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Zipper (TinyZipper) vs Cloudflare
Zipper (TinyZipper) is a Cloudflare-shaped alternative priced per workspace. Honest production on multi-layered Global Server nodes. Cloudflare Pro is $20 per domain; Business is $200 per domain. Starter is US$12/mo for 8 hostnames versus Cloudflare Pro US$20 per domain. Business is US$39/mo for 40 hostnames versus Cloudflare Business US$200 per domain. All 26 named services ship on every plan.
| Capability | Zipper | Cloudflare |
|---|---|---|
| Network | Multi-layered Global Server nodes. | Anycast + optional Magic Transit |
| Billing unit | Per workspace | Pro/Business billed per domain |
| Entry paid plan | US$12/mo · 8 hostnames | US$20/mo per domain |
| Business plan | US$39/mo · 40 hostnames | US$200/mo per domain |
| HTTP DDoS + WAF | Moat (per-IP HTTP cap) + Keep on Zipper | L3/L4 absorb + WAF |
| Cache | The Crown — in-process on Zipper | PoP cache |
| DNS | DNS-JSON at GET /dns-query — not port 53 | Authoritative DNS :53 |
| Images | Original-byte delivery from Zipper object storage. No transcode. | Polish / Image Resizing |
| AI | Grounded Zipper corpus on Zipper. Not a GPU LLM. | Workers AI |
| Bot check | Portcullis (first-party) | Turnstile (separate product) |
| Edge compute | Timed Node vm on Zipper | Workers (paid plan + usage) |
| Git hosting | Site Hosting included | Pages |
| Object storage | The Archives included | R2 (usage) |
| Zero Trust / Tunnel | Throne Room + Origin Connect | Access + Tunnel SKUs |
| Email routing | Inbound store + routes (no SMTP send) | Email Routing |
| Waiting room | Visitor Queue included | Waiting Room (paid) |
| Edge antivirus | Palace Guard (first of its kind — cordon-before-disk) | No analogue |
| Video | Stored file playback. No HLS encode. | Stream (usage) |
Service map
The Crown
Keeps copies of your pages in Zipper’s memory so repeat visits load faster.
The Keep
Checks each web request for attacks before it reaches your site.
Portcullis
A check that tells Zipper a visitor is a person — not a silent token.
The Moat
Slows or stops HTTP floods from one address. Not Magic Transit.
The Herald
Store DNS records and answer them as JSON on /dns-query — not port 53.
The Vault
Gets HTTPS certificates for your hostnames and keeps them renewed.
The Scepter
Limits how often an API can be called, and checks tokens and body shape.
The Watchtower
Shows requests, blocks, cache hits, and human checks for your workspace only.
The Drawbridge
Sends visitors to healthy origin servers, and skips ones that are down.
The Gallery
Serves your original image files from Zipper. No transcode, no Polish.
The Archives
A locked file store with signed links. You can drop a folder from cache at once.
The Throne Room
Lets signed-in teammates reach a private app. The public does not see the origin.
Edge Functions
Full serverless runtime with 60s timeout, npm packages, WebSockets, streaming, and Web APIs.
Site Hosting
Builds your site from git. Static or SSR. Each branch gets a preview URL.
Job Queues
A background list for work that should not slow a visitor down.
Edge AI
Answers from Zipper’s own docs, on Zipper. Not a GPU LLM farm.
Video Delivery
Plays the video file you uploaded. No encode, no HLS ladder.
Origin Connect
Puts a private server on a Zipper hostname without opening a public port.
Zipper Mail
Verify your domain, mint a send key or SMTP credential, and ship DKIM-signed mail through Zipper’s Postfix — plus inbound store and routes.
Visitor Queue
Puts extra visitors in a waiting line when your site is too busy.
Palace Guard
Scans files as they arrive and holds bad ones before they sit on disk.
The Cellar
Your app database under Zipper. Paste a phpMyAdmin dump. Connect with SQL, REST, or live updates.
The Armory
Spent-cartridge warrants for mobile and web. Each write fires once, bound to a rack, hatch, and device. Not a JWT farm and not Firebase.
Zipper Pilot
An embeddable support pilot that refuses to guess, learns your site, and queues page-aware WebRTC booths. Agents pick with the thread, citations, and URL already in hand.
Zipper Wire
Versioned automation wires that trigger, branch, call Zipper connectors, run grounded AI, and pause for human approval — on this Global Server node.
Zipper Forms
Typeform-style forms with drag-and-drop fields, conditional logic, file uploads, and real-time responses — on this Global Server node.
FAQ
- What is Zipper / TinyZipper?
- Zipper (also searched as TinyZipper, Tiny Zipper, and tinyzipper.com) is Spatial Regal Technology’s Cloudflare-shaped edge platform. Honest production on multi-layered Global Server nodes with 26 named services, priced per workspace.
- Is Zipper a Cloudflare alternative?
- Yes — as a workspace-priced control plane with Cloudflare-shaped jobs. Honest production is multi-layered Global Server nodes: application-layer DDoS and WAF, in-process cache, DNS-JSON (not port 53), and image delivery (not transcoding). 26 named services plus Palace Guard.
- How is pricing cheaper than Cloudflare?
- Starter is US$12/mo for 8 hostnames versus Cloudflare Pro US$20 per domain. Business is US$39/mo for 40 hostnames versus Cloudflare Business US$200 per domain. Workers, Load Balancing, and Stream are not separate Zipper SKUs.
- Do I pay per domain?
- No. Hostnames (zones) are included in the plan quota. You are not billed per domain the way Cloudflare Pro (US$20) and Business (US$200) are.
- Is there a free plan?
- Yes. Free includes all 26 services, 2 zones, 2 TB of Crown egress, 50,000 Portcullis challenges, Palace Guard scans, and no credit card.
- What is the cheapest paid Zipper plan?
- Starter is US$12 per month (US$120 billed yearly) with 8 hostnames. That is below Cloudflare Pro and products such as Vercel Pro or Netlify Pro, and you are not billed per domain.
- Can I replace Cloudflare Workers, Pages, and Turnstile?
- Yes. Edge Functions maps to Workers, Site Hosting maps to Pages, and Portcullis maps to Turnstile. Origin Connect maps to Tunnel. Palace Guard is Zipper’s edge antivirus — Cloudflare has no analogue. Guides live in /docs.
- What does Zipper run on day one?
- Application-layer DDoS and WAF, in-process cache, DNS-JSON, original-byte images, Edge Functions, Site Hosting, Zipper Mail, Zipper Pilot, The Armory, sealed Postgres (The Cellar), and 26 named palace services on multi-layered Global Server nodes — priced per workspace. Substrate catalog: https://tinyzipper.com/docs/gaps
- What is Zipper Mail?
- Zipper Mail (also called Zipper Email) is Zipper’s transactional email and webmail service: HTTP send API on every plan, SMTP on Starter+, DKIM-signed mail on Global Server nodes, company inboxes, and the web client at mail.tinyzipper.com. Docs: https://tinyzipper.com/docs/email · Product: https://tinyzipper.com/products/email · Webmail: https://tinyzipper.com/webmail.
- Which services does Zipper include?
- All 26: The Crown (In-process cache), The Keep (Web application firewall), Portcullis (Human verification), The Moat (Application-layer DDoS), The Herald (DNS-JSON over HTTPS), The Vault (TLS certificates), The Scepter (API shield and rate limits), The Watchtower (Analytics and logs), The Drawbridge (Load balancing), The Gallery (Image delivery), The Archives (Object storage), The Throne Room (Zero-trust access), Edge Functions (Serverless runtime on Zipper), Site Hosting (Git-connected sites), Job Queues (Background work), Edge AI (Grounded inference on Zipper), Video Delivery (Stored video objects), Origin Connect (Private origin links), Zipper Mail (Transactional send + inbound hatch), Visitor Queue (Surge protection), Palace Guard (Edge antivirus cordon), The Cellar (World's first sealed Postgres), The Armory (Sealed warrant backend), Zipper Pilot (Grounded support and live voice), Zipper Wire (Governed AI automations), Zipper Forms (Conversational form builder). Each ships with its own docs at https://tinyzipper.com/docs/{key}.
- How do I migrate from Cloudflare to Zipper?
- Copy DNS into The Herald, proxy through The Crown, swap Turnstile for Portcullis, and point Workers at Edge Functions. Step-by-step: https://tinyzipper.com/docs/migrate-from-cloudflare.
Cloudflare prices are public list prices billed per domain. Zipper quotas: Starter 8 zones.