CMS comparison Progress Sitefinity vs Strapi

Progress Sitefinity vs Strapi

Progress Sitefinity is a closed-source enterprise DXP that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. Strapi is an open-source headless CMS that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 13.

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Progress Sitefinity Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 22 of 28 built in
Strapi Headless · Open source · 15 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Progress Sitefinity on 29 Sept 2026, Strapi on 29 Sept 2026. Plans and releases can change after those dates.

WAYF is an official Payload partner and top contributor. Every platform in the table is classified by the same published definitions, and each answer lists the vendor page it came from.

Feature comparison

Built inPaid tierPlugin or add-onLimitedNot available

Progress Sitefinity vs Strapi feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Progress Sitefinity Enterprise DXP	Strapi Headless
Overview
What it is	Progress's .NET CMS and DXP for websites, run self-hosted or on the Sitefinity Cloud PaaS, with ASP.NET Core and Next.js renderers.	Open-source Node.js headless CMS with a visual content-type builder, self-hosted or run on Strapi Cloud. Paid plans add governance features.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Sitefinity CMS 15.4 DX edition, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud Version 15.4.8639, released 29 Sept 2026	Strapi 5 CMS, free Community edition with paid Growth and Enterprise plans for self-hosted projects Version 5.55.1, released 24 Sept 2026
Vendor	Progress Software progress.com	Strapi strapi.io
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Open source MIT
Hosting	Self-hosting Vendor cloud	Self-hosting Vendor cloud Strapi Cloud removed its free plan in 2026. Hosting starts at the Starter plan.
Built with	.NET, ASP.NET Core and Next.js renderers	TypeScript, Node.js, React
Database	Microsoft SQL Server	PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	No free option Pricing on request. DX and DX+Enterprise editions, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud.	Free to start Community free. Growth $45 per month with 3 seats, then $15 per seat. Cloud from $35 per project per month.
Content modelling
Content model in code You define content types in files in your repository, review them like any other code and apply them from there. Imperative migration scripts alone count as limited.	Built in Export for deployment writes module and field changes to files for source control. 3	Built in Content types are schema.json files in the project. 19
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Built in Module Builder.	Built in Content-type Builder works in development mode only. 16
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in Page editor widgets.	Built in Components and dynamic zones. 2 16
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language.	Built in Multilingual content per item.	Built in
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service.	Built in Resize through URL parameters and thumbnail profiles. 4	Built in Generates small, medium and large sizes on upload. No crops on request. 15
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in OData REST web services. 5	Built in 2
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in GraphQL on the web services layer. 6	Plugin or add-on Official GraphQL plugin. 14
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in Service hooks with a webhook action, available on all licences. 7	Built in 2 18
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no.	Built in ASP.NET Core, Next.js or legacy MVC renderers. 1	Not available
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then.	Built in	Built in Draft & Publish. 2
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Built in Scheduled publish and unpublish per item. 9	Paid tier Growth plan, by scheduling a Release. 6
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in Revision history.	Paid tier Content History keeps 14 days on Growth, 30 to 90 days on Enterprise. 7
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in	Built in Basic preview is free. Side-by-side Live Preview needs Growth. 5
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it.	Built in Page editor with widgets.	Paid tier On Growth, editors double-click content in Live Preview to edit it. 5
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Built in One or two approval levels, or a custom workflow. 8	Paid tier Review Workflows on Enterprise. 9
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Not available Publishing and scheduling work per item. 9	Paid tier Releases on Growth and Enterprise. 6
Real-time co-editing Two or more editors can work on the same entry at once and see each other's changes live.	Not available Pages lock while another user edits them. 10	Not available
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Built in 11	Built in Unlimited admin roles on Community. 2 8
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Limited Module Builder types only, in the classic editing UI. Built-in content types have none. 12	Built in 8
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Built in OpenID Connect and external providers such as Azure AD. 13	Paid tier Enterprise, or a $150 per month add-on on Growth. 2 11
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log.	Paid tier DX + Enterprise includes Audit Trail. Progress sells it as an add-on for DX. 14 2	Paid tier Enterprise plan. 10
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Built in Multisite with shared content and per-site permissions. 15	Not available
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface.	Built in Custom fields, widgets and AdminApp extensions.	Built in 20
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Sitefinity integrations directory. 16	Built in Strapi Marketplace. 2
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Built in Forms module with a drag-and-drop builder.	Not available
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Built in Front-end users with registration and login widgets.	Built in Users & Permissions feature for end users. 17
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content.	Plugin or add-on Sitefinity AI subscription for text generation and agents. 17	Paid tier AI translation and image alt text on Growth. Not yet available on Enterprise. 2 12
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Plugin or add-on Sitefinity MCP Server, 15.4.8633 or later, needs a Sitefinity AI subscription. 18	Built in Built in. Developers switch it on in the server config. 13

Progress Sitefinity sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Sitefinity CMS 15.4 DX edition, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud.

Strapi sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Strapi 5 CMS, free Community edition with paid Growth and Enterprise plans for self-hosted projects.

Considering more platforms? Compare Progress Sitefinity and Strapi with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Progress Sitefinity and Strapi get a different status on 13 of the 28 features and the same status on 15. Progress Sitefinity has 22 built in on its baseline edition, Strapi has 15. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Licence: Progress Sitefinity is closed source (Proprietary). Strapi is open source (MIT).
Free option: Progress Sitefinity has no free option. Strapi has a free option.

Built in on Progress Sitefinity, a different answer on Strapi 9

GraphQL API Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Strapi: Plugin or add-on.
Renders the website Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Strapi: Not available.
Scheduled publishing Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Strapi: Paid tier.
Version history Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Strapi: Paid tier.
Visual editing Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Strapi: Paid tier.
Approval workflows Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Strapi: Paid tier.
Single sign-on Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Strapi: Paid tier.
Multiple sites Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Strapi: Not available.
Form builder Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Strapi: Not available.

Built in on Strapi, a different answer on Progress Sitefinity 2

Field-level permissions Progress Sitefinity: Limited. Strapi: Built in.
Official MCP server Progress Sitefinity: Plugin or add-on. Strapi: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 2

Content releases Progress Sitefinity: Not available. Strapi: Paid tier.
AI writing assistant Progress Sitefinity: Plugin or add-on. Strapi: Paid tier.

More comparisons

Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: Strapi vs Payload.

Progress Sitefinity against other platforms

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