Cloudflare vs Zscaler: Founders, CEOs and History
Cloudflare was founded in 2009 by Matthew Prince, Michelle Zatlyn, Lee Holloway and is led by Matthew Prince. Zscaler was founded in 2007 by Jay Chaudhry, K. Kailash and is led by Jay Chaudhry.
Company facts
Cloudflare
- Founded
- 2009
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California
- Current CEO
- Matthew Prince
- Employees
- 5,156
Zscaler
- Founded
- 2007
- Headquarters
- San Jose, California, United States
- Current CEO
- Jay Chaudhry
- Employees
- 7,900
Founders
Cloudflare
Matthew Prince
Matthew Prince is Cloudflare's co-founder, CEO, and board chair. In 2004 he and Lee Holloway built Project Honey Pot, which let website owners track spammers harvesting email addresses but could not stop them.
Michelle Zatlyn
Michelle Zatlyn is Cloudflare's co-founder, President, and Chief Operating Officer, and a member of its board. She met Matthew Prince at Harvard Business School, where the two developed the business plan that became Cloudflare in 2009.
Lee Holloway
Lee Holloway co-founded Cloudflare in 2009 and was its first lead engineer and systems architect. He had earlier built Project Honey Pot with Matthew Prince starting in 2004, and he designed much of Cloudflare's early software infrastructure.
Zscaler
Jay Chaudhry
Jay Chaudhry founded and sold security companies including SecureIT, CipherTrust, and AirDefense before starting Zscaler in 2007. He has served as chief executive officer since founding and also chairs the board.
K. Kailash
K. Kailash co-founded Zscaler with Jay Chaudhry in 2007 and helped build the early multi-tenant cloud proxy architecture that inspects user traffic in Zscaler's data centers rather than on customer premises.
CEOs and their tenures
Cloudflare
- Matthew Prince2009–present
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chair
Co-founded Cloudflare in 2009, led it through its September 2019 NYSE IPO, and has grown annual revenue past $2 billion (2025) while expanding from web security into Zero Trust, developer, and AI services.
Source - Michelle Zatlyn2009–present
Co-Founder, President, and Chief Operating Officer
Co-founded Cloudflare in 2009 with Matthew Prince and Lee Holloway and, as President and COO, has led operations and company-building as Cloudflare scaled to more than 5,000 employees.
Source - Thomas Seifert2017–present
Chief Financial Officer
As CFO, he consistently delivered high revenue growth while carefully controlling capital expenditures, allowing Cloudflare to heavily invest in its serverless Edge computing network.
Source
Zscaler
- Jay Chaudhry2007–present
Co-founder, Chairman and CEO
Has led the company since founding; fiscal 2026 revenue reached $3.353 billion.
Source - Kevin Rubin2025–present
Chief Financial Officer
Serving as CFO for a critical hyper-growth phase (before resigning in 2017), he helped heavily prepare the massive cybersecurity darling for its highly successful public offering.
Source - Ross Tackett2026–present
Chief Revenue Officer
As a senior sales executive, he played a critical role in aggressively scaling Zscaler's massive enterprise go-to-market strategy, securing highly lucrative contracts with Fortune 500 CISOs.
Source
Timeline: Cloudflare and Zscaler side by side
2007Zscaler
Zscaler founded
Jay Chaudhry and K. Kailash founded Zscaler to deliver enterprise security from the cloud.
2009Cloudflare
Cloudflare Founded
Matthew Prince, Michelle Zatlyn, and Lee Holloway founded Cloudflare, building on the Project Honey Pot spam-tracking project.
2010Cloudflare
TechCrunch Disrupt Launch
Cloudflare launched publicly at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco in September 2010, offering free website protection and acceleration.
2012Zscaler
Lightspeed Investment
Zscaler raised $38 million in August 2012 in a round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
2014Cloudflare
Universal SSL and Project Galileo
Cloudflare gave free SSL certificates to all customers with Universal SSL and launched Project Galileo to protect at-risk nonprofits and journalists for free.
2015Zscaler
$1 Billion Valuation
Zscaler raised $100 million in a round led by TPG in August 2015 at a valuation of more than $1 billion.
2017Cloudflare
Cloudflare Workers Announced
Cloudflare introduced Workers, a serverless platform built on V8 isolates that lets developers run code across its network.
2018Cloudflare
1.1.1.1 DNS Resolver
Cloudflare launched its 1.1.1.1 public DNS resolver on April 1, 2018.
2018Zscaler
Nasdaq IPO
Zscaler listed on Nasdaq in March 2018 under the ticker ZS.
2019Cloudflare
NYSE IPO
Cloudflare completed its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker NET in September 2019 at $15 per share, raising about $525 million.
2020Cloudflare
Cloudflare One Launched
Cloudflare bundled its Zero Trust access, secure web gateway, and network services into Cloudflare One, its SASE platform.
2020Zscaler
Cloudneeti and Edgewise Acquired
Zscaler bought Cloudneeti and Edgewise Networks in 2020.
2021Zscaler
Smokescreen and Trustdome Acquired
Zscaler bought Smokescreen Technologies and Trustdome in 2021.
2022Cloudflare
Area 1 Security and R2 General Availability
Cloudflare acquired email security company Area 1 Security for about $162 million and made R2 zero-egress object storage generally available.
2022Zscaler
ShiftRight Acquired
Zscaler bought the security-workflow company ShiftRight in 2022.
2023Zscaler
Acquired Canonic Security
Zscaler acquired Canonic Security.
2024Cloudflare
Revenue Reaches $1.67 Billion
Cloudflare reported 2024 revenue of $1.67 billion and free cash flow of $166.9 million.
2024Zscaler
Avalor and Airgap acquisitions
Zscaler bought Avalor, a security data fabric startup, and Airgap Networks, an agentless segmentation company.
2025Cloudflare
Revenue Passes $2 Billion
Cloudflare reported 2025 revenue of $2.17 billion (+29.8%) and closed its largest contract ever, averaging $42.5 million per year in ACV.
2025Zscaler
Red Canary acquisition
Zscaler acquired managed detection and response provider Red Canary, which ended fiscal 2026 with $141 million of ARR.
2026Cloudflare
VoidZero Acquisition and Growth Acceleration
Cloudflare acquired VoidZero, the company behind the Vite JavaScript tooling ecosystem, in June 2026 and reported Q2 2026 revenue growth of 36%.
2026Zscaler
Fiscal 2026 revenue reaches $3.353 billion
Revenue grew 25% and ARR reached $3.771 billion; Zscaler also announced a roughly 3% workforce reduction.
2026Zscaler
New chief revenue officer
Ross Tackett, head of worldwide sales, became CRO on October 1, 2026, succeeding Mike Rich.
Acquisitions
Cloudflare
- Human Native2026Undisclosed
- Astro Technology Company2026Undisclosed
- VoidZero2026Undisclosed
- Replicate2025Undisclosed
- Nefeli Networks2024Undisclosed
- Baselime2024Undisclosed
Zscaler
- Red Canary2025Undisclosed
- Avalor2024$350M
- Airgap Networks2024Undisclosed
- Canonic Security2023Undisclosed
Questions about Cloudflare vs Zscaler
Who is the CEO of Cloudflare, Inc. and Zscaler, Inc.?
Cloudflare, Inc. is led by Matthew Prince and Zscaler, Inc. is led by Jay Chaudhry. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Cloudflare, Inc. founded vs Zscaler, Inc.?
Zscaler, Inc. was founded in 2007 — 2 years before Cloudflare, Inc., which was founded in 2009. Zscaler, Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Cloudflare, Inc..
How many employees does Cloudflare, Inc. have compared to Zscaler, Inc.?
Cloudflare, Inc. employs approximately 5,156 people, while Zscaler, Inc. employs approximately 7,900. Zscaler, Inc. has the larger workforce at 7,900 employees, compared to Cloudflare, Inc.'s 5,156. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Cloudflare, Inc. and Zscaler, Inc. headquartered?
Both Cloudflare, Inc. and Zscaler, Inc. are headquartered in United States. Their local rules and tax obligations may still differ.
Who founded Cloudflare, Inc. and Zscaler, Inc.?
Cloudflare, Inc. was founded by Matthew Prince, Michelle Zatlyn, Lee Holloway. Zscaler, Inc. was founded by Jay Chaudhry, K. Kailash.
Which company has a longer operating history — Cloudflare, Inc. or Zscaler, Inc.?
Zscaler, Inc. has been operating for approximately 19 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Cloudflare, Inc. has been in operation for around 17 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Cloudflare vs Zscaler overview