CHEAPUNO guide

Is Cloudflare R2 good for public file hosting bandwidth?

Verify if Cloudflare R2's free tier covers your egress and privacy needs before you build.

CHEAPUNO EditorialSources checked 9 10 月, 2026

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What you are probably seeing

You see static files hosted on R2 being delivered to users, but you worry that egress traffic will exceed the free allowance or that private buckets lack the CDN layer you need.

Your dashboard shows no immediate billing shock, but you cannot confirm whether your bandwidth volume fits inside the free tier limits.

You are considering storing user uploads on R2, yet you realize that privacy settings depend on your bucket configuration, not just the provider’s defaults.

You test a download link and it works, but you are unsure if the same setup scales when traffic spikes or when you need custom domains.

Why it happens

Cloudflare R2 is object storage that bundles a CDN, but the free tier has specific egress and request limits that vary by use case.

Static file hosting on a CDN is not the same as file storage; R2 handles the storage layer, while Pages or other services handle the delivery layer, and they are separate products.

Privacy depends on whether your bucket is public or private, and if public, whether the files are served via a CDN edge with the correct cache rules.

Many users assume ‘free’ means unlimited; in reality, the free tier stops at a set number of requests and egress, and you need to monitor usage to stay in range.

What changed recently

Step by step

1. Check your current monthly egress and request count against R2’s documented free tier limits.

2. Create a test R2 bucket and upload a representative file, then monitor its delivery through Cloudflare’s network.

3. Verify that your intended use case (public vs. private files) matches the bucket’s ACL settings before deploying.

4. Set up usage alerts in your Cloudflare dashboard to notify you before you exceed free tier thresholds.

5. Document your fallback plan if egress exceeds the free tier, including how you will migrate or upgrade the service.

Ways to go further

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