---
title: Build and run AI applications
description: Build AI applications with serverless compute, edge inference, multi-provider gateways, and stateful coordination.
image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/cf-twitter-card.png
---

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# Build and run AI applications

To build and deploy an AI application, you need compute for application logic, a way to run inference, and a gateway to manage costs across providers. Cloudflare Workers hosts your application logic and serves your frontend. Workers AI runs inference at the edge with pay-per-use pricing. AI Gateway adds caching, rate limiting, and observability across OpenAI, Anthropic, and other providers. Durable Objects coordinate stateful workflows and multi-turn conversations.

## Solutions

### Workers

Build and deploy serverless applications on Cloudflare's global network. [Learn more about Workers](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/).

* **Streaming responses** \- Stream AI responses token-by-token as they generate, without buffering the full reply
* **Full-stack deployment** \- Serve frontend and backend from a single deployment without managing separate infrastructure

### Workers AI

Run inference on Cloudflare's global network via a Workers binding, with pay-per-use pricing. [Learn more about Workers AI](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers-ai/).

* **Global inference** \- Run models at the Cloudflare location nearest to the user, reducing round-trip latency
* **Pay-per-use pricing** \- No GPU reservations or idle costs; pay only for tokens processed

### AI Gateway

Proxy requests to any AI provider with caching, rate limiting, and unified analytics. [Learn more about AI Gateway](https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-gateway/).

* **Provider flexibility** \- Route requests to OpenAI, Anthropic, Workers AI, or any other provider through a single endpoint
* **Unified observability** \- Track request volume, latency, costs, and errors across all providers in one place

### Durable Objects

Stateful objects with strongly consistent storage and coordination. [Learn more about Durable Objects](https://developers.cloudflare.com/durable-objects/).

* **Stateful workflows** \- Coordinate multi-step AI pipelines and maintain conversation state across requests

## Get started

1. [Workers AI get started](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers-ai/get-started/)
2. [AI Gateway get started](https://developers.cloudflare.com/ai-gateway/get-started/)
3. [Durable Objects get started](https://developers.cloudflare.com/durable-objects/get-started/)

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