b10cks vs. Strapi
Strapi and b10cks are both open source headless CMSs. But Strapi locks live preview, content history, and localization behind paid tiers – features b10cks ships to every user on day one. Here's exactly what that means for your team.
The Short Version
Strapi pioneered open-source headless CMS and deserves credit for it. But as Strapi matured, the feature set got split across a free community edition and a paid Growth tier – meaning teams that need live preview, content history, or editorial tooling have to pay, even though the software is open source.
b10cks is also open source (AGPLv3). The difference is that b10cks doesn't separate features by tier. Every plan – including the free one – includes the visual editor, localization, version history, webhooks, and the full API surface.
The question isn't which one is open source. It's which one is open about what you actually get.
Feature Comparison
Section headline: What you get. What you don't. No asterisks.
| Feature | b10cks | Strapi (Community) | Strapi (Growth) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Source | ✅ AGPLv3 | ✅ MIT | ✅ MIT |
| Self-hosting | ✅ Always | ✅ Always | ✅ Always |
| Managed Cloud | ✅ Included | ❌ | ✅ Strapi Cloud (separate) |
| REST API | ✅ All plans | ✅ All plans | ✅ All plans |
| GraphQL API | ✅ All plans | ✅ All plans | ✅ All plans |
| Visual Editor / Live Preview | ✅ All plans | ❌ | 💰 Growth only |
| Content History / Versioning | ✅ All plans | ❌ | 💰 Growth only |
| Localization | ✅ All plans | ✅ Plugin (limited) | ✅ Plugin (limited) |
| Infinite Canvas Modeling | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Scheduled Publishing | ✅ All plans | ❌ | 💰 Growth only |
| Releases / Batch Publishing | ✅ All plans | ❌ | 💰 Growth only |
| Multiplayer Collaboration | ✅ All plans | ❌ | ❌ |
| Threaded Comments | ✅ All plans | ❌ | ❌ |
| Built-in CDN + Image Processing | ✅ All plans | ❌ | ❌ |
| AI Credits | ✅ All plans | ❌ | 💰 Growth only |
| SSO | ✅ All plans | ❌ | ❌ (Enterprise only) |
| Audit Logs | ✅ All plans | ❌ | ❌ (Enterprise only) |
| Review Workflows | ✅ All plans | ❌ | ❌ (Enterprise only) |
Strapi's community edition — the one that's free and fully self-hostable — ships without live preview and without content history. These aren't advanced features. They're the baseline of a usable editorial experience.
In Strapi, getting live preview and content history requires the Growth tier at $45/month + $15/seat for every editor above three. For a content team of five, that's $75/month minimum just to see what your content looks like before you publish it.
In b10cks, the visual editor — two-way-bound live preview built into your actual site — is available on the free plan. Content history with full rollback is also available on the free plan.
Strapi's localization is delivered as a plugin and has real limitations: field-level translation control is basic, locale inheritance is manual, and the editorial experience for multilingual content is not designed for non-technical users.
b10cks localization is a first-class feature: field-level translation control, locale inheritance across the content tree, per-locale publish workflows, and a locale switcher built into the visual editor. Available on every plan.
Strapi's content type builder is a form-based interface — functional, but static. You define types one field at a time and navigate a traditional tree view.
b10cks models content on an infinite canvas. You can drag, connect, and visually compose your entire content architecture in a way that maps to how your team actually thinks about relationships between content types. This isn't cosmetic — it changes how quickly teams understand and extend their content model.
Both projects are open source. The meaningful difference is in what open source entitles you to.
Strapi's MIT license is more permissive for commercial use. b10cks' AGPLv3 license requires that modifications to the server-side code be open-sourced if distributed — meaning the community always benefits from improvements.
For teams self-hosting for internal use, the practical difference is minimal. For SaaS companies building on top of b10cks and distributing a modified version, the AGPLv3 requires disclosure. Choose accordingly.
Strapi's managed cloud (Strapi Cloud) is a separate product from the CMS feature tier. You pay for hosting on top of the Growth feature license, or you self-host and pay just for features.
b10cks' managed cloud includes the full platform. There's no separate hosting subscription — your plan covers both features and infrastructure.
Pricing Comparison
| Plan | Price | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Community | $0 | Self-hosted only. No live preview, no content history, no releases. REST + GraphQL API. |
| Growth | $45/mo (3 seats) | Live preview, content history, releases, Strapi AI. +$15/seat above 3. |
| Enterprise | Custom | SSO, audit logs, review workflows, customer success. |
A 5-editor team on Growth: $75/month — just for the CMS feature tier. Add Strapi Cloud hosting on top if you don't want to self-host.
| Plan | Price | Storage | Traffic | Requests | AI Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | €0 | 500 MB | 5 GB | $1 | |
| Essential | €25/mo | 5 GB | 50 GB | $6 | |
| Growth | €75/mo | 25 GB | 250 GB | $15 | |
| Pro | €175/mo | 50 GB | 500 GB | $30 | |
| Scale | €350/mo | 100 GB | 1 TB | $60 |
Every b10cks plan includes every feature — visual editor, localization, version history, CDN, real-time collaboration, webhooks, image processing, scheduled publishing. You pay for storage and traffic. That's it. No per-seat fees. No feature unlocks.
The math: A team of 5 editors with a modest-traffic site that needs live preview and content history.
Strapi is a well-built system with a mature plugin ecosystem, a large community, and a permissive license. It's a good fit if:
See for yourself. No credit card required.