Skip to content

Cloudflare vs Smartlook

Based on 2825 and 3 real audits

View Cloudflare details | View Smartlook details
MetricCloudflareSmartlookWinner
Performance5422Cloudflare
Accessibility8979Cloudflare
Best Practices8889Smartlook
SEO90100Smartlook
Security7271Cloudflare
TTFB358ms1164msCloudflare
Composite7774Cloudflare
Performance
Cloudflare
54
Smartlook
22
Accessibility
Cloudflare
89
Smartlook
79
Security
Cloudflare
72
Smartlook
71
SEO
Cloudflare
90
Smartlook
100
Composite
Cloudflare
77
Smartlook
74

Cloudflare outperforms Smartlook in 5 of 7 categories, with a stronger composite score (77 vs 74). Smartlook leads in 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 Smartlook

Choose Smartlook 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 2825 audited Cloudflare sites and 3 audited Smartlook 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 →

Small sample: one or both technologies have fewer than 10 audited sites. Treat these numbers as directional — medians stabilize around 20–30 audits per side.

FAQ

Which is faster, Cloudflare or Smartlook?
Based on real BeaverCheck audits, Cloudflare sites score higher on Lighthouse performance (54 vs 22 on average).
Which has better security, Cloudflare or Smartlook?
Cloudflare sites score higher on security analysis (72 vs 71 on average).
Which has better accessibility, Cloudflare or Smartlook?
Accessibility scores measured by Lighthouse WCAG 2.1 checks favor Cloudflare (89 vs 79). 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 Smartlook?
Smartlook sites score higher on Lighthouse SEO signals (100 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 Smartlook?
Cloudflare sites show lower Time to First Byte (358 ms vs 1164 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 Smartlook 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.
Audit your own site

Send Feedback