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Cloudflare vs Smile

Based on 1995 and 1 real audits

View Cloudflare details | View Smile details
MetricCloudflareSmileWinner
Performance4746Cloudflare
Accessibility8892Smile
Best Practices8677Cloudflare
SEO88100Smile
Security6780Smile
TTFB283ms507msCloudflare
Composite7481Smile
Performance
Cloudflare
47
Smile
46
Accessibility
Cloudflare
88
Smile
92
Security
Cloudflare
67
Smile
80
SEO
Cloudflare
88
Smile
100
Composite
Cloudflare
74
Smile
81

Smile outperforms Cloudflare in 4 of 7 categories, with a stronger composite score (81 vs 74). Cloudflare leads in performance, best practices, TTFB.

When to choose Cloudflare

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

When to choose Smile

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

How this comparison was built

Scores are medians across 1995 audited Cloudflare sites and 1 audited Smile 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 Smile?
Based on real BeaverCheck audits, Cloudflare sites score higher on Lighthouse performance (47 vs 46 on average).
Which has better security, Cloudflare or Smile?
Smile sites score higher on security analysis (80 vs 67 on average).
Which has better accessibility, Cloudflare or Smile?
Accessibility scores measured by Lighthouse WCAG 2.1 checks favor Smile (92 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 Smile?
Smile sites score higher on Lighthouse SEO signals (100 vs 88 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 Smile?
Cloudflare sites show lower Time to First Byte (283 ms vs 507 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 Smile 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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