Does Strapi have a free plan?

Yes. Strapi offers a free tier with limits; paid plans unlock higher usage or team features.

What are the main drawbacks of Strapi?

The trade-offs we noted: Maintenance: If not using the Cloud version, you are responsible for servers and updates.; Resources: Can experience performance issues on underpowered servers.; Version Updates: Major version migrations can sometimes be technically challenging..

When should you not use Strapi?

Skip Strapi if: You want managed hosting — Strapi Cloud has NO free tier; Starter is $35/month per project; You have several projects: Cloud is priced per project, not per account; Your API is busy: Starter includes 100,000 requests a month and overage is $1.50 per additional 25,000.

Developer Tools

Strapi

Customizable Headless CMS.

What it is

Strapi is the most popular open-source 'Headless CMS.' It separates content from design and serves it via an API (REST or GraphQL), making the same content available for web, mobile, and even smartwatches. For developers, designing data models is just a few clicks away. Its fully customizable nature makes it the most flexible solution for corporate content management needs.

Key features

Content-Type Builder
Create complex data models and relationships through a visual interface.
GraphQL & REST
Access your content via modern, fast APIs from any device or frontend.
Media Library
Advanced media management that auto-resizes and optimizes images.
Internationalization
Localize and manage your content in an unlimited number of languages.

Strengths and trade-offs

What works well

Infinite Flexibility: Write your own plugins and change the admin panel as you wish.
Multi-DB Support: Compatible with SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MariaDB.
Role Management: Offers very detailed user permissions (RBAC) for content teams.
Top Marketplace: Hundreds of plugins are available to speed up your workflow.

Where it falls short

Maintenance: If not using the Cloud version, you are responsible for servers and updates.
Resources: Can experience performance issues on underpowered servers.
Version Updates: Major version migrations can sometimes be technically challenging.

Who it is for

Backend Developers, Corporate Digital Teams, and Modern Agencies.

Pick it or skip it

Pick Strapi if

Self-hosting a headless CMS for free — Strapi is MIT licensed
Teams that want to own the content API and the database behind it
Projects that will outgrow a hosted CMS's content model

Skip it if

You want managed hosting — Strapi Cloud has NO free tier; Starter is $35/month per project
You have several projects: Cloud is priced per project, not per account
Your API is busy: Starter includes 100,000 requests a month and overage is $1.50 per additional 25,000

Our verdict

A headless CMS you host yourself, for teams that want to own the content layer end to end.

Closest alternatives we track

Same category, ordered by verified starting price.

Contentful
Free tier
Enterprise Headless CMS.

Frequently asked questions

Does Strapi have a free plan?: Yes. Strapi offers a free tier with limits; paid plans unlock higher usage or team features.
Who is Strapi best for?: Backend Developers, Corporate Digital Teams, and Modern Agencies.
What are the main drawbacks of Strapi?: The trade-offs we noted: Maintenance: If not using the Cloud version, you are responsible for servers and updates.; Resources: Can experience performance issues on underpowered servers.; Version Updates: Major version migrations can sometimes be technically challenging..
When should you not use Strapi?: Skip Strapi if: You want managed hosting — Strapi Cloud has NO free tier; Starter is $35/month per project; You have several projects: Cloud is priced per project, not per account; Your API is busy: Starter includes 100,000 requests a month and overage is $1.50 per additional 25,000.

What we checked

Public APIOffers a documented API you can build against.Yes
Mobile appHas a native app for iOS or Android, not just a mobile website.No
Open source / self-hostableSource is open and the tool can be run on your own infrastructure.Yes
SSO (SAML)Supports SAML single sign-on on at least one plan.Yes

“Not checked” means exactly that — we have not verified it, and we do not guess.

Evidence and freshness

Status: Vendor pricing page verifiedReviewed: 2026-09-07

Strapi — Pricing ↗
Checked 2026-09-07 · Supports: Strapi is open source under the MIT licence and free when self-hosted, Strapi Cloud has no free tier, Starter $35/month per project with 100,000 API requests, 50 GB asset storage and 50 GB bandwidth, Pro $90/month with 1M API requests, Business $450/month with 10M, overage +$1.50 per additional 25,000 API requests, yearly billing saves up to 17%

Limit: Vendor pricing page was reviewed; this record is not a ToolCompare benchmark.

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