- Last updated: October 16, 2024 (Strapi 5 era)
- 9 min read
Announcing the stable release of Strapi Community Edition
5 years after the first commit, 3 years after the launch of the company, we’re incredibly excited to announce the general availability of Strapi Community Edition. This stable version is a huge milestone and marks the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for the Strapi project and open source community.
First and foremost, we would like to offer a heartfelt thank you to the thousands of contributors behind the code that makes up the Strapi open source project. Our gratitude extends beyond the issues and pull requests on the Strapi GitHub repository. We are also thankful (every day) for all the feedback, personal notes, blog posts, videos, and hours, days, even weeks of your time spent helping the community. Strapi would not exist without you and your help. We can never thank you enough for your ongoing support.
Before jumping further into the details, here is a quick overview of the most recent Strapi numbers to give you an idea of what we’ve accomplished together:
- 1.2 million downloads on npm
- 25,000+ stars on GitHub
- 422+ contributors – 95%outside of the core Strapi team
- 13,000+ commits
- 300+ community plugins published on npm
- 10+ community-led user-groups
- 4,800+ public Strapi related projects on GitHub
Integration with many technology providers, deployment options, and cloud platforms.
From small businesses to Global 500 companies (IBM, NASA, Société Générale, Delivery Hero, and more), Strapi is used in production by thousands of companies of all sizes and industries. Every week, we learn about new Strapi use cases and projects. Beyond standard static websites, Strapi is also unleashing content across a variety of mobile applications and IoT devices. We’re on a mission to make omnichannel experiences both easy to build and accessible to all.
Delivery Hero, one of the leading global online food ordering and delivery marketplaces in EMEA, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific uses Strapi as part of its B2B partners Portal -- a mobile-first, progressive web app with self-service capabilities, real-time and statistical data. Nearly 100,000 partners use the product every month in more than 25 languages.
“When we wanted to provide a partner training center where Delivery Hero’s local teams could manage content (text, videos, and attachments) by themselves, we turned to Strapi,” said Niko Nurmentaus, senior product manager at Delivery Hero. “Our requirements were covered by Strapi with only minor internal developments and we were able to train local teams to use the admin in only 30 minutes. The return on investment has already paid off.”
With this stable release, Strapi is officially ready for large-scale enterprise adoption, along with expert support to assist with initial implementations. This new release also provides solid foundations for the development of Strapi’s ecosystem with more plug-ins, integrations, and customizations.
Strapi Community Edition features
The core team and contributors fixed more than 80 issues to enhance the overall developer experience. Reducing the amount of pain points was a priority, an idea that is well-reflected in some of the features included in the new release:
- Native support for .env files to simplify configuration setup for users.
- Improved environment configuration with overwrites.
- Better database lifecycles to trigger functions before or after a specific event.
- New CLI command to easily migrate settings across environments*.
- Greater support for deployment configurations with proxy configuration changes.
You can check the changelog here.
If you’re new to Strapi, here is an overview of the features included in Strapi Community Edition.
Content-Type Builder
Strapi provides a flexible and complete data structure allowing users to easily create many different field types (Text, Boolean, Number, JSON, Media, UID, etc) either single types for pages with a unique structure to ensure global settings consistency or collection types for entities that are meant to be repeated many times over. It’s also possible to create repeatable components to easily reuse multiple fields bundled together.
Content Management
Strapi empowers content editors with a rich markdown editor, a customizable layout, and built-in filtering capabilities.
Customizable API
REST or GraphQL API endpoints can easily be customized directly from the code editor. Based on Apollo, the Strapi GraphQL plug-in offers full compatibility with other tools in the GraphQL ecosystem.
JWT authentication
Secure and authorize access to API endpoints with JWT (JSON Web Tokens) or providers.
Dynamic Zones
The very powerful Dynamic Zones feature makes it possible to build dynamic entries with complex data structures. It's often very helpful to create sections such as sliders and quotes or data structures such as meta fields so that those can be reused whenever needed.
Webhooks
Webhooks are a simple way for different applications to communicate and get notified when a new event happens. With headless CMS, webhooks are very useful to build the front-end upon modification in the administration panel.
File Storage and Media Library
The Media Library is one of the latest features we released. It's an easy way to upload, manage and edit a variety of media assets including images, videos, audio files, PDFs, or GIFs so that they can be uploaded once and reused many times.
Plug-ins Providers
Projects using Strapi can easily be customized and extended by installing email, upload or search providers or adding community plug-ins for sitemap, import, etc.
Feel free to give a try to the stable version by executing the following command in your terminal:
yarn create strapi-app my-project --quickstart
If you're already a Strapi user, you can easily migrate from the latest version with the following instructions.
Laying the foundation for Strapi Enterprise Edition and partner ecosystem
Along with this release, we’re announcing the availability of paid support for companies who are interested in Service Level Agreements and access to best practices directly from the core team.
This stable version of Strapi is also the foundation for an upcoming Enterprise Edition that will include enterprise features, such as advanced role-based access control, unlimited content internationalization, audit logs, and SSO. Companies interested in getting priority access to these upcoming features at a fraction of the future price have the option to sign up for our private beta until July 1st.
Please fill out the Enterprise form on our website for more information.
Last but not least, we’re excited to introduce an initial group of Solutions Partners that already have experience with Strapi and are ready to assist companies with a large range of services, including frontend development, CMS migration, and plugin or custom development. Our initial set of partners includes AE Studio (USA), Capfi (France), freshcells (Germany), Simform (USA) and SovTech (UK, South Africa and Kenya).
If you want to learn more about Strapi and our roadmap, sign up for the live Q&A with the Strapi co-founders: Pierre Burgy (CEO), Aurélien Georget (CPO) and Jim Laurie (CTO) this Thursday, May 28th at 9 am PST.
We'll be watching Twitter during the live stream so be sure to use #StrapiStable if you want us to answer your question.
What is Strapi v4 Community Edition?
Thinking about diving into the world of headless CMS? Strapi v4 Community Edition might just be the solution you need. It’s flexible, cost-effective, and backed by a strong community. But why should you care? Because managing content shouldn’t be a headache, and Strapi makes it a breeze.
Strapi v4 Community Edition is an open-source headless CMS designed to simplify content management and API creation. Built with Node.js, it allows developers to use their favorite tools and frameworks while providing a user-friendly interface for content managers. Imagine the freedom of managing your content without being tied to a specific frontend. That’s Strapi for you.
Key Features of Strapi v4 Community Edition
- Headless CMS: Manage your content independently from your frontend. Perfect for building content-rich experiences across various platforms.
- API Management: Easily create and manage APIs, supporting HTTP methods like GET, POST, DELETE, and PUT.
- Content Types Builder: Create structured yet flexible content types to keep your content organized.
- Media Library: Advanced media management capabilities to handle all your media files efficiently.
- Roles & Permissions: Granular access controls to define specific roles and permissions for different users.
- Internationalization: Develop and manage multilingual content effortlessly.
Strapi v4 Community Edition offers a robust set of features that cater to the needs of mid-level developers. Whether you’re building a new project or upgrading an existing one, Strapi provides the tools you need to succeed.
Types of Installations
Worried about the installation process? Don’t be. Strapi v4 Community Edition offers multiple installation methods to suit your needs. Whether you prefer a local setup, cloud deployment, or using Docker, we’ve got you covered.
Local Installation
Local installation is perfect if you want to get hands-on and see how Strapi works on your machine. Here’s how you can do it:
- Requirements: Ensure you have Node.js, npm or yarn, and Python installed.
- Setup: Open your terminal and run the following command:
npx create-strapi-app my-project --quickstart - Configuration: Follow the prompts to configure your project. You’ll have a Strapi project up and running in no time.
Cloud Installation
Prefer to keep things in the cloud? Strapi Cloud has you covered. Here’s what you need to do:
- Sign Up: Create a Strapi Cloud account.
- Deployment: Use the CLI to deploy your project to Strapi Cloud.
strapi deploy - Configuration: Configure your deployment settings to suit your needs.
Docker Installation
Docker is a great option if you want to create a consistent environment for your Strapi projects. Here’s how to set it up:
- Docker Installation: Ensure Docker is installed on your machine.
- Create Docker Container: Use the following command to create a Docker container for Strapi:
docker run -it -p 1337:1337 strapi/strapi - Configuration: Customize your Docker setup to match your project requirements.
With these installation options, you can choose the method that best fits your workflow and get started with Strapi v4 Community Edition quickly and easily.
Benefits of Using Strapi v4 Community Edition
Why should you bother with Strapi v4 Community Edition? Because it offers a suite of benefits that make content management and API creation a walk in the park.
Flexibility
Strapi’s headless architecture allows you to manage your content independently from the frontend. This means you can build content-rich experiences across various platforms without being tied down to a specific frontend framework. Want to use React, Vue.js, or Angular? Go for it. Strapi doesn’t dictate how you build your frontend.
Cost-Effectiveness
Strapi v4 Community Edition is open-source and free to use. This makes it a cost-effective solution for small to medium-sized tech companies that need robust content management capabilities without breaking the bank. No hefty licensing fees here, just pure functionality.
Community Support
The Strapi community is strong and active. This means you have access to a wealth of knowledge, support, and resources. Whether you’re troubleshooting an issue or looking for ways to extend Strapi’s functionality, the community has your back.
Scalability
Strapi’s architecture is designed to scale with your projects. Whether you’re starting small or planning to grow, Strapi can handle it. Its API management capabilities allow you to build flexible and customizable API structures that can grow with your needs.
Learn more about Strapi