Cloudflare buys Deno, the JavaScript runtime from Node.js creator Ryan Dahl, to grow Workers

Cloudflare is acquiring Deno, the company behind the Deno JavaScript and TypeScript runtime, to improve its Workers platform, TechCrunch reported on Friday. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Deno was co-founded by Ryan Dahl, who created Node.js, and Bert Belder. It had raised $26 million, including a Series A led by Sequoia.

Why Cloudflare bought Deno

Cloudflare Workers lets developers run code on Cloudflare's global network instead of on their own servers. Kenton Varda, principal engineer for Workers, told TechCrunch the deal is meant to improve the Workers programming model and platform.

Dahl wrote that his team is "joining Cloudflare to make the Workers programming model a mainstream way to build servers."

Deno recently released celld, an open source implementation of Workers, which Varda said "delighted" Cloudflare's team. He rejected the charge that Workers was built to lock customers in, saying that "being open source and giving people an escape hatch is good business."

What is not yet known

• What happens to Deno Deploy, Deno's hosting service.
• The future of the open source Deno runtime itself, which TechCrunch's report does not address.
• Any price changes for Workers or Deno users.

What it means for developers in Pakistan

Serverless platforms like Workers and Deno Deploy are used by many Pakistani freelancers because a free tier lets a small project run without paying for a server in dollars. If you build on Deno or Deno Deploy:

• Keep your code portable: Deno already supports standard web APIs, which Workers also uses.
• Watch for official migration notices from Deno before moving production apps.
• If you bill clients abroad, check your tax position with our freelancer tax calculator, and see how much your dollar income is worth today on the dollar rate page.

We will update this story when Cloudflare or Deno publish details on pricing and the runtime's future.