Cloudflare acquires Node.js creator’s startup that copied its serverless playbook

Cloudflare is acquiring the entire team behind Deno, the JavaScript and TypeScript runtime co-founded by Node.js creator Ryan Dahl. The deal’s financial terms were not disclosed. Deno’s standalone runtime and cloud hosting service will be wound down so its engineers can work on Cloudflare Workers and a combined open-source platform.

The transition has different timelines. The Deno runtime will receive monthly maintenance and security updates for another year. Deno Deploy, its cloud hosting service and Workers competitor, will shut down in six months. Cloudflare will provide migration assistance to paying Deploy customers.

JSR, Deno’s package registry, will continue under Cloudflare. Cloudflare also plans to merge Deno’s Celld project with Workerd, its open-source Workers runtime. Deno co-founders Ryan Dahl and Bert Belder will lead that effort, which aims to make the Workers model easier to run on independently managed infrastructure.

Serverless computing is a way to run applications without developers managing the underlying infrastructure. The platform provider handles the computing environment, so developers can focus on application code. Cloudflare unveiled Workers in 2017 as its serverless computing platform.

With Workers, developers deploy applications to Cloudflare’s platform rather than setting up and maintaining their own server fleet. The article also connects Workers with Durable Objects, a programming model for distributed applications. Deno’s Celld project recreated that model for developers who wanted to run it on their own infrastructure.

The important distinction is operational responsibility. Cloudflare manages the platform when applications run through Workers. The planned combined Celld and Workerd project aims to let organizations operate the same programming model independently. That could preserve the Workers API while reducing dependence on Cloudflare’s network.

Deno raised around $26 million across two funding rounds. The startup emerged in 2018, when Ryan Dahl created it to address shortcomings he saw in Node.js. Those concerns particularly involved security and dependency management.

Deno later expanded from its standalone JavaScript and TypeScript runtime into cloud hosting. It launched Deno Deploy, which put the company in direct competition with Cloudflare Workers. Workers had been unveiled in 2017, before Deno introduced Deploy.

The article does not give a precise number of years for Deno’s competition with Cloudflare. It establishes that Deno had been developing its Node.js alternative since 2018 and later competed through Deno Deploy. The current deal ends that standalone path: Deno’s team will join Cloudflare, while its runtime and hosting service are wound down.

Deno created Celld because it wanted Cloudflare’s programming approach for distributed applications to run beyond Cloudflare’s network. The project was introduced in August as an open-source alternative for developers who wanted to operate the system on their own infrastructure.

Celld recreated Cloudflare’s Workers and Durable Objects programming model. Deno openly credited Cloudflare distinguished engineer Kenton Varda and the Workers team for the underlying design. Its website called Celld a tribute, describing the project as a love letter to Cloudflare’s work.

Cloudflare now plans to merge Celld with Workerd, its existing open-source runtime. Ryan Dahl and Bert Belder will lead the effort. The combined project is intended to make distributed applications easier to build and operate on independently managed infrastructure while retaining Cloudflare’s programming model.

Cloudflare wanted Deno’s team for its expertise in making a self-hosted runtime usable for developers. Cloudflare distinguished engineer Kenton Varda said Deno understood this area better than Cloudflare had with Workerd, its open-source Workers runtime.

The problem was not only the runtime itself. Varda acknowledged that Cloudflare had not built enough adjacent services and tooling for Workerd to work well in other environments. Cloudflare released the runtime but largely hoped the community would adapt it to different settings.

The acquisition brings Deno’s developers into the Workers effort. Dahl and Deno co-founder Bert Belder will lead the merger of Celld and Workerd. Cloudflare’s aim is to make its distributed application model practical on independently managed infrastructure, while keeping the combined project open source.

Running a distributed application on independently managed infrastructure means operating the platform outside Cloudflare’s own network. Developers or organizations would manage their own Workerd instances while using the same programming model and API as Cloudflare’s platform.

Dahl said a fleet of Workerd instances would require only an industry-standard object storage bucket for coordination and storage. In practical terms, that bucket would provide a shared place for instances to coordinate and retain needed data. The article does not describe further implementation details.

Cloudflare plans to merge Celld with Workerd to support this model. The combined project is expected to remain open source, likely under Celld’s existing Apache 2.0 license. The goal is portability: developers could use the Workers API without depending entirely on Cloudflare’s infrastructure.

Open-source and portable runtimes reduce vendor lock-in because developers can inspect the code, move it between environments, and use it outside one company’s platform. Dahl said software this fundamental should be inspectable, portable, and usable beyond a single vendor. The planned combined project is expected to remain open source.

The proposed model keeps Cloudflare’s API while allowing Workerd instances to run independently. Dahl said an industry-standard object storage bucket would be enough for coordination and storage. This could let organizations operate distributed applications without relying entirely on Cloudflare’s infrastructure.

The acquisition creates a trade-off. Deno’s team gains resources and joins the company whose model it had recreated, but Deno stops developing its standalone runtime and hosting service. Deno Deploy closes in six months, while Cloudflare becomes responsible for the combined platform and JSR’s continuation.