head to head · open source
Strapi vs terminusdb
Strapi has 73,425 GitHub stars, 10,050 forks, 558 open issues and last shipped yesterday. terminusdb has 3,468 stars, 159 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Strapi leads on adoption by 2,017% (73,425 vs 3,468 stars). Strapi is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; terminusdb is written in Prolog under Apache-2.0. Strapi has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, terminusdb 5%. Strapi was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (headless-cms), 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 | terminusdb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 73K | ★ 3.5K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Prolog |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 159 |
| 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 terminusdb if
- You want the terminusdb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Prolog
- You evaluated both and terminusdb fits your workflow better
About Strapi
Open source headless CMS, self hosted or Cloud you're in control. The leading open source headless CMS, 100% JavaScript/TypeScript, flexible and fully customizable. Docs · Strapi Cloud · Roadmap · Discord · Discussions Strapi is an open source, self hosted headless CMS that lets developers build content APIs fast while giving content creators a friendly editing interface. Define your content models and Strapi generates a full API, ready to consume from any frontend, mobile app, or IoT device. Design content structures visually with the Content Type Builder , no code required Auto generated REST & GraphQL APIs…
read the full Strapi overview →
About terminusdb
Project Overview (Updated May 2026) TerminusDB is a distributed database with a collaboration model — git for data. If you find this project useful, please consider starring the repo ⭐ TerminusDB allows you to link JSON and JSON LD documents in a semantic knowledge graph through a powerful document API. It's designed as a system of record, making data management collaborative, versioned, and queryable. Now with new maintainers and an enterprise version. Key Features Revision Control : Commits for every update — track changes over time Diff : Differences between commits can be interpreted as patches between…
read the full terminusdb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Strapi or terminusdb more popular?
Strapi has 73,425 GitHub stars and terminusdb has 3,468. Strapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Strapi and terminusdb free?
Both are open source. Strapi has no licence declared in this registry, and terminusdb is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Strapi and terminusdb?
Strapi is written in TypeScript and terminusdb in Prolog. 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 terminusdb?
Choose Strapi if you want the larger community (73,425 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose terminusdb if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.