head to head · open source
Strapi vs PocketBase
Strapi has 73,188 GitHub stars, 9,877 forks, 558 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PocketBase has 61,076 stars, 3,689 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Strapi leads on adoption by 20% (73,188 vs 61,076 stars). Strapi is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; PocketBase is written in Go under MIT. Strapi has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, PocketBase 6%. PocketBase was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | PocketBase | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 73K | ★ 61K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.9K | ⑂ 3.7K |
| 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 PocketBase if
- You want the PocketBase feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and PocketBase 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 PocketBase
PocketBase is an open source backend framework written in Go that bundles a SQLite database, authentication, file storage, admin dashboard, and REST API into a single executable file. It lives in the Go ecosystem and targets developers who want a lightweight, self contained backend without managing separate services like PostgreSQL, Redis, or a separate auth server.
read the full PocketBase overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Strapi or PocketBase more popular?
Strapi has 73,188 GitHub stars and PocketBase has 61,076. Strapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Strapi and PocketBase free?
Both are open source. Strapi has no licence declared in this registry, and PocketBase is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Strapi and PocketBase?
Strapi is written in TypeScript and PocketBase in Go. 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 PocketBase?
Choose Strapi if you want the larger community (73,188 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose PocketBase if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.