Everything is a "single point of failure" if you play around enough with the definition of "single". Your custom server with backup solution is a "single" thing, which is really not that far off from what Cloudflare is. From a technical point of view it's hard to get more redundant than things like Cloudflare; it's really not that centralised beyond being one organisation.
It's just that if your server fails no one hears about it. But as a rule, your custom server will fair more often than Cloudflare.
And you "need" it quicker than you think. DaemonForums is a small (no longer very active) forum; I ran the site for the first few years from 2008 to 2013. I served it off a small Intel Atom server. I haven't been involved in over a decade, but last year the current admin added Cloudflare because traffic from bots was getting out of control. He helpfully posted some stats:
Period Usage Maximum Expected Overusage
July 2025 5 GB ∞ 5 GB No overusage
June 2025 63 GB ∞ 63 GB No overusage
May 2025 788 GB ∞ 788 GB No overusage
April 2025 1038 GB ∞ 1038 GB 38 GB
March 2025 540 GB ∞ 540 GB No overusage
February 2025 379 GB ∞ 379 GB No overusage
January 2025 397 GB ∞ 397 GB No overusage
December 2024 401 GB ∞ 401 GB No overusage
November 2024 484 GB ∞ 484 GB No overusage
October 2024 328 GB ∞ 328 GB No overusage
September 2024 357 GB ∞ 357 GB No overusage
August 2024 355 GB ∞ 355 GB No overusage
July 2024 326 GB ∞ 326 GB No overusage
June 2024 189 GB ∞ 189 GB No overusage
May 2024 238 GB ∞ 238 GB No overusage
April 2024 225 GB ∞ 225 GB No overusage
March 2024 125 GB ∞ 125 GB No overusage
February 2024 76 GB ∞ 76 GB No overusage
January 2024 68 GB ∞ 68 GB No overusage
December 2023 34 GB ∞ 34 GB No overusage
November 2023 31 GB ∞ 31 GB No overusage
October 2023 31 GB ∞ 31 GB No overusage
September 2023 24 GB ∞ 24 GB No overusage
August 2023 22 GB ∞ 22 GB No overusage
July 2023 22 GB ∞ 22 GB No overusage
June 2023 22 GB ∞ 22 GB No overusage
May 2023 18 GB ∞ 18 GB No overusage
April 2023 20 GB ∞ 20 GB No overusage
March 2023 21 GB ∞ 21 GB No overusage
February 2023 20 GB ∞ 20 GB No overusage
January 2023 34 GB ∞ 34 GB No overusage
December 2022 38 GB ∞ 38 GB No overusage
November 2022 28 GB ∞ 28 GB No overusage
October 2022 25 GB ∞ 25 GB No overusage
September 2022 18 GB ∞ 18 GB No overusage
August 2022 36 GB ∞ 36 GB No overusage
July 2022 84 GB ∞ 84 GB No overusage
June 2022 71 GB ∞ 71 GB No overusage
May 2022 91 GB ∞ 91 GB No overusage
April 2022 89 GB ∞ 89 GB No overusage
March 2022 88 GB ∞ 88 GB No overusage
February 2022 89 GB ∞ 89 GB No overusage
January 2022 89 GB ∞ 89 GB No overusage
December 2021 98 GB ∞ 98 GB No overusage
November 2021 101 GB ∞ 101 GB No overusage
October 2021 97 GB ∞ 97 GB No overusage
September 2021 92 GB ∞ 92 GB No overusage
August 2021 94 GB ∞ 94 GB No overusage
July 2021 84 GB ∞ 84 GB No overusage
June 2021 83 GB ∞ 83 GB No overusage
May 2021 92 GB ∞ 92 GB No overusage
April 2021 91 GB ∞ 91 GB No overusage
March 2021 76 GB ∞ 76 GB No overusage
February 2021 68 GB ∞ 68 GB No overusage
January 2021 82 GB ∞ 82 GB No overusage
December 2020 74 GB ∞ 74 GB No overusage
November 2020 76 GB ∞ 76 GB No overusage
October 2020 71 GB ∞ 71 GB No overusage
September 2020 65 GB ∞ 65 GB No overusage
August 2020 75 GB ∞ 75 GB No overusage
July 2020 71 GB ∞ 71 GB No overusage
June 2020 65 GB ∞ 65 GB No overusage
May 2020 71 GB ∞ 71 GB No overusage
April 2020 56 GB ∞ 56 GB No overusage
March 2020 59 GB ∞ 59 GB No overusage
February 2020 56 GB ∞ 56 GB No overusage
January 2020 61 GB ∞ 61 GB No overusage
December 2019 55 GB ∞ 55 GB No overusage
November 2019 51 GB ∞ 51 GB No overusage
October 2019 54 GB ∞ 54 GB No overusage
September 2019 51 GB ∞ 51 GB No overusage
August 2019 49 GB ∞ 49 GB No overusage
July 2019 49 GB ∞ 49 GB No overusage
June 2019 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage
May 2019 63 GB ∞ 63 GB No overusage
April 2019 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage
March 2019 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage
February 2019 43 GB ∞ 43 GB No overusage
January 2019 83 GB ∞ 83 GB No overusage
December 2018 52 GB ∞ 52 GB No overusage
November 2018 53 GB ∞ 53 GB No overusage
October 2018 49 GB ∞ 49 GB No overusage
September 2018 45 GB ∞ 45 GB No overusage
August 2018 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage
July 2018 20 GB ∞ 20 GB No overusage
July 2018 34 GB ∞ 34 GB No overusage
June 2018 59 GB ∞ 59 GB No overusage
May 2018 51 GB ∞ 51 GB No overusage
April 2018 59 GB ∞ 59 GB No overusage
March 2018 49 GB ∞ 49 GB No overusage
February 2018 44 GB ∞ 44 GB No overusage
January 2018 47 GB ∞ 47 GB No overusage
December 2017 49 GB ∞ 49 GB No overusage
November 2017 43 GB ∞ 43 GB No overusage
October 2017 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage
September 2017 47 GB ∞ 47 GB No overusage
August 2017 43 GB ∞ 43 GB No overusage
July 2017 42 GB ∞ 42 GB No overusage
June 2017 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage
May 2017 42 GB ∞ 42 GB No overusage
April 2017 59 GB ∞ 59 GB No overusage
March 2017 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage
February 2017 45 GB ∞ 45 GB No overusage
January 2017 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage
December 2016 43 GB ∞ 43 GB No overusage
November 2016 38 GB ∞ 38 GB No overusage
October 2016 41 GB ∞ 41 GB No overusage
September 2016 32 GB ∞ 32 GB No overusage
August 2016 34 GB ∞ 34 GB No overusage
July 2016 33 GB ∞ 33 GB No overusage
June 2016 41 GB ∞ 41 GB No overusage
May 2016 46 GB ∞ 46 GB No overusage
April 2016 51 GB ∞ 51 GB No overusage
March 2016 53 GB ∞ 53 GB No overusage
February 2016 39 GB ∞ 39 GB No overusage
January 2016 42 GB ∞ 42 GB No overusage
December 2015 36 GB ∞ 36 GB No overusage
November 2015 35 GB ∞ 35 GB No overusage
October 2015 32 GB ∞ 32 GB No overusage
September 2015 38 GB ∞ 38 GB No overusage
August 2015 36 GB ∞ 36 GB No overusage
July 2015 35 GB ∞ 35 GB No overusage
June 2015 34 GB ∞ 34 GB No overusage
May 2015 35 GB ∞ 35 GB No overusage
April 2015 55 GB ∞ 55 GB No overusage
March 2015 44 GB ∞ 44 GB No overusage
February 2015 28 GB ∞ 28 GB No overusage
January 2015 36 GB ∞ 36 GB No overusage
December 2014 38 GB ∞ 38 GB No overusage
November 2014 41 GB ∞ 41 GB No overusage
October 2014 64 GB ∞ 64 GB No overusage
September 2014 44 GB ∞ 44 GB No overusage
August 2014 43 GB ∞ 43 GB No overusage
July 2014 42 GB ∞ 42 GB No overusage
June 2014 27 GB ∞ 27 GB No overusage
May 2014 31 GB ∞ 31 GB No overusage
April 2014 40 GB ∞ 40 GB No overusage
March 2014 38 GB ∞ 38 GB No overusage
February 2014 37 GB ∞ 37 GB No overusage
January 2014 24 GB ∞ 24 GB No overusage
The traffic increased by an order of a magnitude, to the point where it was causing problems.
Does it "need" Cloudflare? Probably not – you can just expand your hardware, or maybe fiddle with some other stuff. But Cloudflare is simple, cheap, and easy.
I have no great love for Cloudflare, but posts like this are not in sync with the state of the modern internet.
It's just that if your server fails no one hears about it. But as a rule, your custom server will fair more often than Cloudflare.
And you "need" it quicker than you think. DaemonForums is a small (no longer very active) forum; I ran the site for the first few years from 2008 to 2013. I served it off a small Intel Atom server. I haven't been involved in over a decade, but last year the current admin added Cloudflare because traffic from bots was getting out of control. He helpfully posted some stats:
From: https://daemonforums.org/showthread.php?t=12809#post76328The traffic increased by an order of a magnitude, to the point where it was causing problems.
Does it "need" Cloudflare? Probably not – you can just expand your hardware, or maybe fiddle with some other stuff. But Cloudflare is simple, cheap, and easy.
I have no great love for Cloudflare, but posts like this are not in sync with the state of the modern internet.