Strapi Review, Pricing & Features

Strapi is an open-source, self-hostable headless CMS with REST and GraphQL APIs. Compare Strapi pricing, Strapi Cloud plans, and key features.

Category
CMS
Pricing
freemium/open-source/subscription, from Free
Verified
Not yet
Last updated
July 19, 2026
Founded
2016
Headquarters
Paris, France
Free PlanWeb AppNo-CodeAPIOpen SourceAIFreemiumSelf-Hosted

What Is Strapi

Strapi is an open-source headless content management system built with JavaScript and Node.js, designed to give developers full control over content modeling, APIs, and hosting. Unlike fully managed SaaS CMS platforms, Strapi's core is self-hostable and released under the MIT license, so teams can run it on their own infrastructure at no licensing cost.

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Paris, France, Strapi has grown into one of the most widely adopted open-source CMS projects, backed by tens of millions of dollars in venture funding and used by more than 450 enterprise customers alongside a large open-source community.

Key Features

Strapi provides customizable content types, role-based access control, and both REST and GraphQL APIs out of the box, with unlimited content entries, API calls, locales, and components across all plans, including the free Community tier. A plugin system lets developers extend the admin panel and API behavior for custom workflows.

Paid self-hosted plans add Strapi AI content assistance, live preview of content changes, scheduled releases, and extended content history, while Enterprise tiers add review workflows, audit logs, and SOC 2 compliance reporting. For teams that prefer not to manage infrastructure, Strapi Cloud offers fully managed hosting with built-in email, a global CDN, custom domains, and automated backups.

Pricing

Strapi's self-hosted Community plan is free forever under the MIT license, with unlimited entries, API calls, content types, locales, and components. The self-hosted Growth plan costs 45 US dollars per month and includes 3 seats, with additional seats at 15 US dollars per month each, adding Strapi AI credits, live preview, scheduled releases, and 30 days of content history. Self-hosted Enterprise pricing is custom and adds review workflows, audit logs, 365 days of content history, and SOC 2 reporting.

For managed hosting, Strapi Cloud's Starter plan is 35 US dollars per month per project with 100,000 API requests and 50GB of storage and bandwidth. The Pro plan is 90 US dollars per month per project with 1 million API requests and 250GB of storage and bandwidth. The Business plan is 450 US dollars per month per project with 10 million API requests, 1,000GB of storage and bandwidth, and a 99.9 percent uptime SLA, with a custom Business+ tier above that. Annual billing on Strapi Cloud saves up to 17 percent.

Key Features

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Free, open-source Community edition with unlimited entries and API calls
  • Full self-hosting control avoids vendor lock-in on core content infrastructure
  • Both REST and GraphQL APIs supported natively
  • Strong enterprise adoption with 450-plus enterprise customers and significant funding
  • Optional Strapi Cloud removes the need to manage infrastructure directly

Cons

  • Self-hosting requires ongoing server management, security patching, and scaling effort
  • Strapi AI credits are limited on paid plans, with overage charged per additional credit
  • SSO is an additional paid add-on rather than included in the Growth plan
  • Strapi Cloud project-based pricing can add up for organizations running many separate projects
  • Advanced compliance features like SOC 2 reporting require the custom Enterprise tier

Pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Strapi free to use?

Yes, Strapi's self-hosted Community edition is free forever under the MIT license, with unlimited entries, API calls, content types, and locales.

What is the difference between self-hosted Strapi and Strapi Cloud?

Self-hosted Strapi runs on infrastructure you manage yourself, while Strapi Cloud is a fully managed hosting service with project-based pricing that handles infrastructure, backups, and scaling for you.

How much does Strapi Cloud cost?

Strapi Cloud starts at 35 US dollars per month per project for the Starter plan, with Pro at 90 US dollars per month and Business at 450 US dollars per month, plus a custom Business+ tier.

Does Strapi support GraphQL?

Yes, Strapi automatically exposes content through both REST and GraphQL APIs.

Who founded Strapi and where is it based?

Strapi was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Paris, France, with a remote-first team spread across more than 10 countries.

Does Strapi include AI features?

Yes, Strapi AI content assistance is available on the paid Growth and Enterprise self-hosted plans, billed through monthly credit allowances.

Is Strapi suitable for enterprise use?

Yes, Strapi reports more than 450 enterprise customers and offers an Enterprise tier with review workflows, audit logs, and SOC 2 compliance reporting.

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