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The Tutorials section covers an introduction to Strapi, some advanced technical content, product updates and releases. From basic workaround to in-depth development guides. 

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## What you need to know:

-   Strapi Cloud is officially out of private beta and publicly available to all invited Strapi users.

-   We're capping the number of daily trials to ensure the stability and scalability of the platform for our customers. 

-   Strapi Cloud provides more value than just hosting, it also includes out of the box features and capabilities such as easy deployment, database storage, email provider, global CDN, real-time logs, email / in-app notifications and advanced CMS features. 

-   For now, we're only introducing two paid plans: Pro ($99/month) and Team ($499/month) that are available for purchase directly from our pricing page or after a 7-day trial. 

-   Our Hobby (free) and Enterprise tiers will come later together with certification and other compliance requirements.

[Strapi Cloud ](https://strapi.io/cloud)is a managed content platform built on top of Strapi, the leading open-source headless CMS. Strapi Cloud enables cross-functional teams to increase their content velocity without having to compromise on their customization needs and requirements. 

Developers can rely on Strapi Cloud to abstract away the complexity of infrastructure management while keeping their development workflow and extending the core capabilities of Strapi. Content managers use Strapi Cloud to autonomously manage all types of content and benefit from a unique set of collaboration, security, and compliance features. 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DJXuPB7nTVw" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

As part of our [private beta program](https://strapi.io/blog/announcing-strapi-cloud-beta) announced back in October, 2022, a few hundreds of users have already been onboarded on Strapi Cloud. We're extremely grateful for all the feedback and encouragements we've received over the last few months and would like to give a special shoutout to a few individuals who took the time for interview and shared extensive feedback in surveys and on Discord namely: Saad Muhammad Mujeeb, Jelmer Visser, Paulo Sà, Yuri Ceschin, Wilhelm Iohan Hetmann, Kenny Maurer, Michiel Vandewalle, Edgar Vonk and Thomas Poirier.

The feedback we have received from our beta users has been very positive and we are grateful for the trust and support of several innovative companies such as [Meilisearch](https://www.meilisearch.com/), [Prototypr,](https://prototypr.io/)  [Plenti](https://www.plenti.com.au/) which are already working on migrating to Strapi Cloud.

With more than 900 upvotes on our [public roadmap](https://feedback.strapi.io/hosting/p/q1-2023-strapi-cloud) and more than 9000 people on the waitlist, Strapi Cloud is by far the most requested "feature" so we are very excited to open the door to the broader Strapi community starting today.

To ensure the stability and scalability of the platform for our customers as we start ramping up the number of users and projects, **we are capping the number of daily trials to 50 **on top of all the invitations that are being sent to the people already on the waitlist.

## Batteries included but customizable 

As of today, **Strapi is the only vendor on the market that offers both a self-hosted and cloud version of the same CMS while keeping all the customization capabilities**. Unlike proprietary and opinionated no-code website builders or SaaS Headless CMS that lock you into using their platform, our goal with Strapi Cloud is to provide the same ease of use and turnkey experience without sacrificing the flexibility and customization capabilities that open source provides to developers. In other words, it means that you have the freedom to use an external database, another CDN or email provider as you see fit, with no vendor lock in.  

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hJ3grbeVSSo" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

We believe that this hybrid approach is the best way for our users to ship faster while future-proofing their applications with a platform that scales across a long tail of use cases, services or devices.  

From our research and early feedback, Strapi Cloud is a very good fit for developers and marketers from small to medium size businesses and digital agencies who need a customizable content management system (CMS) with out of the box capabilities and configuration so that they can focus on what really matters: building the best websites, mobile apps or internal tools for them or their customers. 

If you don’t have the knowledge or time to manage servers, databases, or CDN in-house but need a CMS and managed platform with composable architectures that can evolve over time to meet the needs of various stakeholders (developers, designers, content managers, etc), then Strapi Cloud might be a good solution for you. 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gsJZNV3trJE" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

## What is available today? 
[Strapi Cloud Pro and Team ](https://strapi.io/pricing-cloud)are the two plans available today. These include a server, a database,  a CDN, an email service, and generous asset storage and bandwidth limits, giving customers the ability to manage their content and applications securely and scale resources vertically as needed. The Team plan also includes an [Audit Log feature](https://strapi.io/blog/announcing-strapi-v4.6) for the Content Management System and support services to meet the requirements of larger organizations. Lets have a closer look at the key capabilities available today. 

In the future, the Cloud plans will enable more paid features in the CMS. However, the Cloud and the CMS will stay completely independent from each other, as we said: no lock-in.

## Database & Data Transfer 
Every Strapi app hosted on Cloud is automatically connected to PostgreSQL database. Any Strapi project running on [Strapi v4.7](https://strapi.io/blog/announcing-strapi-v4.7) or higher can easily transfer data over to the PostgreSQL database included in Strapi Cloud subscriptions.
Thanks to the newly introduced [Data Transfer feature](https://docs.strapi.io/dev-docs/data-management/transfer), you can transfer all your content and assets from your original instance to Strapi Cloud (or another hosting provider) using one command. No need to act manually on a database!
![cli data transfer](/uploads/cli_data_transfer_8009512183.png)

One of the key principles of Strapi Cloud is to prevent lock-in and give developers the freedom and flexibility to connect Strapi and Strapi Cloud to their preferred services. The database is no exception, you can connect an external one if that's better for you. If no [Strapi project database configuration](https://docs.strapi.io/developer-docs/latest/setup-deployment-guides/configurations/required/databases.html#configuration-structure) is detected, Strapi Cloud sets that up for you so you don't have to worry about it.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RmEUBS5wT10" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

## Email provider
All apps deployed on Strapi Cloud have an email provider setup by default to trigger email in response to a user action or consume data from the Content Manager to streamline the creation of programmatic emails. Please refer to the [Email plugin documentation](https://docs.strapi.io/developer-docs/latest/plugins/email.html#sending-emails-with-a-controller-or-service) to learn more about email configuration.  However, you're still able to set a custom one, using the environment variables.
![email provider.png](/uploads/email_provider_3765f95330.png)

## Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A fast, scalable and reliable CDN is provided to host and cache your assets (images, videos, files) and make them accessible on the Internet. Included by default in all our tiers, it gives you the power to reduce page load times, improve the performance and SEO whatever the kind of projects you develop.  Again, you're still able to set a custom CDN by using the environment variables.

## Real-time logs
Each deployment now has a dedicated **Logs details** view. While deployment is in progress, you can check how it’s going in real-time inside the Build and Deploy log tabs. Once a deployment is done, you can access the runtime logs, where what happens with your app is also reflected in real-time. 

If, for example, a certain step of your deployment fails, you can copy the whole logs with one click (and later share with our Support team). This also implies a smoother UX for project creation – once you create a new project, you’re redirected to the first deploy’s log with the Build tab pre-opened. 
![log details.png](/uploads/log_details_9a72f43008.png)

## What is coming next?
While we’re proud of this first public release, this is just the beginning for Strapi Cloud and the best is yet to come! We know that many of you were either hoping for a free tier to host personal project or on the other hand, an enterprise tiers with really high uptime, compliance and security features. Adding new plans that meet the needs of both individual developers and enterprises alike is definitely on the agenda. While we’re not able to communicate on a specific release date for now, here is more insights into the features that are on our short term roadmap. 

## In app notifications
In addition to the account homepage which includes essential information about your projects, database, asset storage and bandwidth usage, Strapi Cloud includes a Notification Center providing actionable insights into your project operations.  At the moment, there are operational notifications, mostly informing on the deploys’ status, and project-level notifications if your GitHub repository gets disconnected for instance. 

![notifications.png](/uploads/notifications_a0b627ab9a.png)
## Select a region
At the moment, all the apps (dashboard, data assets) are currently hosted in the New York region. However, Strapi Cloud users will soon have the option to select other regions (Europe, Asia & Australia) where they’d like their data and assets to be stored. 

## Custom domains
By default, all the projects deployed on Strapi Cloud comes with a pre-generated names which sometimes isn’t convenient for business operation purposes. The ability to use custom domains for your hosted apps has been requested a lot during the Beta program. We’ve heard your feedback and we will soon release that option in the user interface. 

## Automatic backups
Later this year, we will add an automatic backup functionality that will back up all your project data, assets and settings in a safe and encrypted way. These backups will be done on a various regular basis (weekly, daily or hourly) according to your tiers. More details will come in the next months.

## Compliance, Trust & SLAs
We are dedicated to co-building the future of Strapi Cloud with you. All our team members have all their hands on deck (laptops really!) to fix every bug or security issue that could be found. Our absolute priority is the security of your data and the uptime of your projects. In the meantime, we are also working on becoming GDPR compliant and joining the Privacy Shield program. SOC2 certification and higher SLAs will come in a second iteration.

## Strapi Community Call

Join the Strapi Cloud Community Call on Thursday, March 2nd to learn more about Strapi Cloud and ask your questions live. 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VP4AOpECkbc" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

## Getting Started:

Before you can deploy your Strapi application on Strapi Cloud, you need to have the following prerequisites: Strapi version 4.6.x or higher and your project source code available on GitHub. Please refer to the[  developer documentation](https://docs.strapi.io/developer-docs/latest/setup-deployment-guides/deployment/strapi-cloud.html#prerequisites) for more information

-   Request a f[ree trial](https://strapi.io/pricing-cloud)

-   Learn more about [Strapi Cloud plans](https://strapi.io/pricing-cloud) 

-   Take a look at our [Strapi Cloud FAQ](https://strapi.io/pricing-cloud)

-   Check out our [Strapi Cloud Youtube Playlist](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmEUBS5wT10&list=PL7Q0DQYATmvgIDkszYY4EPvI8FXEbGgip&index=1&ab_channel=Strapi)


We're thrilled to announce that Strapi Cloud is officially available, bringing out-of-the-box features and capabilities! 

The Product section covers our releases, feature reviews and more. 

Product

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Strapi Cloud is now available

Paris

Co-founder & Chief Product Officer, I started developing since I was 13 years old, I already developed 2 CMS before and am currently in charge of the product vision & strategy.

Founders

Since we first announced our plans for Strapi Cloud at [StrapiConf 2022](https://conf.strapi.io/schedule) earlier this year, thousands of people have joined the [waitlist](https://strp.cc/3SiNU30) and shared their interest in trying it out. We’re very grateful for your support and encouragement. In this post, we’re excited to give everyone an update on the progress we’ve made and can barely contain our excitement! 

![200.gif](/uploads/200_80e800f2e8.gif)
 

## Strapi Cloud Intro
But first, here is some context in case you are hearing about Strapi Cloud for the first time today. To put it simply, Strapi Cloud is a hosted Content Management platform that reconciles developers and content editors by bridging local development workflow and low code user interfaces. Our goal is to abstract away deployment / hosting complexity without compromising on Strapi’s unique customization and content management capabilities. More than a hosting platform with a fast CDN, generous bandwidth, assets and database storage, Strapi Cloud will offer a unique set of collaboration, security and compliance features similar to other SaaS Headless CMS. 

![https://docs.strapi.io/assets/img/project_list.892596d8.png](/uploads/project_list_892596d8_15dc643d38.png)


## Strapi Cloud beta requirements
For the past few weeks, the team has been iterating on the product and collaborating with a handful of users as part of a closed alpha program. A big thank you to all the alpha users and in particular Jelmer#0957, Saad-Mujeeb#9771, _kuyper#3698, domm#9986, Antoine-lb#9553, Federico Mancinelli#1396, stefans.dev#5213 and Cookie Monster#6725 for their time and valuable feedback. 

Starting today, with the release of the beta-0, we’ll be gradually opening the doors to more and more people on a first come, first serve basis. You can follow the [documentation](https://strp.cc/3yTZR8M) for more info on how to request access and prerequisites. 

As part of our beta program, we’re looking for users who have Strapi projects based on a Postgres database and available on a dedicated GitHub repository.  

As with any beta testing program, we aim to collect as much feedback as possible through:
 
- Polls & surveys sent by email and posts on Discord 
- Optional Q&A session to be scheduled every two weeks 
- Dedicated 1/1 meetings with those of you who want to share more information about your expectations, constraints and struggles.
- Support tickets directly through your Strapi Cloud dashboard.

[Join the waitlist](https://strp.cc/3CWCg8G) to be the first to benefit from Strapi Cloud and unlock an early adopter discount. 


## Strapi Cloud FAQ
- **When will Strapi Cloud be publicly available?**

Our plan for the beta is to gradually invite waitlist users to deploy on Strapi Cloud and monitor overall performance with a few hundred active projects while continuously releasing new features and improvements. Strapi Cloud plans and pricing should be publicly available in Q1 2023, at which point we’ll start onboarding our first customers. 


- **Do you offer discounts to Beta testers?**

Strapi Cloud is currently free for all Beta testers until the Strapi Cloud pricing plans are announced in Q1 2023. Beta Users who add a credit card to their accounts and keep using Strapi Cloud once the pricing is released will benefit from special discounts. 


- **Will I be able to easily migrate from CE or EE to Cloud?**

Any self-hosted Strapi project can be hosted on Strapi Cloud. The migration process from self-hosted to Cloud will heavily depend on your Strapi version, database and asset storage setup. Once you receive the beta invite, you’ll need to create an account and link your GitHub repository with a new Strapi Cloud project. Support for GitLab / Bitbucket repositories will come in Q2 or Q3 2023.

For current Strapi customers, a dedicated call with your Account Executive / Manager will be required as there will be significant differences in pricing and support coverage. In short, Strapi Cloud pricing is usage-based as opposed to our Self-Hosted Enterprise Edition which is user-based.


- **Do you only host Strapi instance or can we still connect to say AWS for our S3 Object Storage?**

Strapi Cloud is custom-made to host Strapi CMS and provides a CDN and database out of the box. That being said, similar to the open-source Strapi Community Edition, our users will continue to be in control of their stack and have the freedom to choose their favorite tools. Users will be free to use other databases, bypass our CDN or connect with 3rd party services such as object storage providers or frontend hosting platforms such as Vercel, Netlify, and Gatsby Cloud. 


- **What will be the price of the Strapi Cloud plans?**

While we are not able to communicate on exact plans quite yet, what we can tell you is that it will be similar to other managed or SaaS Headless CMS. Strapi Cloud usage-based pricing is based on the following criteria:
- Seats
- Number of entries
- Asset Storage
- Asset Bandwidth
- API requests

Each tier will come with included usage quota. It will be possible to go over quota with a transparent pay as you go pricing. 


- **What are our plans for Strapi Cloud in terms of uptime and Compliance?**

At this time, we are not able to communicate any uptime history or have any compliance certifications at this time. However, our goal is to reach 99.99% Uptime and become SOC 2, GDPR, & CCPA and PCI DSS compliant in the future.


- **What can I do if I need Managed hosting now?**

If you need help hosting your Strapi project immediately, we invite you to contact some of our Solution and Technology partners (see the full list [here](https://strp.cc/3eQUqAn)) who can perform Managed Services to handle the deployment, hosting, scaling and maintenance of your Strapi projects.  


As part of the Strapi Cloud beta program, we’re looking for users who have Strapi projects based on a Postgres database and available on a dedicated GitHub repository. 

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Announcing Strapi Cloud Beta

According to the World Economic Forum, the number of bytes in the digital universe in 2021 is 40 times bigger than the number of stars in the observable universe. As the number of internet users continues to grow, the [amount of data generated each day is expected to reach 463 exabytes globally by 2025.](https://www.visualcapitalist.com/how-much-data-is-generated-each-day/) Data is literally everywhere and consumed anywhere, from smartphones to laptops and connected devices. But how much of that data is actually content?


### Content vs. Data

Content is Data. Data is not Content. Intriguing isn’t it? We often use these two words interchangeably although they are completely different by nature. So let’s start with definitions!

Content is about context. The context gives a meaning to the data. Good content is often an aggregation of data coming from different sources and types. 

Data is the root of the information, it’s the raw value. Without context, there is no meaning.


     

For the sake of this example, let’s use the following sentence: “27°C in August in Spain is a cold summer, while 181 centimeters means you are considered as a tall person in Western Europe.” 

In the previous sentence, we have multiple data to extract. The temperature (27°C), the month (August), the country (Spain), the period of the year (summer), the feeling (cold), the height (181 centimeters), the feeling again (tall) and the region of the world (Western Europe).

Now, imagine we store these data somewhere in a database. Could you recreate the previous sentence from these raw values? You can’t. The process is irreversible. You could generate hundreds of sentences with completely different meanings though, such as the following one for example: “In Western Europe, in August, tall people suffer more when the heat exceeds 27°C, especially in Spain where the summers are usually not cold.”

Content and data are similar to song and music notes. What makes good content is usually the uniqueness of the data aggregation and order. Ditto for a good melody or song.


### The rise of Headless CMS

Why are these differences and definitions important? As one of the co-founder of [Strapi](https://strapi.io/), a new generation of CMS called Headless CMS, I have seen the barriers between content and data lowered. The main reason is because Headless CMS forces us to think about the content structure in a destructured way. The true power of a Headless CMS relies on the ability to break down the content structure into smaller pieces often called fields. 

![Capture d’écran 2021-11-25 à 12.46.27.png](/uploads/Capture_d_ecran_2021_11_25_a_12_46_27_3e2e7ee49f.png)


While it opens new opportunities to build incredible digital experiences, it also tends to be the perfect application of [Conway’s law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_law) in the user interface. In other words, Headless CMSs start looking like modern administration panels for apps whereas they should be designed as a unique space to empower content editors to write good content.


The reason behind that shift to a data-centric approach in Content Management is rather simple. With data, you can aggregate, filter, sort, modify, calculate, edit them and finally tell a completely different story. Content is the story you want to tell. Content is the format and the structure you give to your data to have a meaning. When we apply these tenets in the Content Management System field, the impacts are important. In a world where collaboration is key, we don’t collaborate on raw data, we collaborate on content, sometimes in real-time/ We comment, we make suggestions, we bring creativity, we try to surprise, we think about the message and the audience. These principles don’t apply to data. We create, read, edit or delete data. It’s a value that we store for later usage, or not. To make it brief, we feed computers with data and humans with content.

As a result, content should not be handled like data... Data is managed by databases. Content is managed by CMSs.

Moreover, in terms of personas, they tend to be the opposite. Developers interact, store and consume the data. They care about the format, the way to retrieve and optimize it. Content Editors have other expectations. They look for a purified user interface, real content management functionalities to publish their next article at a specific date for example, and powerful tools or integrations to gather data from different sources in order to write thrilling stories. As the expectations and usage are different, the user interface should not be the same. Similarly, Content Management Systems can be developer-friendly, but they should not be built for developers. As the developers influence more than ever the final decision when choosing a new CMS they cannot be ignored. On the other hand, it doesn’t mean we have to forget our roots and why Content Management Systems exist. 

Treating content as data makes sense for developers and gives them the flexibility they need to build modern digital experiences. It also opens new opportunities to create unique personalized experiences for specific audiences based on criterias such as geolocalisation, types of device, or user preferences. Headless CMSs are still CMSs, they still manage content, however, they require more granularity and more discipline in the structure to spread the content anywhere, beyond a simple computer’s browser. If we manage to keep that frontier between content and data visible while providing new capabilities, we are just at the beginning of a new era for digital content experience. 


The Ecosystem section covers everything related to the world of Headless CMS and Strapi's place in it. 

Ecosystem

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Content is Data, Data is not Content