Strapi
French open-source headless CMS you run on your own infrastructure, with a customisable admin panel and auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs
Quick Overview
| Company | Strapi SAS |
|---|---|
| Category | Content Management |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
| Founded | 2015 |
| EU Presence | Yes - France (EU) |
| Data Location | Your own infrastructure, or Strapi Cloud EU region |
| Open Source | Yes (MIT for core) |
| GDPR Compliant | Yes - you remain controller when self-hosted |
| Self-Hosting | Yes - the primary deployment model |
| Main Features | Content-type builder, auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs, role-based permissions, i18n, media library, plugin system, extensible React admin |
| Pricing | Free self-hosted / Strapi Cloud from about EUR 29/month / Enterprise on request |
| Best For | Development teams that want a headless CMS on their own European infrastructure |
| Replaces | WordPress, Contentful, Sanity |
Detailed Review
Strapi is the most widely deployed open-source headless CMS, and it is French. You define content types in an admin interface or in code, and Strapi generates REST and GraphQL endpoints with role-based permissions attached. Then you run it wherever you like.
That last point is the reason it appears here. A Strapi instance on Aiven Postgres and a Scaleway or Hetzner server is a completely European content stack with no processor outside the EU.
Self-Hosting as the Default
Unlike managed headless platforms, Strapi assumes you will run it. It is a Node.js application with a database behind it, deployable to any European provider, in Docker or on Kubernetes. There is no API request pricing and no seat pricing when self-hosted.
For organisations with data residency requirements, this removes the question entirely: the content, the media and the user accounts live on infrastructure you control.
Customisable Admin
The admin panel is a React application you can extend — custom fields, custom views, injected components, your own branding. Content teams get an interface shaped to their workflow rather than a generic one, which matters more for adoption than most technical criteria.
The plugin ecosystem covers common needs such as SEO fields, media providers, search integration and preview.
APIs and Permissions
REST and GraphQL are generated automatically, with a permissions model that maps roles to operations per content type. Combined with the i18n plugin for multi-language content, this covers the substantial majority of what a marketing or product site needs.
Limitations to Consider
Strapi has no visual page editing, so editors work with structured fields and rely on preview — Storyblok is considerably friendlier for non-technical publishers. Major version upgrades have historically required real migration work. And self-hosting means you own uptime, backups and scaling, which is a genuine cost that managed platforms absorb.
Who Should Use Strapi
Development teams building sites or applications that need structured content under their own control, particularly European organisations for whom self-hosting or EU-only processing is a requirement rather than a preference.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Fully self-hostable, MIT-licensed core
- REST and GraphQL generated automatically
- Admin panel extensible in React
- No API or seat pricing when self-hosted
- French company with EU cloud option
Cons
- No visual page editing for content teams
- Major upgrades can require migration work
- You own uptime, backups and scaling
Alternatives to Strapi
Other European content management worth comparing before you decide:
Storyblok
Austria · Headless CMS with a genuine visual editor
Ghost
United Kingdom · Open-source publishing with memberships built in
TYPO3
Germany · Enterprise CMS built for multi-site and multi-language estates
Contentful
Germany · API-first content platform for large distributed teams
See all European content management or compare them directly against WordPress on our alternatives page.
Frequently Asked Questions
The self-hosted community edition is free under an MIT-licensed core, with no API or seat limits. Strapi Cloud and the Enterprise edition are paid and add hosting, SSO and advanced permissions.
Strapi supports preview integration with your front end, but there is no built-in visual page editor. If your content team needs to edit visually, Storyblok is a better fit.
A Node.js environment and a database, typically PostgreSQL. Any European provider works — Scaleway, Hetzner, OVHcloud or your own hardware.
Strapi is headless: it manages content and serves an API, leaving the front end to you. That means no theme or plugin ecosystem, but far less security surface and complete freedom in how the site is built.