cloudflare
88
PHP
89
Security
Cloudflare
68
PHP
66
SEO
Cloudflare
89
PHP
91
Composite
Cloudflare
75
PHP
74

Cloudflare outperforms PHP in 4 of 7 categories, with a stronger composite score (75 vs 74). PHP leads in accessibility, best practices, SEO.

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 PHP

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

How this comparison was built

Scores are medians across 2145 audited Cloudflare sites and 1061 audited PHP 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 PHP?
Based on real BeaverCheck audits, Cloudflare sites score higher on Lighthouse performance (49 vs 47 on average).
Which has better security, Cloudflare or PHP?
Cloudflare sites score higher on security analysis (68 vs 66 on average).
Which has better accessibility, Cloudflare or PHP?
Accessibility scores measured by Lighthouse WCAG 2.1 checks favor PHP (89 vs 88). 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 PHP?
PHP 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 PHP?
Cloudflare sites show lower Time to First Byte (298 ms vs 430 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 PHP 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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