Strapi developers set up, customize and maintain Strapi, an open-source headless CMS built on Node.js. Strapi gives you an admin panel where editors manage content and an API that delivers that content to websites, apps and other systems. It is popular with teams who want to own their data and hosting rather than rent a SaaS CMS, and with developers who like that every part of it can be extended in JavaScript or TypeScript. That flexibility is also why a Strapi project needs people who know where to extend it and where to leave it alone.
We work on Strapi as part of our headless CMS development services. If you want to hire Strapi developers for a new build, a custom plugin, an integration or an upgrade, our team handles both the Strapi back end and the front end that reads from it. We also built and run our own CMS for this website and Boiler Decoder, so we design content models and publishing workflows from experience of operating a CMS every day.
What Our Strapi Developers Build
| Work | What it involves | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Strapi setup and content modeling | Collection types, single types, components and dynamic zones designed around your real content. | Editors get clear, validated fields, and developers get predictable API responses. |
| Roles and permissions | Admin roles for editors and reviewers, plus Users and Permissions settings for public and authenticated API access. | Editors see only what they need, and the public API exposes only what it should. |
| REST and GraphQL APIs | Configured endpoints, the GraphQL plugin where it helps, API tokens and documentation. | A stable contract between the CMS and every front end or app. |
| Custom controllers, services and middleware | Business logic, custom endpoints, lifecycle hooks and policies. | Behavior that the default CRUD API does not cover, without hacks in the front end. |
| Custom plugins and admin extensions | Plugins built with Strapi's plugin SDK, custom fields and admin panel customization. | Editor tools specific to your business, such as a product picker or SEO checks. |
| Integrations | Webhooks and API connections to ecommerce, CRM, ERP, search, DAM and translation services. | Content and data move between Strapi and your other systems automatically. |
| Front-end development | Next.js, Nuxt or Astro sites with preview, draft publishing and SEO output. | A fast site that editors can preview before publishing. |
| Upgrades and migrations | Strapi 3 or 4 to Strapi 5, and migrations into Strapi from WordPress or other CMSs. | A current, supported platform without losing content. |
| Hosting and DevOps | Strapi Cloud or self-hosted setup with PostgreSQL, media on S3 or Cloudinary, backups and CI/CD. | A production setup that survives restarts, deploys and traffic spikes. |
How Our Strapi Development Projects Run
- Content and API planning (week 1). We review your content, the channels that will consume it and the systems Strapi must connect to. The output is a content model, a role matrix and an API plan you approve.
- Strapi back end (weeks 1 to 3). We create content types and components in code, configure roles, permissions and API tokens, connect media storage and set up environments for development, staging and production.
- Custom logic and integrations (weeks 2 to 4). Custom endpoints, lifecycle hooks, webhooks and integrations are built and tested against sandbox accounts.
- Front end (weeks 3 to 7, if included). We build templates in Next.js or Nuxt against real content, with draft preview, on-demand revalidation when content changes, sitemaps, redirects and structured data.
- Content entry or migration (alongside the build). Existing content is imported by script, or your editors start adding content on staging with our guidance.
- Launch and handover (final week). Production deploy, backup and monitoring checks, editor training and documentation of the content model, API and deployment process.
A Strapi back end with up to eight content types usually takes two to three weeks. A Strapi website with a Next.js or Nuxt front end and up to a dozen templates usually takes five to eight weeks. Custom platforms with plugins and several integrations are scheduled after a planning phase.
What You Get From a Strapi Build
- A Strapi project in your Git repository, with content types defined in code and version controlled.
- Configured roles, permissions and API tokens, documented in a short access matrix.
- API documentation for REST or GraphQL, with example queries for each content type.
- A production deployment on Strapi Cloud or your own infrastructure, with backups, media storage and environment variables documented.
- A front end, if included, with preview, sitemaps, redirects and SEO fields working.
- Editor training and a written guide for common tasks.
- A deployment runbook covering releases, rollbacks and restoring from backup.
A good Strapi build is measurable: API response times stay stable under load, editors publish without developer help, preview shows exactly what will go live, and a fresh deploy or server restart never loses media or content.
Strapi Development Pricing
Strapi work is priced per project. A Strapi setup (back end only) and a Strapi website (back end plus front end) are fixed price for defined scopes, and custom Strapi platforms with plugins, multi-locale workflows and enterprise integrations start from a base price after planning. Cost depends on the number of content types and templates, how much custom logic the API needs, the number of integrations, whether content must be migrated and where Strapi will be hosted. Hosting and any paid Strapi plan are billed to you directly by the provider.
Strapi Community Edition is free. Hosting (Strapi Cloud or your own cloud, usually $15 to $100 a month) is paid by you.
Strapi Setup
$3,200 one-time
One-time, 50% upfront
- Strapi back end with up to 8 content types
- Roles, permissions and media library
- REST or GraphQL API with docs
- Deployed to Strapi Cloud, AWS, DigitalOcean or Render
- Backups and environment setup
- 30 days support
Strapi Website
$6,500 one-time
One-time, 50% upfront
- Everything in Strapi Setup
- Next.js or Nuxt front end, up to 12 templates
- Live preview and draft publishing
- SEO fields, sitemap and schema
- Forms connected to your CRM or email
- Editor training, 60 days support
Custom Strapi Platform
From $14,000 project
Milestone billing
- Custom plugins and admin extensions
- Multi-locale content and workflows
- Integrations with ecommerce, CRM or ERP
- Migration from WordPress or another CMS
- Mobile app or multi-channel API
- 90 days support
- Add-on
- Strapi care: see CMS maintenance (from $249/month). Strapi version upgrade: from $1,200
All prices in USD. Need something different? Ask for a custom quote.
Need ongoing Strapi developers for hire rather than a single project? Ask us for a custom quote for a monthly arrangement.
Strapi 5: What Changed and Why Upgrades Need a Developer
Strapi 5 was released in September 2024 and changed several things developers rely on. The main differences from Strapi 4 are:
- Document Service API. It replaces the Entity Service API for server-side content operations, so custom controllers, services and lifecycle code need rewriting.
- documentId. Content is identified by a string documentId in the API, rather than relying on the numeric id, which affects front ends and integrations that store IDs.
- Flatter API responses. The data.attributes nesting from Strapi 4 is gone, so front-end code that reads responses needs updating.
- Draft and publish rework. Drafts and published versions are handled as separate versions of one document.
- Content history and newer editor features. Editors can view and restore earlier versions, and newer releases have added a preview feature for viewing front-end pages from the admin panel.
Strapi provides an upgrade tool that applies codemods for part of the work, but custom code, plugins and every front end that reads the API still need manual changes and testing. Upgrades from Strapi 3 are larger again, because the move to Strapi 4 already changed the project structure and database schema. We run upgrades on a copy of production data, update the front end at the same time and switch over only when both pass testing.
Hosting Strapi: Strapi Cloud or Self-Hosted?
| Option | Good for | What to plan for |
|---|---|---|
| Strapi Cloud | Teams who want Strapi's own managed hosting with less DevOps work. | Plan limits and pricing set by Strapi, and less control over the server. |
| Platform services such as Render, Railway or Heroku | Small and mid-sized projects that want simple deploys from Git. | Ephemeral file systems, so media must go to S3, Cloudinary or similar storage. |
| Your own cloud (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, DigitalOcean) | Organizations with data residency, security or cost requirements. | Docker builds, managed PostgreSQL, backups, monitoring and scaling are your responsibility, or ours on a maintenance plan. |
Whatever the host, we use PostgreSQL for production in most cases (Strapi also supports MySQL, MariaDB and SQLite), keep media in object storage rather than on the server's disk, and store secrets in environment variables, never in the repository.
Contentful vs Strapi for Developers and Editors
Contentful vs Strapi is the comparison we are asked about most. Both are headless, both have REST and GraphQL APIs, and both can power the same kind of site. The difference is ownership and control.
| Factor | Strapi | Contentful |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Self-hosted anywhere, or Strapi Cloud. | SaaS only, hosted by Contentful. |
| Cost model | Open source core with no license fee; you pay for hosting and optional paid features. | Subscription plans with limits on users, content types, locales and usage. |
| Customization | Full access to the back-end code, custom endpoints and plugins. | Extend through the App Framework and UI extensions; the back end itself is closed. |
| Data ownership | Content sits in your own database. | Content sits in Contentful's infrastructure, exportable through its tools. |
| Maintenance | You or your developers handle updates, security and backups. | Contentful runs the platform; you maintain the content model and integrations. |
| Best for | Teams that want control, custom logic and predictable hosting costs. | Teams that want a managed platform and can absorb plan costs as they grow. |
Best Strapi Alternatives for Developers
Strapi is a good default for an open-source, self-hosted headless CMS, but it is not the only one. These are the alternatives we compare it with during planning:
- Payload. Open source, TypeScript-first and built to run inside a Next.js app. A strong choice when your team lives in Next.js and wants config-as-code.
- Directus. Wraps an existing SQL database with an API and admin app. Useful when the database already exists. Check its license terms, which require a commercial license for larger organizations.
- Sanity. Hosted content with a customizable React Studio, real-time collaboration and visual editing. Better when collaborative editing matters more than self-hosting.
- Contentful. Managed and mature, with a large app ecosystem. Better when nobody on your side wants to run infrastructure.
- Storyblok. A visual editor marketers like, good for component-based landing pages.
Our headless CMS development page compares these platforms in more depth.
How to Hire Strapi Developers, and What to Ask
To hire Strapi developers, decide first whether you need a single specialist for a defined task or a team that covers the back end, front end and hosting. A freelancer can be the right choice for a small fix or a plugin. A full build, an upgrade or a platform with several integrations usually needs more than one skill set.
Where to hire Strapi developers
- Freelance platforms. Large talent pools and fast starts, but quality varies widely and you manage the work yourself.
- Strapi's community and partner listings. Agencies and developers who work with Strapi regularly.
- Agencies. Back end, front end and DevOps covered by one accountable team, at a higher rate than a single freelancer.
- In-house hiring. Worth it when Strapi will be core to your product for years, though hiring takes time.
Questions to ask expert Strapi developers
- Which Strapi versions have you shipped, and have you upgraded a Strapi 4 project to Strapi 5?
- How do you handle media storage and backups in production?
- How do you keep content type changes in sync between environments?
- How do you lock down the public API role?
- How does preview work on the front ends you build?
Good answers are specific. Vague answers about "best practices" usually mean the developer has built with Strapi locally but not run it in production.
Strapi Front Ends and SEO
Strapi has no front end, so everything search engines read is built in the front-end framework. We add an SEO component to page content types (title, description, canonical, noindex and social image), generate XML sitemaps from published entries, manage redirects as a Strapi collection type that the front end or edge applies, and output JSON-LD from content fields. On Next.js, publishing in Strapi triggers a webhook that revalidates only the affected pages, so changes go live in seconds without a full rebuild.
Strapi Mistakes We Fix in Inherited Projects
- Public role permissions left wide open. The Public role allows find or even create on content types that should be private.
- Media on the local disk. Uploads disappear on platforms with ephemeral storage, or after a server rebuild.
- Content types edited in production. The Content-Type Builder is meant for development mode. Schema changes belong in code, deployed through Git.
- Over-fetching with populate. Front ends request every relation on every call, which slows the API and exposes fields nobody needs.
- No database backups. A managed database without point-in-time recovery, or a SQLite file on the server.
- Secrets in the repository. APP_KEYS, JWT secrets and API tokens committed to Git.
- Stuck on an old major version. Custom code written against deprecated APIs makes every upgrade harder.
Why Choose 95 Solutions as Your Strapi Developers
- Back end, front end and hosting in one team. The developers who model content in Strapi also build the Next.js or Nuxt site and set up the infrastructure.
- Experience running a CMS. We built and operate our own CMS, so backups, releases, sitemaps and IndexNow are part of how we think about a platform.
- Senior-led. Mustafa reviews architecture decisions, with 11+ years in digital marketing and a BS in Computer Science, so content models reflect how marketing teams actually publish.
- You own it all. Code, database, hosting and Strapi accounts are in your name. Contracts are in USD from our US LLC, and our hours overlap the full US business day and UK business hours.
Who Should Hire Our Strapi Developers
A good fit
- Companies that want a self-hosted headless CMS and control of their content database.
- SaaS and product teams that need a CMS for marketing pages, docs or in-app content with custom logic.
- Teams with a Strapi 3 or Strapi 4 project that needs upgrading or a rescue.
- Businesses connecting Strapi to ecommerce, CRM or ERP systems.
Probably not a fit
- Teams that want no involvement in hosting or updates at all. A SaaS CMS such as Contentful or Sanity may suit you better.
- A simple brochure site with a few editors, where Webflow or WordPress is cheaper to build and run.
- Projects that need a developer embedded full time in your team. Our software development team can discuss dedicated arrangements.
Strapi projects often connect to other work. For ongoing upkeep, see our CMS maintenance and support plans. Moving content into Strapi from another platform runs through our CMS migration services, and the wider options are covered by our CMS development company page.