--- title: "Cloudflare: what they buy and what they pay" url: https://www.brightinfo.com/buyers/cloudflare/ site: https://www.brightinfo.com/ description: "What Cloudflare buys, what it pays and its deal terms, from public sources with a link for every fact. Last verified November 3, 2026." last_updated: 2026-11-03 --- # Cloudflare: what they buy and what they pay Buyers › Big tech infrastructure › Cloudflare Cloudflare is profiled here as big tech infrastructure [1]. Data types cited in this profile include: Publisher content, Web content [1]. Last verified November 3, 2026 ## Quick facts | Fact | Value | |---|---| | Type | Big tech infrastructure [1] | | Status | Active (closed beta) [1] | | Website | https://www.cloudflare.com/ [1] | | HQ | San Francisco, CA (101 Townsend St.) [2] | | Founded | Not published | | Ownership | Publicly traded (NYSE: NET) since September 13, 2019 [2] | | Program | Pay Per Crawl (feature of AI Crawl Control) [1] · Pay Per Use (beta) [3] · https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-crawl-control/features/pay-per-crawl/ [4] | | Price | Minimum $0.001 USD per crawl [5] | | Pricing basis | Per successful content retrieval (HTTP 200) by an AI crawler [5] · Dynamic pricing available via origin 'crawler-price' header or a Worker (June 2026) [6] · Pay Per Use (beta): each AI company defines the use it will pay for and sets a price; publishers choose the model that suits them [3] | | Payment timing | Monthly payouts to publishers in good standing [7] · Payouts are subject to settlement periods and minimum payout thresholds [7] | | How to start | Request to join the closed beta via the Pay per crawl signup form, or via account executive for Enterprise customers [1] · Prerequisite: domain on Cloudflare nameservers or DNS managed by Cloudflare [8] | ## What they buy - **Data types:** Publisher content, Web content [1] - **Excluded:** Not published - **Intended use:** Paid access for AI crawlers [1] ## Price and payment - **Price:** Minimum $0.001 USD per crawl [5] - **Pricing basis:** Per successful content retrieval (HTTP 200) by an AI crawler [5] · Dynamic pricing available via origin 'crawler-price' header or a Worker (June 2026) [6] · Pay Per Use (beta): each AI company defines the use it will pay for and sets a price; publishers choose the model that suits them [3] - **Payment timing:** Monthly payouts to publishers in good standing [7] · Payouts are subject to settlement periods and minimum payout thresholds [7] - **Seller fees:** Not published - **Platform's cut:** Not published - **Referral bounty:** Not published ## Deal terms - **Deal structure:** Cloudflare aggregates the charge events, charges the crawler and distributes the earnings to the publisher [9] · Pay Per Use: Cloudflare aggregates reported uses, charges the buyer and pays publishers monthly through their connected payment account [3] - **Exclusivity:** Not published - **Term:** Not published - **Field of use:** Not published - **Onward transfer:** Not published - **Seller keeps ownership:** Not published ## Process - **Steps:** (1) Enable in account settings (2) Set a pay per crawl price (3) Select crawlers to charge (4) Monitor activity (5) Manage payouts [7] - **Timeline:** Not published - **Sample before offer:** Not published - **How to start:** Request to join the closed beta via the Pay per crawl signup form, or via account executive for Enterprise customers [1] · Prerequisite: domain on Cloudflare nameservers or DNS managed by Cloudflare [8] ## Track record ### Named deals - Ceramic 'pay-per-query' model: publishers who opt in can be paid when their content appears in Ceramic's search results [10] - You.com: agents can pay on demand for a specific piece of premium content, without upfront commitment [10] ### Coverage - TechCrunch: from September 15, 2026, Cloudflare's default settings will block 'mixed-use' crawlers from pages that host ads [11] ## Watch for None found in public reporting as of November 3, 2026. ## Sources 1. What is Pay Per Crawl? · Cloudflare AI Crawl Control docs, developers.cloudflare.com. Published July 28, 2026. Accessed October 30, 2026. (company's own site) https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-crawl-control/features/pay-per-crawl/what-is-pay-per-crawl/ 2. About Cloudflare, cloudflare.com. Accessed October 30, 2026. (company's own site) https://www.cloudflare.com/about-overview/ 3. Pay Per Use: when AI uses your work, you should get paid, blog.cloudflare.com. Published September 30, 2026. Accessed November 3, 2026. (company's own site) https://blog.cloudflare.com/pay-per-use/ 4. Pay Per Crawl · Cloudflare AI Crawl Control docs, developers.cloudflare.com. Accessed October 30, 2026. (company's own site) https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-crawl-control/features/pay-per-crawl/ 5. Set a pay per crawl price · Cloudflare AI Crawl Control docs, developers.cloudflare.com. Published July 28, 2026. Accessed October 30, 2026. (company's own site) https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-crawl-control/features/pay-per-crawl/use-pay-per-crawl-as-site-owner/set-a-pay-per-crawl-price/ 6. Changelog · Cloudflare AI Crawl Control docs, developers.cloudflare.com. Published June 16, 2026. Accessed October 30, 2026. (company's own site) https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-crawl-control/changelog/ 7. Manage payouts · Cloudflare AI Crawl Control docs, developers.cloudflare.com. Published April 23, 2026. Accessed October 30, 2026. (company's own site) https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-crawl-control/features/pay-per-crawl/use-pay-per-crawl-as-site-owner/manage-payouts/ 8. Enable in account settings · Cloudflare AI Crawl Control docs, developers.cloudflare.com. Published April 23, 2026. Accessed October 30, 2026. (company's own site) https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-crawl-control/features/pay-per-crawl/use-pay-per-crawl-as-site-owner/enable-in-account-settings/ 9. Introducing pay per crawl: Enabling content owners to charge AI crawlers for access | Cloudflare Blog, blog.cloudflare.com. Published July 1, 2025. Accessed October 30, 2026. (company's own site) https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-pay-per-crawl/ 10. Making AI search smarter | Cloudflare Blog, blog.cloudflare.com. Published July 1, 2026. Accessed October 30, 2026. (company's own site) https://blog.cloudflare.com/making-ai-search-smarter/ 11. Cloudflare’s new policy pushes AI companies to pay for publishers’ content | TechCrunch, techcrunch.com. Published July 1, 2026. Accessed October 30, 2026. (press) https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/01/cloudflares-new-policy-pushes-ai-companies-to-pay-for-publishers-content/ Last verified November 3, 2026 **Disclosure.** Bright Info is a sell-side broker. We may invite Cloudflare to bid for a client's data. This profile is compiled from public sources; it is not endorsed by or affiliated with Cloudflare. Corrections: hello@brightinfo.com. ## Related - All big tech infrastructure: https://www.brightinfo.com/buyers/big-tech/ - All buyer profiles: https://www.brightinfo.com/buyers/ --- © 2026 Bright Info · https://www.brightinfo.com