head to head · open source
Strapi vs Dnn.Platform
Strapi has 73,188 GitHub stars, 9,877 forks, 558 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Dnn.Platform has 1,140 stars, 789 forks, 331 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Strapi leads on adoption by 6,320% (73,188 vs 1,140 stars). Strapi is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Dnn.Platform is written in C# under MIT. Strapi has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, Dnn.Platform 69%. Strapi was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (cms, hacktoberfest), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Strapi | Dnn.Platform | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 73K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.9K | ⑂ 789 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Strapi if
- You weight community size — 73K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Dnn.Platform if
- You want the Dnn.Platform feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and Dnn.Platform fits your workflow better
About Strapi
Strapi is an open source headless content management system built entirely in JavaScript and TypeScript. It provides a customizable admin dashboard and automatically generates REST and GraphQL APIs for any content structure defined through its visual Content Type Builder. Strapi lives in the JavaScript ecosystem and targets developers who need to deliver content to diverse frontends—including web, mobile, and IoT applications—without being locked into a specific presentation layer.
read the full Strapi overview →
About Dnn.Platform
Project Description DNN® ( formerly DotNetNuke® ) is the leading open source web content management platform (CMS) in the Microsoft ecosystem. The product is used to build professional looking and easy to use commercial websites, social intranets, community portals, or partner extranets. Containing dynamic content of all types, DNN sites are easy to deploy and update. The DNN Platform has been downloaded more than 8 million times and powers over 750,000 websites globally. A community of more than 1 million members forms a powerful support network. Thousands of free and commercial extensions, apps, and skins are a…
read the full Dnn.Platform overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Strapi or Dnn.Platform more popular?
Strapi has 73,188 GitHub stars and Dnn.Platform has 1,140. Strapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Strapi and Dnn.Platform free?
Both are open source. Strapi has no licence declared in this registry, and Dnn.Platform is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Strapi and Dnn.Platform?
Strapi is written in TypeScript and Dnn.Platform in C#. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Strapi or Dnn.Platform?
Choose Strapi if you want the larger community (73,188 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Dnn.Platform if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.