[opensourcedex]

Strapi is a free, open source content management systems (cms) project written in TypeScript and released under a custom open-source licence. It has 73,184 GitHub stars, 9,875 forks and 558 open issues, and was last pushed 5 hours ago. On this registry it ranks #2 of 47 tracked projects in Content Management Systems (CMS), with 5 head-to-head comparisons available. It gained 51 stars over the last 6 tracked days.

Strapi — Headless CMS with REST and GraphQL APIs out of the box

What is Strapi?

What it is

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.

Strapi solves the problem of building and maintaining custom content backends from scratch. Traditional monolithic CMS platforms tightly couple content storage with presentation, limiting flexibility and scalability. Strapi decouples these concerns, giving teams full control over the API layer while offering content editors an intuitive interface. This enables rapid development of content-driven applications using modern frontend frameworks and architectures like JAMstack.

Key capabilities

  • Visual Content-Type Builder for defining content structures without writing code
  • Auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs for every content type
  • Granular Roles & Permissions system for user access control
  • Built-in Media Library with file upload and management
  • Internationalization (i18n) support for multilingual content
  • Draft & Publish workflow for content review and scheduling
  • Extensible plugin system and customizable admin dashboard

Who uses it and how

  • Frontend developers integrate Strapi as a content backend for React, Next.js, or Vue applications via its APIs
  • Agencies use Strapi to rapidly prototype and deploy client websites and digital experiences
  • Enterprises deploy Strapi to manage content across multiple digital properties with shared data models
  • Teams building headless e-commerce or marketing sites use Strapi to manage products, promotions, and landing pages

Getting started

Install Strapi using npx create-strapi@latest my-project, then start the development server with npm run develop. For containerized deployments, use the community tool @strapi-community/dockerize to generate Docker configuration files. Strapi Cloud offers a hosted option with zero DevOps overhead.

When to use it — and when not to

Strapi replaces proprietary headless CMS platforms with a self-hosted, open alternative, but requires managing infrastructure like a database (SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL, or MariaDB), storage, and SMTP if email notifications are needed. It is ideal when full API control, customization, and open-source licensing matter—but not optimal for teams lacking backend运维 resources or needing turnkey SaaS reliability. Its strength is developer velocity; its weakness is operational responsibility.

project readme (upstream, from github) — read inline

Strapi logo Strapi logo

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

NPM Version Tests Strapi on Discord Strapi Nightly Release Build Status


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.

Explore all features at strapi.io/features

Strapi AI — Automate content modeling, media alt text, and translations with Strapi's built-in AI layer. Learn more

How Strapi handles requests

Every incoming request flows through a layered backend architecture: Routes → Middlewares → Controllers → Services.

Strapi backend request flow: Routes, Middlewares, Controllers, and Services

Learn more about backend customization in the official docs.

Getting Started

Read the Getting Started tutorial or follow the steps below:

⏳ Installation

Use the Quickstart command below to create a new Strapi project instantly:

npx create-strapi@latest my-project

This command generates a brand new project with the default features (authentication, permissions, content management, content type builder & file upload).

Full installation options (including TypeScript, --quickstart, etc.) in the CLI installation docs

Requirements

Hardware & software requirements (OS, Node.js, databases) at Requirements docs

Docker

Strapi doesn't ship official Docker images, so you build your own from your project. The fastest way to get started is with the community CLI tool:

npx @strapi-community/dockerize@latest

This generates a Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml tailored to your project. See the strapi-tool-dockerize repo for more details.

Dockerfiles, Docker Compose examples, production builds at Docker installation docs

Deploy to Strapi Cloud

The fastest way to go from local to production. Strapi Cloud is the official managed hosting platform with zero DevOps, a built-in database, media library, and CDN.

Deploy now

LaunchPad

The official demo template combining Strapi with Next.js to get you started quickly.

LaunchPad template

Try live demo

See for yourself what's under the hood by getting access to a hosted Strapi project with sample data — try it live or pull locally.

Repositories

Repository Description
strapi/strapi Core monorepo, the CMS itself
strapi/design-system Strapi Design System, React component library
strapi/LaunchPad Demo app: Strapi + Next.js

Contributing & Community

Strapi is community-built and open source. For help, feedback, or to get involved:

For general help, refer to the official Strapi documentation. New to open source? Check out How to Contribute to Open Source.

Migration

Follow our migration guides on the documentation to keep your projects up-to-date.

Roadmap

Check out our roadmap to get informed of the latest features released and the upcoming ones. You may also give us insights and vote for a specific feature.

Documentation

See our dedicated repository for the Strapi documentation, or view our documentation live:

Security

If you discover a security issue, please report it responsibly. See our Security Policy for our disclosure process and contact info.

About Strapi

Contact us

Support Strapi

If Strapi is useful to you, give us a star. It helps more than you think!

Thanks to All Contributors

Thank you to everyone who has contributed code, reported issues, and helped shape Strapi.

Strapi contributors

License

See the LICENSE file for licensing information.

Website · Docs · Blog · Twitter · LinkedIn

Frequently asked questions

Is Strapi free to use?

Strapi is open source. There is no licence fee and no seat count — you can self-host it or, where the project offers one, pay a vendor for a managed version instead.

What does Strapi do?

Headless CMS with REST and GraphQL APIs out of the box

What is Strapi written in?

Strapi is primarily written in TypeScript. Its source is publicly available at https://github.com/strapi/strapi, and it has 73,184 GitHub stars.