# Cloudflare Workers AI vs DeepInfra

> Cloudflare Workers AI scores 68.3 (B) to DeepInfra's 63 (B) for llm inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-deepinfra
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-deepinfra.md (~2,800 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-deepinfra.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-deepinfra.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Cloudflare Workers AI scores 68.3 (B) on agent readiness against DeepInfra's 63 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do llm inference.

- Cloudflare Workers AI: grade B, 68.3/100, rank #224 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-workers-ai.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-workers-ai.json
- DeepInfra: grade B, 63/100, rank #411 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepinfra.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepinfra.json
- Best model APIs and inference for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/inference/index.md
- All 136 models comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inference/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Cloudflare Workers AI (B)

Good for: Agents that already run on Cloudflare Workers, or that want open-weight chat, embedding, reranking, speech and image models behind one token with a free daily allowance.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 80 against 69
- Security & auth, 77 against 64
- Payments & pricing, 52 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 72 against 65
- Transparency & trust, 76 against 67

Watch for: No SLA for Workers AI was found in the docs or the agreements read

### DeepInfra (B)

Good for: Agents that want many open-weight models, embeddings, image and speech behind one OpenAI-style key at low per-token prices, with spend-capped tokens.

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Cloudflare Workers AI loses 3 points for them

Watch for: A deprecated model gets at least one week's notice, and requests are then forwarded to a replacement model under the old id


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Cloudflare Workers AI | DeepInfra | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 66 | 70 | DeepInfra +4 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 69 | Cloudflare Workers AI +11 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 77 | DeepInfra +2 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 77 | 64 | Cloudflare Workers AI +13 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 52 | 20 | Cloudflare Workers AI +32 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 65 | Cloudflare Workers AI +7 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 76 | 67 | Cloudflare Workers AI +9 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **68.3 · B** | **63 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Cloudflare Workers AI | DeepInfra |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Cloudflare, Inc. | Deep Infra Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/{account_id}/ai` | `https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openai` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| x402 | payer tooling only | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Cloudflare's Self-Serve Subscription Agreement. Each hosted model carries its own open-weight licence, linked from its model page. The `cloudflare` SDKs are Apache-2.0, `workers-ai-provider` is MIT and the OpenAPI repository is BSD-3-Clause | Proprietary service under the DeepInfra Terms of Service. The Python and Node SDKs and the docs repository are MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-07 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-09-12 | 2026-08-17 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2026-08-15 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 380k npm/wk | 21 stars, 1.2k npm/wk, 50 PyPI/wk |

## Verdicts

**Cloudflare Workers AI.** Per-model prices, rate limits and JSON Schemas are public, 10,000 neurons a day are free, and x402 payment is in beta on `/ai/run` for four models. No SLA was found, three models moved to paid-only access on 28 July 2026 with no notice, and several docs pages still use a model retired in May.

**DeepInfra.** The model list, context sizes and per-token prices are readable without a key, and keys can carry an IP allowlist, a monthly spending cap and model-limited JWTs. Deprecated models get one week's notice and are then redirected to another model, there is no changelog or SLA, and an account needs a card or prepayment before any call.

## Before you call either

### Cloudflare Workers AI

1. Check the model page before calling. Seven models need Workers Paid or AI Gateway credits and return 403 with code 5035 on the Free plan
2. Read the internal code on a 429. 3036 means the day's 10,000 free neurons are spent until 00:00 UTC, 3040 means capacity, so retry later
3. Set `options.rejectIfBusy` to fail fast, or add `?queueRequest=true` for the batch route when the answer can wait
4. Send the same `x-session-affinity` value on every turn of a session to reach the prefix cache and the cached-input price
5. Keep paid frontier models under 20 requests a minute per model, or 50 with prepaid AI Gateway credits

### DeepInfra

1. Call `GET https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openai/models` at start-up for ids, context sizes and prices. No key is needed
2. Check the `model` field of each response. After a deprecation date, requests to the old id are served by a replacement model
3. Ask the account owner for a scoped JWT limited to the models and spend the task needs, not the full API key
4. Stay under 200 concurrent requests per model. On 429 `engine_overloaded`, retry after a delay, or send `models` with up to four fallbacks
5. Never inspect a JWT with `GET /v1/scoped-jwt?jwtoken=`, which puts the token in the URL. Keep credentials in the `Authorization` header

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Cloudflare Workers AI or DeepInfra?

Cloudflare Workers AI scores 68.3 (B) on agent readiness against DeepInfra's 63 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.

### Do Cloudflare Workers AI and DeepInfra need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Cloudflare Workers AI and DeepInfra without installing anything?

Yes. Cloudflare Workers AI has a hosted endpoint at https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/{account_id}/ai and DeepInfra at https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openai.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-deepinfra.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-deepinfra.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "cloudflare-workers-ai", "b": "deepinfra"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cloudflare-workers-ai deepinfra`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-workers-ai.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepinfra.json

## Other comparisons with Cloudflare Workers AI or DeepInfra

- [Claude API vs Cloudflare Workers AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-cloudflare-workers-ai.md)
- [Claude API vs DeepInfra](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-deepinfra.md)
- [Antseed vs Cloudflare Workers AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-cloudflare-workers-ai.md)
- [Antseed vs DeepInfra](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-deepinfra.md)
- [BlockRun.AI vs Cloudflare Workers AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-cloudflare-workers-ai.md)
- [BlockRun.AI vs DeepInfra](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-deepinfra.md)
- [Cloudflare AI Gateway vs Cloudflare Workers AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-cloudflare-workers-ai.md)
- [Cloudflare AI Gateway vs DeepInfra](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-deepinfra.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs Cohere Chat API (Command models)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-cohere-chat.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs Gemini Developer API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-gemini-api.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-groq.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs Mistral AI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-mistral-api.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs OpenAI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-openai-api.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-openrouter.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs Prism Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-prism-inference.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs SiliconFlow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-siliconflow.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs DeepInfra](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-deepinfra.md)
- [DeepInfra vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [DeepInfra vs Gemini Developer API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-gemini-api.md)
- [DeepInfra vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-groq.md)
- [DeepInfra vs Mistral AI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-mistral-api.md)
- [DeepInfra vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [DeepInfra vs OpenAI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-openai-api.md)
- [DeepInfra vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-openrouter.md)
- [DeepInfra vs Prism Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-prism-inference.md)
- [DeepInfra vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-sambanova.md)
- [DeepInfra vs SiliconFlow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-siliconflow.md)