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Diego Dotta moved eight websites off a shared host and onto a static publishing pipeline on Cloudflare. Cloudflare’s EmDash is the opposite bet: a full, database-backed CMS that reached stable 1.0 on September 28, 2026. The two solve different problems, and the choice depends mainly on who edits your site and how often.
What each project is
EmDash
Cloudflare introduced EmDash in April 2026 as an open-source CMS written in TypeScript and built on Astro. It is designed to run on serverless infrastructure and in other Node.js environments. Cloudflare’s 1.0 announcement calls it a stable, free, open-source CMS and highlights editorial, media, localization, migration, deployment, API, CLI, and MCP workflows, along with a decentralized plugin registry.
Plugins run in isolated Workers with declared capabilities. Cloudflare presents that as an architectural design. It is the vendor’s description of the security model, not an independently verified guarantee.
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NeighDash
NeighDash is the name Dotta gives his migration approach, which he calls a “Stable Site Generator.” Content is written as Markdown and rendered to static HTML. A push to the production branch triggers a build and deployment. A small Worker handles selected legacy links and other dynamic exceptions.
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Dotta also packages the approach as a free, open-source Claude Code skill that contains a migration playbook, templates, scripts, and lessons from the move. His account is dated September 29, 2026.
Why Dotta left shared hosting
In Dotta’s account, the trigger was instability on the shared host. He reports TLS handshakes taking 20 to 30 seconds and outages that affected several of his sites at once. He moved eight websites, and the largest WordPress site he describes had 251 posts and 901 MB of uploads. These are his own accounts of his own sites, not audited hosting records.
The performance numbers, site by site
Dotta reports Lighthouse performance scores and homepage sizes for three sites. The table shows his before and after figures with the measurement conditions he states.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware match| Site | Lighthouse performance score (before → after) | Homepage size (before → after) | Measurement conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| diego.horse | 55 → 80 | 5,155 KB → 439 KB | Median of three mobile runs, captured August 21 and September 28, 2026. The “before” measurement was taken while the server was responding, and the homepage content differed between measurements. |
| thesunrise.org | 58 → 72 | 1,476 KB → 776 KB | Not stated |
| fireflow.cc | 96 → 99 | 1,701 KB → 312 KB | Not stated |
For diego.horse, Dotta also reports the homepage falling from 323 requests to 13, and simulated first paint on a mid-range phone falling from 15.5 seconds to 1.7 seconds. These are one author’s measurements of his own sites under the conditions he describes. They are not expected results for yours.
Cloudflare’s own operating numbers
Cloudflare reports that its blog moved to EmDash on August 12, 2026. The setup uses a Worker, Workers Cache, an EmDash object cache on KV, and Hyperdrive connected to PlanetScale. In that configuration, Cloudflare says 99.5% of static files and 70% of requests were typically served from cache. Its 1.0 announcement says the blog must handle millions of pageviews per week, with legitimate traffic spikes up to 5,000 requests per second.
Three figures from Cloudflare describe different contexts and should not be compared directly:
- Load test: up to 7,000 requests per second, a test rather than live traffic.
- Legitimate traffic spikes: up to 5,000 requests per second on the Cloudflare Blog.
- DDoS event: a later attack at 28,000 requests per second, which Cloudflare reports handling.
These numbers show what Cloudflare built its own blog to absorb. They say little about the load a small personal site will generate.
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- Edits go through Git. Dotta says a typo fix now requires a commit, followed by a build and deployment.
- Editing moves away from the owner’s browser. He notes that owners of smaller sites lost the ability to edit their own pages through a web interface.
- Dynamic features become your code. Any feature you add that needs server-side behavior is code you own and must maintain.
- Stores and logins are a different category. For a shop or a site requiring user accounts, Dotta says he would build an application instead.
Does a small site need a CMS?
For a site that one person writes for, with posts about once a week and mostly reads, a static pipeline is a defensible choice. Once other editors, roles, or dynamic features are part of the plan, a CMS such as EmDash fits better. Work through these questions in order:
- Who publishes? If you are the only editor and you are comfortable with Git and a build step, a static pipeline removes the database and server work from your job. If non-technical editors need to publish, a CMS interface becomes a requirement.
- Do you need editorial roles, scheduled publishing, or localization? These are the workflows EmDash is built around. A Git-based pipeline does not provide them out of the box.
- Will the site need dynamic behavior? List every feature that runs on the server. Each one is maintenance you take on in a static setup, and a platform cost in a CMS.
- Is your traffic mostly cacheable reads? Both approaches can serve cached pages well. The difference is what runs when a request misses the cache.
- How will old URLs keep working? Dotta preserved selected legacy links with a Worker. Map those URLs before cutover, whichever platform you choose.
EmDash and the static approach side by side
| Factor | EmDash | Static approach (NeighDash, as Dotta describes it) |
|---|---|---|
| Editing interface | CMS with editorial workflows, per Cloudflare’s 1.0 announcement | Markdown files edited in Git; a push to the production branch triggers a build |
| Content storage | Database-backed | Markdown rendered to static HTML |
| Scheduled publishing | Listed among EmDash workflows | Not stated |
| Localization and media | Listed among EmDash workflows | Not stated |
| Dynamic features | API, CLI, and MCP management; plugins in isolated Workers | Owner-built code; a small Worker for legacy links and exceptions |
| Hosting requirements | Serverless infrastructure or other Node.js environments | Cloudflare deployment in Dotta’s setup; no other host requirements stated |
| Migration support | Migration workflow listed in the 1.0 announcement; steps not detailed in that source | Playbook, templates, and scripts in the Claude Code skill |
What the vendors say
Cloudflare’s 1.0 announcement quotes Greg Barbosa, Director of Innovation and Systems at Avulux: “The site had to be fast to use and simple for our team to update. WordPress had become the opposite of that. With EmDash, we now have a shared platform that developers can extend and marketers can edit content.” This is a customer statement published by Cloudflare, not an independent review.
Cloudflare’s migration account also quotes its internal standard: “We don’t just build products for others; we build them to run Cloudflare itself. We are our own first, most demanding customer.” Read it as a statement of intent, not as evidence of performance.
How to read the comparison
No independent study establishes typical speed gains for either EmDash or NeighDash. The strongest evidence is Dotta’s before-and-after account of his own sites and Cloudflare’s account of its own blog. Both are useful as illustrations of what each approach can do and what each one asks of its owner.
The decision comes down to your editing workflow. If you are the editor and the site is read far more often than it changes, a static pipeline can remove a lot of work. If editing is shared, or the site will grow features that run on the server, a CMS keeps that work inside a system built for it.
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