Free, open-source alternatives to Cloudflare WAF

Web application firewall in front of your site. 3 apps you can run yourself instead of Cloudflare WAF, sorted by how well they replace it. Each one is open source, so your data stays with you.

  1. SafeLineBest match

    Web application firewall / reverse proxy to protect your web apps from attacks and exploits.

    22.7k starsGPL-3.0Updated 22 September 2026
  2. BunkerWeb

    Next-gen Web Application Firewall (WAF) that will protect your web services.

    11.1k starsAGPL-3.0Updated 21 September 2026
  3. UUSEC WAF

    Industry-leading high-performance, AI and semantic technology web application firewall and API security gateway (fork of nginx).

    1.7k starsGPL-3.0Updated 12 October 2026

Side by side

AppStarsLicenseActivityRuns on
SafeLine22,734GPL-3.0Docker
BunkerWeb11,063AGPL-3.0Debian packages, Docker, Kubernetes
UUSEC WAF1,713GPL-3.0C, Lua, Docker

Why replace Cloudflare WAF?

Cloudflare WAF works, but your data lives in someone else's account, the price can change at any time, and features can disappear. An open-source app you run yourself is yours: you choose where it runs, who can see the data, and when to update.

Questions

What is the best free alternative to Cloudflare WAF?

SafeLine is the closest open-source replacement for Cloudflare WAF in our list. BunkerWeb and UUSEC WAF are worth a look too, depending on what you need.

Can I self-host an alternative to Cloudflare WAF?

Yes. All 3 apps on this page are open source and can run on your own server, usually with Docker, or on a managed host that installs them for you.