Head-to-Head Specification Audit
PayFast vs Cloudflare
E-Commerce & SaaS Businesses · South Africa
Specification Matrix
| Metric | PayFast | Cloudflare |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $0/moTie | $0/moTie |
| API Rate Limit | 60 req/min | 1200 req/minBetter |
| Target Country | South Africa | Global |
| Category | Payment Processing API | Security & CDN |
| Compliance (vendor-stated) | POPIA, PCI-DSS | GDPR, SOC2, ISO27001, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, FedRAMP |
| Hosting Regions | ZA-Cape-Town, ZA-Johannesburg | Global-300-PoPs |
| Native Integrations | 6 listed | 8 listedBetter |
PayFast — Key Specs
Vendor-stated- ✓Only major payment gateway with POPIA-compliant ZA data residency by default
- ✓Supports EFT, credit card, Instant EFT, Mobicred, and SnapScan natively
- ✓No monthly fee — pay 2.0–3.5% per transaction only
- ✓Recurring billing API supports subscription SaaS models out of the box
Cloudflare — Key Specs
Vendor-stated- ✓Free CDN with 300+ global edge nodes reduces page load time by 40-60% for most sites
- ✓DDoS protection rated up to 321 Tbps — largest network capacity in the industry
- ✓Workers serverless platform runs compute at 0ms cold start in 300+ locations globally
- ✓Cloudflare Tunnel exposes private internal services securely without opening firewall ports
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is lower-priced, PayFast or Cloudflare?+
Both tools start at Free plan available on their entry plans.
Which compliance frameworks do PayFast and Cloudflare list?+
Both list PCI-DSS in their vendor documentation. PayFast additionally lists POPIA. Cloudflare additionally lists GDPR, SOC2, ISO27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP. These are vendor-stated frameworks. VektorIndex has not independently audited these claims.
Does PayFast or Cloudflare list POPIA as a supported compliance framework?+
PayFast lists POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act) as a supported compliance framework per its vendor documentation. VektorIndex has not independently verified this claim. South African organisations should request the vendor's current Data Processing Agreement and confirm data residency settings before processing personal information. Cloudflare does not list POPIA as a supported compliance framework in its public documentation. Contact the vendor to confirm their position before processing South African personal information.
Which has a higher documented API rate limit — PayFast or Cloudflare?+
Cloudflare has a higher documented API rate limit at 1200 req/min versus PayFast at 60 req/min.
Which data hosting regions do PayFast and Cloudflare support?+
PayFast lists hosting regions: ZA-Cape-Town, ZA-Johannesburg. Cloudflare lists hosting regions: Global-300-PoPs. For data residency requirements in South Africa, confirm exact region configuration directly with each vendor.
Data last updated: 29 August 2026 — Sourced from official vendor documentation. Not independently audited. Report incorrect information
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