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Pricing, plan names, free plan availability, and trial details are checked against official provider pages before being used in ProPicked scores. Vendor relationships do not change rankings, scores, or recommendations.
Provider Pricing Facts
Provider pricing facts: Cloudflare Workers offers a free plan; SST offers a free plan.
Source and Freshness Note
Source and freshness note: pricing, free-plan, and feature signals are compared from public provider data and updated comparison records. Last checked March 2026.
Cloudflare Workers vs SST: Honest Comparison (2026)
Cloudflare Workers
Serverless compute platform running code at the edge across 300+ global locations
SST
Open-source framework for building full-stack serverless applications on AWS
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Quick Verdict:
Cloudflare Workers wins with 9.0/10 vs 8.5/10. Choose Cloudflare Workers for overall value. Choose SST for ease of use.
Cloudflare Workers wins this comparison with a score of 9.0/10 vs 8.5/10. Both offer free plans. Cloudflare Workers stands out for sub-millisecond cold starts unlike traditional serverless platforms, while SST excels at dramatically simplifies building serverless apps on AWS. However, SST leads in our detailed feature analysis (9.1 vs 8.5).
| Feature | Cloudflare Workers | SST |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating | 9.0/10 | 8.5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 8.5/10 | 8.8/10 |
| Features | 8.6/10 | 8.6/10 |
| Value for Money | 9.1/10 | 8.3/10 |
| Customer Support | 9.3/10 | 9.0/10 |
| Free Plan | Yes ✓ | Yes ✓ |
| Starting Price | $5/mo | Custom |
| Feature Score | 8.5/10 | 9.1/10 |
| Top Strength | Sub-millisecond cold starts unlike traditional serverless platforms | Dramatically simplifies building serverless apps on AWS |
| Biggest Weakness | Execution time limits restrict long-running workloads | Locked to AWS as the cloud provider |
| Best For | - | SST is the best developer experience for building serverless applications on AWS |
| Winner | Cloudflare Workers (9.0/10) | |
What is Cloudflare Workers?
Serverless compute platform running code at the edge across 300+ global locationsCloudflare Workers is a serverless compute platform that runs JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Rust, and WebAssembly code at the edge across more than 300 data centers worldwide, providing sub-millisecond cold start times and eliminating the regional latency problems of traditional cloud functions. Unlike AWS Lambda or Google Cloud Functions that run in specific regions, Workers execute on the Cloudflare edge network, meaning code runs physically close to users everywhere in the world simultaneously. The platform includes Workers KV for globally distributed key-value storage, Durable Objects for strongly consistent stateful computing, R2 for S3-compatible object storage without egress fees, D1 for serverless SQLite databases, and Queues for reliable message processing. This ecosystem enables building complete applications entirely on the Cloudflare edge without managing any servers or traditional cloud infrastructure. Workers supports standard Web APIs and is compatible with many npm packages, and the Wrangler CLI provides a full local development environment with hot reloading.
- +Sub-millisecond cold starts unlike traditional serverless platforms
- +Runs across 300+ locations worldwide for global low latency
- +Generous free tier with 100,000 requests per day
What is SST?
Open-source framework for building full-stack serverless applications on AWSSST is an open-source framework that makes it dramatically easier to build and deploy full-stack serverless applications on AWS. Instead of wrestling with CloudFormation templates, CDK constructs, or SAM configurations, SST provides high-level components for common serverless patterns including API routes, static sites, cron jobs, queues, databases, authentication, and storage buckets with sensible defaults and minimal configuration. The framework features Live Lambda, a local development environment that connects to real AWS services so developers can set breakpoints, make changes, and test against actual cloud resources without deploying or emulating. This development experience is a significant improvement over the slow deploy-test-debug cycles typical of serverless development. SST supports Next.js, Remix, Astro, SvelteKit, and other frameworks for frontend deployment, with automatic CDN distribution and custom domain configuration.
- +Dramatically simplifies building serverless apps on AWS
- +Live Lambda enables local development with real cloud resources
- +High-level components for common serverless patterns
- •SST is the best developer experience for building serverless applications on AWS
- •teams wanting faster serverless development cycles with Live Lambda
- •startups leveraging AWS credits for cost-effective infrastructure
Cloudflare Workers vs SST: Key Differences
Cloudflare Workers vs SST: Quick Verdict
Cloudflare Workers has a slight edge at 9/10 versus SST's 8.5/10 — close enough that SST could still be the better fit depending on your priorities.
Choose Cloudflare Workers if:
- Sub-millisecond cold starts unlike traditional serverless platforms
- Runs across 300+ locations worldwide for global low latency
- Generous free tier with 100,000 requests per day
- You want the higher-rated option overall (9/10 vs 8.5/10)
- You're watching your budget — Cloudflare Workers gets a 9.1/10 for value
Choose SST if:
- Dramatically simplifies building serverless apps on AWS
- Live Lambda enables local development with real cloud resources
- High-level components for common serverless patterns
- Ease of use matters to you — SST scores 8.8/10 here
Decision Summary
Who wins in each scenario? A quick look at how Cloudflare Workers and SST compare across different buyer needs.
Scores 9.0/10 vs 8.5/10
Scores 9.1/10 on value vs 8.3/10
Ease of use: 8.8/10 vs 8.5/10
Features + support avg: 8.9/10 vs 8.8/10
Free plan available + 9.1/10 value
Both offer free plans
Choose Cloudflare Workers if you need...
- ✓Sub-millisecond cold starts unlike traditional serverless platforms
- ✓Runs across 300+ locations worldwide for global low latency
- ✓Generous free tier with 100,000 requests per day
- !Execution time limits restrict long-running workloads
- !Some Node.js APIs not available in Workers runtime
Choose SST if you need...
- ✓Dramatically simplifies building serverless apps on AWS
- ✓Live Lambda enables local development with real cloud resources
- ✓High-level components for common serverless patterns
- ✓Lower starting price ($0/mo vs $5/mo)
- !Locked to AWS as the cloud provider
- !Learning curve for developers new to serverless concepts
Our Take: Cloudflare Workers vs SST
Cloudflare Workers edges ahead with a 9.0/10 vs 8.5/10. The gap is noticeable but not dramatic — both are legitimate options depending on what you prioritize.
Where they differ: Cloudflare Workers's biggest strengths are sub-millisecond cold starts unlike traditional serverless platforms and runs across 300+ locations worldwide for global low latency. SST, on the other hand, shines with dramatically simplifies building serverless apps on AWS and live Lambda enables local development with real cloud resources. These reflect fundamentally different product priorities.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each one with zero risk before committing. We recommend trying both for a week with real data.
Cloudflare Workers vs SST Score Comparison
| Category | Cloudflare Workers | SST |
|---|---|---|
🏆Overall Score | 9.0▲ | 8.5 |
💫Ease of Use | 8.5 | ▲8.8 |
⚙Features | 8.6 | 8.6 |
💰Value for Money | 9.1▲ | 8.3 |
💬Customer Support | 9.3▲ | 9.0 |
Why These Scores? Our Reasoning
- +Sub-millisecond cold starts unlike traditional serverless platforms
- +Runs across 300+ locations worldwide for global low latency
- +Generous free tier with 100,000 requests per day
- -Execution time limits restrict long-running workloads
- -Some Node.js APIs not available in Workers runtime
- +Dramatically simplifies building serverless apps on AWS
- +Live Lambda enables local development with real cloud resources
- +High-level components for common serverless patterns
- -Locked to AWS as the cloud provider
- -Learning curve for developers new to serverless concepts
Cloudflare Workers vs SST Pros & Cons
+Strengths
- ✓Sub-millisecond cold starts unlike traditional serverless platforms
- ✓Runs across 300+ locations worldwide for global low latency
- ✓Generous free tier with 100,000 requests per day
- ✓R2 storage eliminates egress fees that plague other cloud providers
- ✓Complete edge ecosystem with KV, D1, Durable Objects, and Queues
-Weaknesses
- ✗Execution time limits restrict long-running workloads
- ✗Some Node.js APIs not available in Workers runtime
- ✗Vendor lock-in to Cloudflare ecosystem
- ✗Debugging distributed edge applications can be challenging
+Strengths
- ✓Dramatically simplifies building serverless apps on AWS
- ✓Live Lambda enables local development with real cloud resources
- ✓High-level components for common serverless patterns
- ✓Supports Next.js, Remix, Astro, and other frameworks
- ✓Active open-source community with excellent documentation
-Weaknesses
- ✗Locked to AWS as the cloud provider
- ✗Learning curve for developers new to serverless concepts
- ✗Some complex AWS patterns still require CDK knowledge
- ✗Framework updates can occasionally introduce breaking changes
Who Should Use Cloudflare Workers vs SST?
Cloudflare Workers is ideal for
SST is ideal for
- •SST is the best developer experience for building serverless applications on AWS
- •teams wanting faster serverless development cycles with Live Lambda
- •startups leveraging AWS credits for cost-effective infrastructure
- •and engineers deploying Next.js or Remix applications to AWS
When NOT to Choose Cloudflare Workers or SST
Knowing when a tool is the wrong fit is just as important as knowing its strengths
Skip Cloudflare Workers if...
- ✗Execution time limits restrict long-running workloads
- ✗Some Node.js APIs not available in Workers runtime
- ✗Vendor lock-in to Cloudflare ecosystem
- ✗Debugging distributed edge applications can be challenging
Skip SST if...
- ✗Locked to AWS as the cloud provider
- ✗Learning curve for developers new to serverless concepts
- ✗Some complex AWS patterns still require CDK knowledge
- ✗Framework updates can occasionally introduce breaking changes
Cloudflare Workers vs SST Decision Framework
Choose based on what matters most to you
Cloudflare Workers vs SST Pricing
| Pricing Feature | Cloudflare Workers | SST |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Starting Price | $5/mo | Free |
| Free Trial | Not available | Not available |
| Number of Plans | 3 | 2 |
| Value Rating | 9.1/10 | 8.3/10 |
Cloudflare Workers Plans
- ✓100K requests/day
- ✓10ms CPU time per invocation
- ✓Workers KV limited usage
- ✓10M requests/month included
- ✓30M CPU-ms included
- ✓Durable Objects access
- ✓No egress fees
- ✓Custom usage allotments
- ✓Dispatch namespaces
- ✓Per-customer analytics
SST Plans
- ✓Open source framework
- ✓No licensing fees
- ✓Full feature access
- ✓Usage-based pricing
- ✓App management dashboard
- ✓Production monitoring
What You Get: Plan Feature Comparison
Comparing Cloudflare Workers's Workers Paid ($5/mo) vs SST's Free (Free)
| Feature | Cloudflare Workers | SST |
|---|---|---|
| 10M requests/month included | ✓ | ✗ |
| 30M CPU-ms included | ✓ | ✗ |
| Durable Objects access | ✓ | ✗ |
| No egress fees | ✓ | ✗ |
| Open source framework | ✗ | ✓ |
| No licensing fees | ✗ | ✓ |
| Full feature access | ✗ | ✓ |
Which Should You Choose?
Cloudflare Workers
Quick Buyer's Guide
Based on our analysis, here's who each tool is best suited for
- ✓Users who need sub-millisecond cold starts unlike traditional serverless platforms
- ✓Users who need runs across 300+ locations worldwide for global low latency
- ✓SST is the best developer experience for building serverless applications on AWS
- ✓teams wanting faster serverless development cycles with Live Lambda
- ✓Users who need dramatically simplifies building serverless apps on AWS
Cloudflare Workers vs SST: The Bottom Line
Cloudflare Workers earns the edge at 9.0/10 vs 8.5/10 — here's what that means in practice.
## Our Verdict Cloudflare Workers has a slight edge at 9/10 versus SST's 8.5/10 — close enough that SST could still be the better fit depending on your priorities. ### Choose Cloudflare Workers if: - Sub-millisecond cold starts unlike traditional serverless platforms - Runs across 300+ locations worldwide for global low latency - Generous free tier with 100,000 requests per day - You want the higher-rated option overall (9/10 vs 8.5/10) - You're watching your budget — Cloudflare Workers gets a 9.1/10 for value ### Choose SST if: - Dramatically simplifies building serverless apps on AWS - Live Lambda enables local development with real cloud resources - High-level components for common serverless patterns - Ease of use matters to you — SST scores 8.8/10 here SST at 8.5/10 is still competitive and may be the better fit depending on your specific requirements and budget.