In a traditional or monolithic CMS like Drupal, everything is packaged together: the backend (creation and storage) is linked to the frontend (design and deployment) part of your application.

A headless CMS like Strapi focuses on its primary mission: managing content. It stores content in a database and delivers it to any frontend via API. Headless CMS also provides an interface to allow users to easily manage content.

In short, headless CMS is faster, more flexible, and gives developers more freedom.

To keep up with the new trends, Drupal is shifting towards headless architecture. However, to use Drupal in a headless mode you need to invest some time and work to configure it. Since Drupal was originally created as a monolithic CMS, it doesn't have all the power of a truly headless CMS.

Strapi has been designed to empower the community of users to build any project they think of. Everything is made so you can design your content structure in a snap.

Strapi Relations feature makes it incredibly easy to create multiple relations using only the admin panel. In a couple of clicks, you can handle any relations you need to link your entries: one-way, one-to-one, one-to-many or many-to-many.

Finally, unlike PHP-based Drupal, Strapi is based on Node.js, which makes it compatible with plenty of other technologies and frameworks.

Strapi is customizable without twisting the code. You decide on your API and data structure. You can customize anything through the API or by editing the files inside your code.

Strapi allows you to create custom components and create rich layouts for any pages: case studies, product pages, testimonials, or landing pages.

Strapi, as well as Drupal, is open-source, which means that you can install it on your own server and customize it as you wish.

Strapi can be adapted to suit your needs, whatever your project is: a corporate website, a blog, a mobile application, an ecommerce platform, a connected object, you name it.

Strapi is powered by a modern technology stack using Node.js. That's why it's fast. Really fast.

Drupal, however, is based on PHP and is slower and less efficient.

Strapi installation is made in less than two minutes and the admin panel doesn’t reload upon saving. Developers instantly get REST and GraphQL API out of the box, ready to be consumed. It reduces the go-to-market time, allowing teams to ship projects faster and bring their ideas to life.

Have a look at the independent comparison of Strapi and Drupal CMS.

Websites and apps build with Strapi using modern stack load faster. This performance has an impact on the whole project, from user engagement or content editor comfort to Google ranking.

So is Drupal. Strapi is free to use because we believe in the power of open-source communities. We believe that anyone should be able to build their project easily and contribute. Strapi is a project of more than 600 contributors.

Available on GitHub, Strapi exists to fuel the world’s creativity and productivity. Strapi is community-first, free, and will stay that way forever.