---
title: Get started
description: Create your first R2 bucket and store objects using the dashboard, S3-compatible tools, or Workers.
image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/dev-products-preview.png
---

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# Get started

Cloudflare R2 Storage allows developers to store large amounts of unstructured data without the costly egress bandwidth fees associated with typical cloud storage services.

## Before you begin

You need a Cloudflare account with an R2 subscription. If you do not have one:

1. Go to the [Cloudflare Dashboard ↗](https://dash.cloudflare.com/).
2. Select **Storage & databases > R2 > Overview**
3. Complete the checkout flow to add an R2 subscription to your account.

R2 is free to get started with included free monthly usage. You are billed for your usage on a monthly basis. Refer to [Pricing](https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/pricing/) for details.

[ Go to **Overview** ](https://dash.cloudflare.com/?to=/:account/r2/overview) 

## Choose how to access R2

R2 supports multiple access methods, so you can choose the one that fits your use case best:

| Method                                                                       | Use when                                                                                  |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Workers API](https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/get-started/workers-api/) | You are building an application on Cloudflare Workers that needs to read or write from R2 |
| [S3](https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/get-started/s3/)                   | You want to use S3-compatible SDKs to interact with R2 in your existing applications      |
| [CLI tools](https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/get-started/cli/)           | You want to upload, download, or manage objects from your terminal                        |
| [Dashboard ↗](https://dash.cloudflare.com/?to=/:account/r2/overview)         | You want to quickly view and manage buckets and objects in the browser                    |

## Next steps

[ Workers API ](https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/get-started/workers-api/) Use R2 from Cloudflare Workers. 

[ S3 ](https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/get-started/s3/) Use R2 with S3-compatible SDKs. 

[ CLI ](https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/get-started/cli/) Use R2 from the command line. 

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```