Cloudflare Unveils Usage-Based CPU Billing for Containers, Promising Up to 80% Cost Reduction

Cloudflare has significantly updated its pricing model for Containers and Sandboxes, moving to a system that bills customers based on actual CPU utilization rather than reserved capacity. This change, highlighted by Principal Product Manager Mike Nomitch, aims to drastically reduce costs for users, with potential savings of up to 80% in certain scenarios. The new model charges for CPU usage only when active, allowing for greater efficiency and cost predictability.

Cloudflare Containers, launched in public beta in June 2025, enable developers to deploy Docker containers across Cloudflare's global network. These containers are deeply integrated with Cloudflare Workers and built on Durable Objects, offering a robust solution for resource-intensive applications such as media processing, backend services, and command-line tools that require more flexibility than traditional serverless functions. The platform is designed to provide a simple, scalable, and global compute environment.

Under the revised pricing, customers are billed for CPU usage in granular 10-millisecond increments only when a container is actively running. This contrasts with traditional models that charge for the full allocated CPU capacity, regardless of actual consumption. Mike Nomitch stated in a social media post, > "You’re now billed on actual CPU usage, not the CPU reserved for an instance. If you only use 20% of your vCPU capacity on average, you pay 5X less for CPU time."

This shift allows applications with variable or bursty traffic to scale to zero, meaning charges cease when the container enters an idle state. Cloudflare's internal comparisons suggest that this approach can lead to substantial savings, with one example demonstrating an 80% reduction in compute bills when migrating from AWS Lambda to Cloudflare's integrated Containers and Workers platform. The company emphasizes transparency and cost-effectiveness as key drivers behind this pricing strategy.

The move reinforces Cloudflare's commitment to providing a developer-friendly platform where various compute options, from lightweight Workers to full-fledged Containers, can be seamlessly integrated. Mike Nomitch, a key figure in the development of Cloudflare's developer platform, has been instrumental in communicating these advancements, underscoring the company's vision for an integrated and programmable cloud environment. This pricing adjustment is expected to enhance Cloudflare's competitive position by offering a more financially attractive option for containerized workloads.