Purge cache

Cloudflare's Instant Purge ensures that updates to your content are reflected immediately. Multiple options are available for purging content, with single-file cache purging (purge by URL) being the recommended method. However, the following additional options are also available:

• ​Purge by single-file
• ​Purge everything
• Purge cache by cache-tags
• ​Purge cache by hostname
• ​Purge cache by prefix (URL)
• Purge cache key resources
• P​urge varied images
• Purge zone versions via API

Note

If versioning is active on your zone and multiple environments are configured, you can select the specific environment you want to purge. For more details, refer to the Version Management documentation.

Purge limits

	Free	Pro	Business	Enterprise
Availability	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Purge options	URL, Hostname, Tag, Prefix, and Purge Everything	URL, Hostname, Tag, Prefix, and Purge Everything	URL, Hostname, Tag, Prefix, and Purge Everything	URL, Hostname, Tag, Prefix, and Purge Everything
Purge limits (tags, prefix URL, hostname, and purge everything). The limits are per account.	5 requests per minute with a bucket size of 25, supporting up to 100 operations per request. Purge everything: 5 requests per second with a bucket size of 25, supporting up to 100 operations per request	5 requests per second with a bucket size of 25, supporting up to 100 operations per request	10 requests per second with a bucket size of 50, supporting up to 100 operations per request	50 requests per second with a bucket size of 500, supporting up to 100 operations per request
Purge limits (single file purge). The limits are per account.	800 URLs per second	1500 URLs per second	1500 URLs per second	3000 URLs per second

Token bucket rate limiting

Cloudflare uses token bucket rate limiting to limit the number of purge requests flowing through the system at any given time, ensuring a steady and manageable flow.

Each account tier has a defined request rate (for example, Free: 5 requests per minute, Business: 10 requests per second), and requests are only allowed if there are available tokens in the bucket. Tokens refill at a consistent rate, but each bucket has a maximum capacity (for example, Free: 25 tokens, Enterprise: 500 tokens), allowing short bursts of requests if tokens have accumulated.

If the bucket is empty, further requests must wait until new tokens are added. This system maintains fair usage while allowing occasional bursts within the bucket's capacity.

If you are an Enterprise customer and you need more operations, reach out to your account team for support.