☁️ S3-Compatible Storage Destinations

Choose the right cloud storage backend for your backup infrastructure

Overview

Cloudflare R2 Storage disrupts the cloud storage market by eliminating egress fees entirely—the "R2" name referencing "Really eliminating Request and Egress fees." Built on Cloudflare's global network spanning 320+ cities, R2 provides S3-compatible object storage with zero bandwidth charges regardless of download volume. This pricing model fundamentally challenges AWS and challenges the "egress tax" that locks customers into expensive cloud providers.

Product Description

R2 leverages Cloudflare's massive global network infrastructure, originally built for CDN and security services, to provide object storage with automatic geographic distribution. Data stored in R2 can be accessed through Cloudflare's edge network, enabling low-latency delivery worldwide without managing multi-region replication. The platform's S3 API compatibility ensures seamless migration from AWS while eliminating the $0.09/GB egress fees that make AWS storage difficult to leave.

As part of the Cloudflare ecosystem, R2 integrates naturally with Cloudflare Workers (serverless compute), Images (optimization), and Stream (video platform) for complete application development. For backup use cases, R2's zero egress policy enables unlimited disaster recovery testing, frequent restore verification, and worry-free recovery scenarios that would cost thousands on AWS.

Key Features

Pricing (Zero Egress Revolution)

API Request Pricing

• Class A Operations (PUT, POST, LIST, DELETE): $4.50 per million requests ($0.0000045 per request)
• Class B Operations (GET, HEAD): $0.36 per million requests ($0.00000036 per request)
• Free Tier: 1M Class A + 10M Class B operations included monthly

Example: Typical backup operations (1,000 files uploaded, 100,000 files listed, 500 files downloaded) = ~$0.006/month in request costs

Use Cases for Backup

• AWS Migration: Move backups from S3 to R2, eliminating egress fees while maintaining S3 compatibility
• Disaster Recovery Storage: Store backups with confidence that full recovery won't cost thousands in bandwidth
• Backup Verification: Perform unlimited restore testing without egress charges building up
• Multi-Cloud Strategy: Use R2 as secondary backup target alongside on-premises or other cloud storage
• Media Backup: Store video/photo backups with instant global access through Cloudflare's edge network
• Development Backups: Backup development environments with frequent restore operations without cost concerns

Cost Example: 10TB Monthly Backup

Integration & Compatibility

R2 works with standard S3-compatible tools and applications:

• Backup Tools: Restic, Duplicati, rclone, CloudBerry, MSP360
• CLI Tools: AWS CLI, s3cmd, MinIO client (mc)
• SDKs: AWS SDK for JavaScript, Python (boto3), Go, PHP, Ruby, .NET
• Sync Tools: rclone, Cyberduck, Mountain Duck
• Migration: rclone for AWS S3 to R2 migration

Why Choose Cloudflare R2?

Cloudflare R2's zero egress pricing removes the anxiety from disaster recovery planning. Organizations can test recovery procedures monthly, quarterly, or even weekly without accumulating massive bandwidth bills. This encourages best practices that would be financially prohibitive on AWS—where a single 100TB recovery test could cost $9,000 in egress alone.

For organizations already using Cloudflare for DNS, CDN, or security services, R2 integrates seamlessly into existing workflows. Cloudflare Workers can process backup data at the edge, enabling verification workflows, format conversions, or selective restoration without moving data through expensive compute instances.

R2's competitive advantage comes from Cloudflare's unique position as a network provider rather than traditional cloud vendor. While AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud profit from data lock-in through egress fees, Cloudflare's business model doesn't depend on keeping customer data captive. This architectural difference translates to fundamentally lower costs for workloads requiring data mobility.