K3CAN

What’s a good reverse proxy for a set up using Cloudflare?

Having a reverse proxy behind your reverse proxy is a little redundant, but should work fine. My preference after trying several was nginx. The config takes a little to get used to, but it has a ton of features.

is Cloudflare’s proxy really needed?

Not at all.

Cloudflare just makes configuration a bit easier, especially if you’re behind CGNAT. I wrote a little about them here: https://blog.k3can.us/index.php?post/2025/02/Cloudflare-for-the-Selfhoster

The paid plans get you the “premium” blocklists, which includes one specially made to prevent AI scrapers, but a free account will still get you the actual software, the community blocklist, plus up to three "basic"lists.