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Moteur and Strapi

Strapi runs on your database. Moteur runs on a Git repository.

Both are open source, and both can run on your own server. Strapi keeps content in SQL tables. Moteur keeps it as JSON files, with a commit for every save. Checked on Strapi’s pages.

Start a projectMoteur for agencies

Side by side

Eighteen points that matter for a client site. Strapi wins some of them. Each Strapi fact links to the page it comes from.

MoteurStrapi
Where the content livesPlain JSON files in the project’s own Git repositoryYour own SQL database1
In GitYes: each project is its own repository, a commit per saveNo: the schema is code in Git, the content is in the database2
Who runs itMoteur Cloud. Or host the open-source engine yourself, without the StudioHost it yourself, or Strapi Cloud from $35 a project a month3
Open sourceEngine: MIT. The Studio and Moteur Cloud: not open sourceMIT, with Enterprise code under its own licence4
Free plan1 person, 1,000 entries, 2,000 API requests a monthCommunity, self-hosted: no limits. No free Cloud plan for new projects since 1 July 20265
First paid planPersonal, $9 a month: 2 people, 10,000 entriesGrowth licence, $45 a month for 3 people, hosting apart5
How it’s pricedA plan per project, with extra people, requests, credits or storage in packsA licence per person beyond three, and hosting per project, apart6
Review before publishingDrafts and reviews on every plan. A reviewer or admin approvesDrafts free. Review stages on Enterprise7
Working togetherOn Moteur Cloud: see who’s in which field, leave notes on fields, and no save overwrites another’sNo presence or co-editing in Strapi’s docs8
LanguagesAny number of languages, field by field, on every planUnlimited languages, free9
RolesAdmin, developer, writer, reviewer, translator and billing, on every plan. No custom rolesCustom roles, free10
HistoryEvery save is a Git commit, kept as long as the repositoryNone on Community, 14 days on Growth, 30 to 90 on Enterprise11
ImagesTransforms by URL, eight crop ratios and a focal point you setResponsive sizes, a crop editor and a focal point, free12
FormsBuilt in, with a spam folderNot built in13
APIREST, with an OpenAPI document per site. No GraphQLREST and GraphQL5
WebhooksSigned, and retried for two hours if your server is downYes, with no stated limit14
AI agents (MCP)Official and hosted: agents draft, and a person approves before anything goes liveOfficial and built in: reads, writes and publishes, as far as the token allows15
Writing help (AI)Off until an admin turns it on. Credits on every plan, from 10 a month1,000 credits a month on Growth16

Sources

  1. docs.strapi.io/cms/configurations/database
  2. strapi.io/pricing-cloud
  3. strapi.io/blog/we-re-removing-the-free-plan-from-strapi-cloud
  4. github.com/strapi/strapi/blob/develop/LICENSE
  5. strapi.io/pricing-self-hosted
  6. support.strapi.io/articles/3581379360-Understanding-Strapi-Cloud-usage-and-billing
  7. docs.strapi.io/cms/features/review-workflows
  8. strapi.io/marketplace/plugins/@strapi-community-plugin-io
  9. docs.strapi.io/cms/features/internationalization
  10. docs.strapi.io/cms/features/rbac
  11. docs.strapi.io/cms/features/content-history
  12. docs.strapi.io/cms/features/media-library
  13. docs.strapi.io/cms/features
  14. docs.strapi.io/cms/backend-customization/webhooks
  15. docs.strapi.io/cms/features/strapi-mcp-server
  16. docs.strapi.io/cms/ai/for-content-managers

Checked 26 October 2026. From Strapi’s own pages. If something there has changed, tell us and we’ll fix it here.

The night shift

Who’s awake at 2 am?

Give an agent the keys and watch two roads. Same agent, same night, same mistake.

Claude connected through MCP, rewrites 40 product descriptions at 2 am. Three of them promise free shipping.

Strapi

  1. Writes 40 entries
  2. Publishes them
  3. Live at 2:04 am, free shipping and all

Moteur

  1. Writes 40 drafts
  2. Asks for a review
  3. Louise reads them over coffee
  4. Live at 9:12 am, without the free shipping

Strapi’s MCP server does what its token allows: a token without publish rights stops at drafts. Moteur stops there by default, whoever the agent works for.

Which one fits

Who’d you pick?

Seven situations from agency life. Guess, then see where we’d honestly send you. Sometimes it’s a draw.

  1. Théo · Builder

    Everything must run on the client’s own servers, admin panel included, for free.

    StrapiStrapi Community does exactly that. Moteur’s engine runs on your server, but the Studio comes with Moteur Cloud.

  2. Louise · Admin

    The client wants three custom roles, with names their HR team chose.

    StrapiStrapi’s custom roles are free. Moteur has eight fixed roles.

  3. Céleste · Reviewer

    Every change needs a reviewer before it goes live, and nobody wants an Enterprise contract.

    MoteurReviews are on every Moteur plan. Strapi’s review stages are on Enterprise.

  4. Marguerite · Writer

    A writer deleted half an article on Tuesday. It’s Friday.

    MoteurEvery save is a commit, kept for good. Strapi’s Growth keeps 14 days, Community none.

  5. Sophie · Writer

    Nobody on the team wants to run a database.

    MoteurThere isn’t one. The project is files.

  6. Claude · AI agent

    A hotel site in five languages.

    TieBoth have as many languages as you like, field by field. Strapi’s are free when you host it, Moteur’s on every plan.

  7. Céleste · Reviewer

    Two writers open the same article at 4:55 pm on a Friday.

    MoteurMoteur shows who’s in which field as it happens, and no save overwrites another. We found no presence in Strapi’s docs.

Our honest count: Moteur 4, Strapi 2, ties 1.

Moving day

Moving from Strapi

No one-click importer yet. Here’s how it’s done today, with the tools that exist, and what’s coming.

  1. Works today

    Pack up Strapi

    Strapi’s export command packs content, files and settings into one archive.

    npx strapi export --no-encrypt -f strapi-export

  2. Works today

    Shape the models

    Write each model as JSON and create it from the command line. Or let an agent do it through MCP. It reads a sample of the export and proposes the models. You look them over in the Studio.

    moteur models create --file models/article.json
moteur models create --file models/author.json

  3. Works today

    Bring the content

    A short script turns the export into one import bundle: models, files and entries. The command line brings it all in, or nothing if one thing fails. Or connect one agent to both MCP servers: it reads from Strapi’s and writes drafts to Moteur’s. Those drafts wait for a person, like any agent’s work.

    # the export reshaped into one bundle: models, files, entries
moteur imports run site.json --dry-run   # check it all, keep nothing
moteur imports run site.json

  4. Works today

    Review, then switch

    Everything arrives as a draft. A reviewer reads, approves, and it goes live. Then point the site at the project’s channel: one REST API, with its own OpenAPI document.

  5. Coming

    An importer for Strapi

    We’re writing an importer that reads a Strapi export archive and does steps 2 and 3 in one go. This page will say when it ships. Until then, the steps above work. The piece that turns Strapi’s rich-text blocks into Moteur’s is already written.

Questions people ask

A reader asksCan we host Moteur ourselves, like Strapi?

MoteurThe engine, yes: it’s MIT. The web Studio comes with Moteur Cloud, so on your own server you work through the API, the command line and MCP. Strapi’s self-hosted admin panel is the bigger gift there.

A reader asksWhat happened to Strapi Cloud’s free plan?

MoteurStrapi stopped offering it to new projects on 1 July 2026. Strapi Cloud now starts at $35 a project a month, and features like review stages need a licence on top.

Keep reading

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