Cloudflare Workers
Deployment & HostingServerless JavaScript execution on Cloudflare's edge network
Features
- V8 isolate-based execution with 0ms cold starts
- Runs in 300+ edge locations globally
- Built-in KV, D1, R2, and Durable Objects bindings
- Supports JavaScript, TypeScript, Rust, and WASM
Pros
- Zero cold starts unlike Lambda or Cloud Functions
- Closest compute to users with global edge deployment
- 100,000 free requests per day
Cons
- CPU time limits (10ms free, 30s paid per request)
- Not fully Node.js compatible (V8 isolates, not Node)
- Debugging distributed edge code can be challenging
Overview
Cloudflare Workers is a serverless execution platform that runs JavaScript, TypeScript, and WebAssembly on Cloudflare’s global edge network. Unlike traditional serverless platforms that run in specific regions, Workers execute in the data center closest to the user, providing the lowest possible latency.
Workers use V8 isolates (the same engine that powers Chrome) instead of containers, which eliminates cold starts entirely. A Worker can go from zero traffic to handling requests in under a millisecond, compared to seconds of cold start time on container-based platforms.
The Workers platform integrates deeply with Cloudflare’s storage services: KV for key-value storage, D1 for SQL databases, R2 for object storage, and Durable Objects for stateful coordination. This ecosystem enables building complete applications entirely on the edge.
When to Use
Choose Cloudflare Workers for latency-sensitive APIs, edge middleware, and applications that benefit from running close to users globally. It excels for request routing, authentication, A/B testing, and lightweight API endpoints.
Getting Started
npm create cloudflare@latest my-worker
cd my-worker
npx wrangler dev
npx wrangler deploy