# Cloudflare Gateway: how AI models rank it, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Named in 45 judge labels across 3 categories by 14 of 14 models. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/cloudflare-gateway

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [DNS filtering](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/network/dns-filtering/index.md) | 16% | 2 | 2% | 43 |
| [Client-side protection](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/client-side-protection/index.md) | 0% | 70 | 0% | 1 |
| [Enterprise browsers](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/enterprise-browsers/index.md) | 0% | 53 | 0% | 1 |

## What the models said for it

- "my default recommendation is Cloudflare Gateway if you want the best overall balance of security, scalability, and broader zero-trust capabilities" (GPT-5.4 mini, DNS filtering)
- "If you have almost no budget, start with Cloudflare Gateway (free for 50 users) or Quad9 (completely free)." (Kimi K2, DNS filtering)
- "Best value / SMB & MSP options are commonly cited as Cloudflare Gateway and DNSFilter for fast, transparent pricing" (Muse Glimmer 30B, DNS filtering)
- "Cloudflare Gateway stands out as the best DNS filtering service for a company with a limited budget." (Grok 4.20, DNS filtering)

## And against it

- "though I didn’t see as strong a DNS-security-first positioning in the sources I checked as compared with Cisco and Infoblox" (GPT-5.4 mini, DNS filtering)

## By model

| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Grok 4.20 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Mistral Small | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Kimi K2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 |

## Sources returned with these answers

The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Cloudflare Gateway, from 134 of the 147 answers that named it (only the models that return a source list).

### Domains cited

- dnsfilter.com: 88
- powerdmarc.com: 77
- cybersecuritynews.com: 52
- controld.com: 51
- simplyit.biz: 43
- dope.security: 36
- g2.com: 36
- sourceforge.net: 34
- expertinsights.com: 32
- reddit.com: 29

### Pages cited

- https://powerdmarc.com/best-dns-security-solutions: 70
- https://dnsfilter.com/: 65
- https://simplyit.biz/resources/best-dns-filtering-small-business-2026: 43
- https://cybersecuritynews.com/best-dns-security-solutions: 31
- https://comparitech.com/net-admin/dns-filtering-tools: 25
- https://insight.tmcnet.com/insight/buyers-guide/categories/dns-filtering-and-protective-dns-services: 23
- https://expertinsights.com/web-security/the-top-dns-web-filtering-platforms-for-businesses: 22
- https://dnsfilter.com/pricing: 21

## In its own words

What Cloudflare Gateway's own pages state, read 2026-10-05. Stated by the vendor, not checked by the index.

- Positioning: We’re going to completely replace your existing gateway at a fraction of the cost (https://blog.cloudflare.com/api-gateway)
- For: Enterprise customers (https://blog.cloudflare.com/api-gateway)
- Price stated: at a fraction of the cost (https://blog.cloudflare.com/api-gateway)
- Free plan or trial: The Monetization Gateway waitlist is open now for Cloudflare customers. (https://blog.cloudflare.com/monetization-gateway)
- Hosting: our global network, our network, our edge
- Customers named: api.cloudflare.com

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.