Run Strapi, the MIT-licensed headless CMS, from a pre-configured AMI in your own AWS account. Model your content, get REST and GraphQL APIs for any front end, and keep your data on your infrastructure.
Strapi is an open-source headless CMS for websites, mobile apps, e-commerce and APIs. You define content models in its admin panel and Strapi generates the API for you, so front-end teams can use any framework without backend or database work.
Define content types in the admin panel; Strapi manages the schema.
REST out of the box, GraphQL through the official plugin.
Editors manage content without touching code.
A large, long-running ecosystem of plugins.
Control who can read and edit each content type.
100% JavaScript and TypeScript, easy to customise.
The AMI ships Strapi ready for its first admin account, with SSL and backups set up at launch.
Subscribe on AWS Marketplace and launch the CloudFormation stack with your domain and backup bucket.
After 5-10 minutes, create a DNS record with the PublicIp from the stack outputs.
Open the DashboardUrl, enter your details with a strong password and click Let's start.
Create content types, add entries and call the generated API from your front end.
An AMI on AWS Marketplace, launched into your own AWS account with a CloudFormation stack.
Launch on AWS | Strapi | Directus | |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | MIT (Community Edition) | MSCL-1.0-GPL |
| Free self-hosting | Any company size | Under $5M revenue and 50 employees |
| Architecture | Code-first, Strapi owns the schema | Database-first, wraps your schema |
| GraphQL | Official plugin | In core |
| Plugin ecosystem | Larger, longer-running | Smaller, growing |
Pick Strapi for new content models; Directus if you already have a SQL database. Read Strapi vs Directus →
An open-source headless CMS that separates content management from presentation, so developers can use any front-end framework with its generated APIs.
The Community Edition is MIT licensed with no revenue or company-size limit. Paid tiers add features such as SSO and audit logs. On AWS you pay for the instance and any Meetrix software fee shown on the listing.
Yes, through the official GraphQL plugin on top of its REST API.
Open the DashboardUrl from the stack outputs and complete the setup form. Other accounts are then created from the admin panel.
Strapi for new projects with content models you define. Directus if you want an API and admin app on an existing database, within its licence terms.
Wait about 5 minutes for Strapi to start, then refresh.
t3.small or larger.
Back up your server data, remove the old stack and launch the new version from AWS Marketplace.
Code-first vs database-first, and the licensing detail most reviews skip.
GraphQL, real-time and permissions, compared as APIs.
Setup, monitoring, scaling and security best practices.
We build and run self-hosted content platforms every day, from content modelling to custom plugins. Tell us what you need.
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