Cloudflare R2 — $500 in credits for Startups

Deal Highlights

What Is Cloudflare R2?

Cloudflare R2 is S3-compatible object storage with zero egress fees. Store files, images, videos, backups, and any binary data — and serve it globally through Cloudflare''s CDN without paying data transfer charges. The "zero egress" model is R2''s defining feature: on AWS S3, serving 1TB of data to users costs approximately $90 in bandwidth. On R2, it costs $0.

For startups serving user-uploaded content (images, videos, documents), hosting static assets, or storing backups, R2 provides the same storage capabilities as S3 at dramatically lower total cost — because the most expensive part of object storage (egress bandwidth) is eliminated entirely.

What''s Included in the Cloudflare R2 Startup Deal

• $500 in R2 credits
• S3-compatible API: Use existing S3 client libraries and tools
• Zero egress fees: Serve stored data globally at no bandwidth cost
• Global distribution: Data served from Cloudflare''s 300+ edge locations
• Workers integration: Process stored data with Cloudflare Workers
• Automatic encryption: Data encrypted at rest
• Lifecycle policies: Automatically transition or delete old data

Key Features for Startups

Zero Egress — The Cost Revolution

AWS S3 charges $0.09/GB for data transfer out. At 10TB/month (common for media-serving applications), that is $900/month in bandwidth alone — often exceeding storage costs. R2 charges $0 for egress. The same 10TB/month costs $0 in bandwidth, plus $0.015/GB/month for storage ($150). Total R2 cost: $150/month vs S3 total: $1,150/month.

S3-Compatible API

R2 uses the S3 API protocol. Change your endpoint URL and credentials in existing S3 code — no application changes required. boto3, AWS SDK, s3cmd, rclone, and every S3-compatible tool works with R2.

Cloudflare Workers Integration

Process stored data at the edge using Cloudflare Workers. Resize images on-the-fly, generate thumbnails, transcode video, or serve personalized content — all executing on Cloudflare''s edge network close to users. This eliminates the origin server for many data-serving patterns.

R2 vs S3 vs Backblaze B2

R2 wins on total cost (zero egress + CDN included) and edge compute integration. S3 wins on ecosystem breadth and feature depth (lifecycle rules, cross-region replication). Backblaze B2 wins on raw storage cost ($0.006/GB).

Tips to Maximize Your R2 Credits

1. Migrate high-egress S3 buckets to R2 first — Identify which S3 buckets generate the most bandwidth charges. Migrate those to R2 for maximum cost savings.
2. Use R2 for user-uploaded content — Images, videos, and documents uploaded by users are served frequently. Zero egress means serving popular content costs nothing.
3. Pair R2 with Cloudflare Workers for image processing — Resize and optimize images at the edge instead of storing multiple sizes. One stored original, dynamic transformation at request time.
4. Use lifecycle policies for old data — Automatically delete temporary files, move old backups to cheaper storage, and clean up upload artifacts.
5. Keep S3 for AWS-native workflows — If your application uses S3 event notifications, Lambda triggers, or cross-service IAM policies, keep those workflows on S3. Use R2 for data that is primarily stored and served.

Who Is This Deal For?

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about this startup deal.