Vercel vs Cloudflare
Side-by-side comparison of the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy of Vercel and Cloudflare.
Vercel provides useful privacy rights and some account controls, but these are outweighed by mandatory arbitration with class waiver, broad content and AI-training rights, extensive data collection and sharing, auto-renewal, unilateral changes, and strong liability limits.
Vercel’s legal terms are typical for a cloud platform: broad service discretion, auto-renewing paid plans, liability limits, and mandatory arbitration. On privacy, it collects extensive account, usage, device, and content-related data, uses some data for advertising and AI-related purposes, and shares with partners and providers. Positively, it offers access, deletion, portability, account/team controls, and recognizes some opt-out rights including GPC for advertising cookies.
Points of interest
-
negative ●●●●● termsMandatory arbitration waiver
Most disputes must go through binding JAMS arbitration in California, and you waive participation in class actions. You only get a limited 30-day opt-out window.
-
negative ●●●●● termsAI training by default
If you use Hobby or trial Pro, your content may be used to train Vercel’s and third parties’ AI models by default. Paid Pro users must manage settings to opt in or out depending on plan.
-
negative ●●●●○ termsBroad content license
You keep ownership, but Vercel gets a very broad transferable license to use, modify, distribute, and create derivatives from your content for service operation and improvement.
-
negative ●●●●○ privacyExtensive data collection
Vercel collects a wide range of personal and technical data, including account details, payment data, source code/files, AI prompts, telemetry, device data, and IP-based location.
-
negative ●●●●○ privacyAdvertising and data sharing
Vercel uses data for personalized ads and may share certain data with advertising networks, partners, sponsors, affiliates, and service providers. U.S. law disclosures indicate some sharing may count as 'selling' or 'sharing'.
-
negative ●●●●○ termsLow liability cap
If something goes wrong, Vercel’s liability is generally capped at the greater of $100 or the fees you paid in the prior six months, with broad warranty disclaimers.
-
positive ●●●●○ privacyAccess, deletion, portability rights
Vercel states users may have rights to access, correct, delete, and port their data, and provides a Privacy Request Center plus account controls to exercise them.
-
negative ●●●○○ termsAuto-renew and delayed cancellation
Paid subscriptions renew automatically and stored payment methods can be charged in advance or arrears. Canceling usually only takes effect at the next renewal period, not immediately.
-
negative ●●●○○ termsUnilateral term changes
Vercel can change the agreement by posting notice or emailing you, and changes become effective immediately after notice. Your main remedy is to stop using the service.
-
positive ●●●○○ privacyGPC opt-out honored
For advertising-related cookies and similar tracking, Vercel says it honors Global Privacy Control browser signals, which is a stronger opt-out mechanism than many services provide.
-
positive ●●●○○ privacyRetention minimization stated
The privacy policy says personal data is kept for the minimum necessary period and then deleted, anonymized, or securely stored in backups when deletion is not possible.
Documents
Cloudflare offers notable privacy positives, especially no-sale language, user rights mechanisms, and limited logging for 1.1.1.1 resolver data. But its terms include broad liability disclaimers, unilateral changes, perpetual content licensing, and termination without notice, which reduce user protections.
Cloudflare’s website/free-service terms are fairly protective of the company, with broad suspension rights, warranty/liability limits, and unilateral changes. Its privacy policy is stronger than average in some areas: it says it does not sell or rent personal information, offers access/deletion/portability rights, and gives unusually privacy-protective commitments for the 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver. Data sharing for marketing and international transfers still occurs, and retention is flexible rather than tightly time-limited.
Points of interest
-
positive ●●●●● privacyPrivacy-focused DNS logging
For the 1.1.1.1 public resolver, Cloudflare says it does not log personal information and keeps most limited query data only 25 hours. This is an unusually strong privacy commitment for a DNS service.
-
negative ●●●●○ termsCan terminate anytime
Cloudflare can suspend or terminate access at its sole discretion, with or without notice and for any or no reason. That means free-service users may lose access abruptly with little recourse.
-
negative ●●●●○ termsBroad liability disclaimer
The service is provided as-is and Cloudflare disclaims warranties while broadly limiting liability for damages. In practice, this makes it harder for users to recover losses if the website or free online services fail or cause harm.
-
positive ●●●●○ privacyNo sale of data
Cloudflare expressly says it does not sell or rent personal information. That is a meaningful privacy commitment, though it still allows sharing with service providers, partners, and affiliates for business purposes.
-
positive ●●●●○ privacyAccess, deletion, portability rights
Users can request access, correction, portability, deletion, restriction, or objection by contacting Cloudflare. Customers and admins can also update or export some account data directly through their account settings.
-
negative ●●●○○ termsPerpetual content license
If you submit content, feedback, or suggestions, you keep ownership but give Cloudflare a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide license to use and modify it. Users should assume submitted materials can be reused indefinitely without payment.
-
negative ●●●○○ termsTerms can change anytime
Cloudflare can modify the terms at any time by posting updated terms, and your only stated remedy is to stop using the service. Users may need to monitor the terms themselves for important changes.
-
negative ●●●○○ termsUser indemnity obligation
You agree to indemnify Cloudflare for claims and costs tied to your use, violations, or disputes involving third parties. This can shift legal and financial risk onto users if their activity triggers a claim.
-
positive ●●●○○ privacyCookie and ad controls
Website visitors get cookie preference tools and opt-outs for interest-based advertising and some marketing sharing. This gives users some practical control over tracking on Cloudflare’s own sites.
-
negative ●●○○○ privacyMarketing and partner sharing
Cloudflare says it may share information with marketing and advertising partners and may provide them your email or limited account information unless you opt out. This is not a sale, but it is still meaningful data sharing for promotion.
-
neutral ●●○○○ termsLawsuits in San Francisco
Disputes are routed to California law and exclusive courts in San Francisco County. This preserves a court path rather than mandatory arbitration, but it may be inconvenient or costly for users outside that area.
Documents
Comparison is based on each service's published Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Read the source documents linked above before relying on any specific clause.