---
title: How to set up a load balancer | Cloudflare Docs
description: Unexpected traffic spikes can crash your website, but Cloudflare
  Load Balancing helps keep your apps online and fast. In this step-by-step
  tutorial, learn how to create a public load balancer in just five steps -
  select a hostname, add an origin pool, attach a health monitor, choose a
  traffic steering method, and configure custom rules. We'll also explain the
  difference between public and private load balancers and guide you through
  using session affinity, fallback pools, and proxy modes.
chatbotDeprioritize: false
source_url:
  html: https://developers.cloudflare.com/videos/load-balancing/
  md: https://developers.cloudflare.com/videos/load-balancing/index.md
---

Unexpected traffic spikes can crash your website, but Cloudflare Load Balancing helps keep your apps online and fast. In this step-by-step tutorial, learn how to create a public load balancer in just five steps - select a hostname, add an origin pool, attach a health monitor, choose a traffic steering method, and configure custom rules. We'll also explain the difference between public and private load balancers and guide you through using session affinity, fallback pools, and proxy modes.
