Strapi

What is Strapi?

Strapi is an open-source headless CMS you run yourself, giving you a customizable admin panel and auto-generated REST/GraphQL APIs over content types you define through its schema builder. Being self-hosted and source-available means no vendor can raise your bill or shut off your account, at the cost of taking on the operational work (hosting, updates, backups) that a managed headless CMS would otherwise handle for you.

Key features

• Fully open-source and self-hostable, so there's no recurring vendor fee tied to content volume or traffic
• Admin panel and content types configurable through a UI, with the option to extend everything in code
• Auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs from whatever content model you define
• Plugin ecosystem for common needs (SEO fields, internationalization, media library) without building them from scratch
• Role-based access control and content workflows for teams collaborating on the same instance

Who it's for

Makes the most sense for developers who want to avoid CMS vendor lock-in and don't mind managing their own hosting, database, and updates, typically on a VPS or container platform. If you'd rather not run infrastructure at all, a managed headless CMS will cost less time even if it costs more money.

Pricing

Free and open source to self-host; a managed Strapi Cloud option exists with usage-based paid plans for teams that don't want to run it themselves.