Global – October 25, 2026 -- Cloudflare is pitching Cloudflare WAN, a network-as-a-service offering within its Cloudflare One SASE platform, as a way to augment or replace legacy MPLS and SD-WAN deployments with a "light-branch, heavy-cloud" architecture.
Cloudflare WAN shifts network functions from branch hardware to the cloud
Enterprises connect sites through the Cloudflare One Appliance, offered as a physical or virtual unit, which steers traffic onto the Cloudflare network. Cloudflare WAN then enforces Cloudflare One security policies and delivers traffic to other sites, Internet applications and cloud workloads. The company says traffic can be on-ramped in minutes using zero-touch configuration, with connectivity and security managed from a single interface.
Security functions ship integrated rather than bolted on
The service bundles cloud-native DDoS protection, network firewalling, security service edge (SSE) and Zero Trust functionality. Cloudflare says shrinking the on-premises footprint cuts reliance on costly MPLS or SD-WAN, though the source gives no pricing or savings figures.
Four use cases target branch, cloud and Internet traffic
Cloudflare lists site-to-site connectivity across branch offices, retail locations and factory floors, hybrid and multi-cloud routing, and secure Internet breakout with consistent traffic inspection and policy controls. The fourth use case is global-scale deployment that replaces or supplements legacy WAN.
RATP cites single management plane as a major step for enterprise networking
Enguerrand Gave, Head of Portals & Services at RATP, called the combination of built-in DDoS protection, traffic acceleration, network firewall and Zero Trust on one management plane "arguably the biggest leap in enterprise network technology in the last couple of decades."
Cloudflare was also named a Visionary in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for SASE Platforms.