PocketBase Cloud vs Strapi
Strapi is a Node + Postgres headless CMS with an editorial admin panel, content-types builder, and per-project cloud pricing. PocketBase is a backend first (database + auth + realtime + files + code), with an admin UI for data rather than editorial workflow. If you publish content, read this carefully — it decides the pick.
Prices below are as of September 2026 — check the Strapi Cloud pricing page and the PocketBase Cloud pricing section for current numbers.
Summary
| PocketBase Cloud | Strapi Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Core | App backend (SQLite, auth, realtime, hooks) | Headless CMS (content modeling + editorial UI) |
| Runtime | Single Go binary (~15 MB) | Node.js + Postgres |
| Entry cloud | $0 / $5 / $20 flat | Per-project tiers (Starter sleeps when idle; Pro/Business always-on), extra envs +$60–300/mo |
| API quotas | Unlimited on paid plans | Quota per tier (e.g. ~100K–10M req/mo) + overage fees |
| Auth | Built-in users/OAuth/OTP, API rules | Users-permissions plugin, configured roles |
| Realtime | SSE subscriptions built in | Poll/webhook or custom plugin |
| Frontend hosting | Included | Bring your own (Vercel/Netlify/CF) |
| Multi-project cost | $20 flat Pro = unlimited instances | Per-project fee × N projects |
CMS-first vs backend-first
Strapi wins when editors own the product: draft/review/publish, i18n, media library, content versioning, and role-based editorial flows. Its admin is a newsroom; its API is the projection of that newsroom.
PocketBase wins when the product is an app: user accounts, row-level API
rules (owner = @request.auth.id), file fields on any record, realtime
subscriptions that respect those rules, and JS hooks for custom routes/cron
with no invocation billing. Its admin is a database console; content workflow
is DIY.
Pricing shape
Strapi Cloud prices per project with API-request, asset-storage, and bandwidth quotas per tier, plus paid add-ons for extra environments. One project is reasonable; ten client CMSs means ten subscriptions.
PocketBase Cloud prices per plan/compute: $5 Starter for one instance, $20 Pro flat for effectively unlimited instances + unlimited frontends + backends on a dedicated 2 vCPU box. Ten small backends: still $20. If every client needs an isolated CMS with editorial sign-off, per-project isolation may be worth it; if they need app backends, flat wins by multiples.
When to choose which
Choose Strapi when:
- Editors, drafts, publishing workflows, and i18n are the product
- You want Postgres + a plugin marketplace for CMS concerns
- Per-project isolation and CMS SLAs matter more than per-app cost
Choose PocketBase Cloud when:
- You ship member apps, dashboards, mobile backends, bookings, SaaS CRUD
- You want auth + realtime + storage + hooks in one binary, one bill
- You run many small backends and refuse per-project multiplication
Hybrid is common: Strapi for the marketing CMS, PocketBase for the app.
The honest bottom line
- Content team publishing content — Strapi.
- Dev team shipping apps on a flat budget — PocketBase Cloud.