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Cloudflare outage disrupted X, ChatGPT, Shopify, NJ Transit and many global services for hours. Here’s what happened, why the outage occurred, and how Cloudflare fixed the issue.
When a Cloudflare outage hits, the internet feels slower, broken, or fully offline. That’s exactly what happened on Tuesday when Cloudflare experienced a major disruption that affected some of the world’s most used platforms. For many users worldwide, websites simply stopped loading, apps froze, and error screens appeared without warning.
Cloudflare later confirmed that the issue has been resolved, but the outage left a strong impact across the internet.
What Happened During the Cloudflare Outage?
Cloudflare, one of the biggest internet infrastructure companies, said the outage began early in the morning after it detected a spike in unusual traffic passing through one of its services. This sudden surge caused parts of its network to show errors, which led to several websites going offline.
The outage lasted for several hours. By around 9:57 a.m. ET, Cloudflare announced it had implemented a fix and was monitoring the situation to ensure everything returned to normal.
Some users could still face dashboard issues, but most services recovered quickly.
Websites and Apps That Went Down
The Cloudflare outage affected platforms across different industries. Here are some of the major ones impacted:
- X (formerly Twitter)
- ChatGPT and OpenAI’s Sora app
- Shopify
- Indeed
- Claude AI (Anthropic)
- Truth Social
- NJ Transit’s online services
Even Downdetector, which many people check during outages, experienced temporary loading issues.
This shows how deeply connected the internet is—and how many services depend on Cloudflare to run smoothly.
Comparison: Cloudflare Outage vs. Other Recent Tech Outages
Here is a simple comparison of major outages in recent months:
| Outage Event | Cause of Issue | Impact Level |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Outage (Today) | Spike in unusual traffic | High – multiple global sites down |
| AWS Outage (Last Month) | Internal system disruption | High – widespread service failures |
| Microsoft Azure & 365 Outage | Global service error | Very High – business tools affected worldwide |
| CrowdStrike Outage (2024) | Faulty software update | Severe – flights, hospitals, finance disrupted |
This comparison shows that major tech outages are becoming more common and can affect both everyday users and critical services.
Why Cloudflare Outages Have a Big Impact
Cloudflare protects and manages traffic for about 20% of the entire web. This includes businesses, social platforms, e-commerce websites, government services, and more. It helps secure networks, block attacks, and keep websites running smoothly.
Because so many companies rely on Cloudflare, even a small issue can cause global disruptions.
How Cloudflare Responded
Cloudflare’s team reacted quickly, confirming that they were “all hands on deck” to resolve the issue. While the exact reason behind the unusual traffic spike is still unknown, the company has restored services and continues monitoring for errors.
Cloudflare’s stock price also dropped more than 3% following the outage, showing how sensitive the tech market is to service interruptions.
Final Thoughts
The latest Cloudflare outage is a reminder of how dependent the modern internet is on a few major service providers. When one of them faces a problem, the world feels it instantly—whether we’re trying to chat on X, use ChatGPT, shop online, or check transit updates.
The good news is that Cloudflare has resolved the issue, and most platforms are back online. But as recent events show, outages across Cloudflare, AWS, Microsoft, and even cybersecurity platforms like CrowdStrike can cause widespread disruptions. Staying informed helps users understand that sometimes the problem isn’t their device—it’s the infrastructure powering the web.
