How to Check Website Traffic in Cloudflare: Guide

• Learn how to check website traffic in Cloudflare using the core HTTP analytics panel.
• Inspect edge requests, bandwidth usage, and geographic visitor distribution.
• Filter out automated bots and compare raw network telemetry with browser analytics.

To check website traffic in Cloudflare, sign in to your dashboard, select your domain, open Analytics and Logs, and click HTTP Traffic. This screen immediately displays total edge requests, unique visitor IP counts, and data transfer before client-side tracking scripts execute. It offers server-level visibility that catches crawler activity early.

Step-by-step process to check website traffic in Cloudflare

Edge telemetry takes moments to check. Follow this simple walkthrough to review your domain metrics.

Step 1: Open zone analytics

Log in to your account dashboard and select your active website from the home list. Find Analytics and Logs in the left sidebar. Click on HTTP Traffic. The charts load right away. If you run sites without tags, see our guide on how to check website traffic without Google Analytics.

Step 2: Choose your analysis timeframe

Next, set your time window. The default view shows the last 24 hours. Click the drop-down menu in the top right corner. Free tiers let you review up to 30 days of data. Pick 7 days or 30 days. This makes it easy to spot weekly volume patterns.

Step 3: Evaluate total requests versus unique visitors

Check the two big numbers at the top. The first number is total requests. A request counts each file hit, including images, style sheets, and HTML pages. The second number is unique visitors. The proxy tallies visitors using unique client IPs. To compare these counts with Google data, read our guide on how to check referral traffic in GA4.

Step 4: Audit geographic visitor distribution

Scroll down to the map. The console maps request volume across regions. Look at your top regions. If you see high hits from areas where you do not sell, bots could be scraping your site. To learn more about location checks, read our guide on how to check website traffic by country.

Step 5: Apply filters for clean human metrics

Raw edge logs count both real people and automated bots. Click the Add Filter button above the chart. You can filter by status code or path. Pick code 200 to see valid hits. For full rule lists, review the Cloudflare Zone Analytics documentation.

Cloudflare metrics comparison matrix for web traffic analysis

Edge numbers look different from normal site tools. Use this reference table to understand what each label means.

Cloudflare HTTP traffic analytics versus Web Analytics

The platform provides two distinct auditing utilities.

The HTTP Traffic tab tracks every network packet at the DNS edge. It sees web scrapers, crawler bots, and automated scanner tools. Because it runs on the proxy server, ad blockers cannot hide from it.

Cloudflare Web Analytics works in a different way. It uses a small JavaScript tag placed on your pages. It only tracks real people using web browsers. It ignores search spiders and API calls. Comparing both tools shows you how many hits come from real visitors.

Decision matrix: when to check traffic in Cloudflare

Different auditing tasks call for different tools. Review this table to pick the right option for your site.

You cannot log in to an outreach partner's provider portal. When checking external blogs, rely on verified public signs. To test incoming link quality, see our post on how to check where website traffic is coming from.

Frequently asked questions