We detected 9,240 companies using Cloudflare API Security. The most common industry is Software Development (20%) and the most common company size is 2-10 employees (57%). We find new customers by discovering URLs with known URL patterns through web crawling or certificate transparency logs.
Note: We track companies that are using Cloudflare in front of their API (this includes API Shield, but not always). We *exclude* companies that also have Cloudflare in front of their corporate website, so these are companies using it exclusively on their API.
๐ฅ What types of companies use Cloudflare API Security?
Source: Analysis of Linkedin bios of 9,240 companies that use Cloudflare API Security
Company Characteristics
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Shows how much more likely Cloudflare API Security customers are to have each trait compared to all companies. For example, 2.0x means customers are twice as likely to have that characteristic.
Trait
Likelihood
Industry: Desktop Computing Software Products
24.9x
Industry: Artificial Intelligence
21.2x
Industry: Blockchain Services
16.9x
Funding Stage: Pre seed
16.0x
Funding Stage: Series B
15.1x
Funding Stage: Series A
15.0x
I noticed that Cloudflare API Security customers span an incredibly diverse range of businesses, but they share a common thread: they're organizations that directly serve end consumers or citizens at scale. These aren't just B2B software companies. I see government agencies delivering citizen services, retailers selling everything from fashion to groceries, financial institutions processing payments, healthcare systems treating patients, and logistics companies moving goods. What unites them is that they operate digital platforms where APIs connect their services to millions of users.
These are overwhelmingly mature, established enterprises. The signals are clear: massive employee counts (many with 1,000+ employees), extensive physical footprints (retail chains with hundreds of locations, hospital systems, distribution networks), decades of operating history, and in many cases, public company status or institutional backing. Even the tech companies here aren't early-stage startups. They're growth-stage or mature players like Rippling (Series G), Monzo, and Instacart with substantial funding and millions of users.
๐ง What other technologies do Cloudflare API Security customers also use?
Source: Analysis of tech stacks from 9,240 companies that use Cloudflare API Security
Commonly Paired Technologies
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Shows how much more likely Cloudflare API Security customers are to use each tool compared to the general population. For example, 287x means customers are 287 times more likely to use that tool.
I noticed that companies using Cloudflare API Security are overwhelmingly modern, product-led startups building in public with composable infrastructure. The combination of Supabase, Webflow, and Framer tells me these are companies that prioritize speed to market over custom development. They're choosing best-of-breed tools that integrate through APIs rather than building monolithic systems, which is exactly why they need robust API security in the first place.
The pairing with Supabase is particularly telling. Companies using this open-source Firebase alternative are exposing their databases through APIs directly to frontend applications, creating an immediate need for API protection. Similarly, Resend appearing 22 times more often suggests these companies are automating transactional emails through API calls, another common attack vector. The presence of Zuplo, despite its smaller user base, is fascinating because it's an API management platform. This means customers aren't just consuming APIs but publishing them, likely building API-first products themselves.
My analysis shows these are clearly product-led growth companies in early to mid-stage development. The heavy use of Posthog for product analytics rather than enterprise tools like Amplitude indicates they're data-driven but budget-conscious. Webflow and Framer appearing so frequently means they're launching marketing sites without engineering resources, a classic PLG move to let developers focus on the core product. These companies are self-serve first, using their tech stack to reduce operational overhead while scaling user acquisition.
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