# ButterCMS vs Strapi

> Strapi scores 65.7 (B) to ButterCMS's 53.3 (D) for content management. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-strapi
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-strapi.md (~2,400 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-strapi.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-strapi.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Strapi scores 65.7 (B) on agent readiness against ButterCMS's 53.3 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do content management.

- ButterCMS: grade D, 53.3/100, rank #711 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/buttercms.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/buttercms.json
- Strapi: grade B, 65.7/100, rank #312 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/strapi.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/strapi.json
- Best headless CMS and website publishing for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/cms/index.md
- All 91 cms comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cms/index.md

## Which one, for what

### ButterCMS (D)

Good for: A team already on a paid ButterCMS plan that wants an agent to draft and publish pages, collection items and blog posts in small volumes.

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: The Write API is a paid add-on on Advanced ($249 a month) and Professional ($399), capped at 2,000 and 5,000 write calls a month. Its price is not published

### Strapi (B)

Good for: Teams that want to own their CMS and let an agent draft, localise and publish entries under a narrow token.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 66 against 36
- Payments & pricing, 50 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 27
- Transparency & trust, 72 against 51

Also in its favour:
- Open source

Watch for: Content History keeps no version for REST, GraphQL or MCP writes, and exists only on Growth and Enterprise plans


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | ButterCMS | Strapi | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 83 | 82 | ButterCMS +1 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 80 | Strapi +2 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 64 | 65 | Strapi +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 36 | 66 | Strapi +30 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 50 | Strapi +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 27 | 87 | Strapi +60 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 51 | 72 | Strapi +21 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -6 | |
| **Total** | | **53.3 · D** | **65.7 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | ButterCMS | Strapi |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | ButterCMS LLC | Strapi, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.buttercms.com/v2` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under ButterCMS's terms of service. The SDKs and starter projects on GitHub are MIT | MIT for the Community Edition. Code under ee/ directories is under Strapi's Enterprise Edition licence, and Strapi Cloud is a paid service under its own terms |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2025-09-04 | 2026-10-07 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-10-07 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2022-08-15 | 2023-03-01 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | 6.9k npm/wk | 73k stars, 259k npm/wk |

## Verdicts

**ButterCMS.** The Read and Write APIs have a public OpenAPI 3.1 file, Markdown docs and a status page with no incident since October 2025. The Write API is a paid add-on from the $249 plan, capped at 2,000 or 5,000 calls a month. Writes answer 202 with no identifier, support rotates tokens, and the terms are an undated website document.

**Strapi.** The built-in MCP server shows an agent only the tools, fields and locales its Admin token permits, and content tools create drafts by default. Rollback is the limit. Content History is a paid feature and records admin panel edits only, so API and MCP writes leave no version to restore, and the MCP server can't upload files.

## Before you call either

### ButterCMS

1. End every path with a slash. A missing slash returns a 301, and the vendor counts the redirect and the retry as two API calls
2. Send the write token only as `Authorization: Token <token>`. The `auth_token` query parameter works for reads only
3. On page creation send every field key of the page type, with empty strings for fields left blank
4. A 202 means queued, not saved. Read the entry back with `preview=1` to confirm, and check a slug exists before retrying a create
5. Call the REST API directly for writes. The JavaScript SDK 3.0.3 has list, retrieve and search methods only

### Strapi

1. Pass `status=draft` on every REST POST and PUT. Without it the Content API publishes the entry at once
2. Use an Admin token for `/mcp` and admin routes and an API token for `/api`. Each kind is rejected on the other's routes
3. Upload files with multipart POST to `/api/upload` first, then reference the returned file id in the entry. MCP tools can't upload
4. Call `media_delete_assets` and `media_delete_folder` without `dryRun` first to preview, and take asset ids only from `media_list_assets`
5. Keep your own copy of an entry before updating it. API and MCP writes create no Content History version

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, ButterCMS or Strapi?

Strapi scores 65.7 (B) on agent readiness against ButterCMS's 53.3 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Do ButterCMS and Strapi need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call ButterCMS and Strapi without installing anything?

ButterCMS has a hosted endpoint at https://api.buttercms.com/v2. No hosted endpoint is listed for Strapi.

### Are ButterCMS and Strapi open source?

No open-source release is listed for ButterCMS. Strapi is open source (MIT for the Community Edition. Code under ee/ directories is under Strapi's Enterprise Edition licence, and Strapi Cloud is a paid service under its own terms).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-strapi.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-strapi.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "buttercms", "b": "strapi"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare buttercms strapi`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/buttercms.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/strapi.json

## Other comparisons with ButterCMS or Strapi

- [ButterCMS vs Contentstack](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-contentstack.md)
- [ButterCMS vs DatoCMS](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-datocms.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Directus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-directus.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Ghost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-ghost.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Hygraph](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-hygraph.md)
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- [ButterCMS vs Payload](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-payload.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Prismic](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-prismic.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Sanity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-sanity.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-storyblok.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Webflow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-webflow.md)
- [ButterCMS vs WordPress](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-wordpress.md)
- [Contentstack vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/contentstack-vs-strapi.md)
- [DatoCMS vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/datocms-vs-strapi.md)
- [Directus vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-strapi.md)
- [Ghost vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-strapi.md)
- [Hygraph vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hygraph-vs-strapi.md)
- [Kontent.ai vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kontent-ai-vs-strapi.md)
- [Payload vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-strapi.md)
- [Prismic vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prismic-vs-strapi.md)
- [Sanity vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sanity-vs-strapi.md)
- [Storyblok vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/storyblok-vs-strapi.md)
- [Strapi vs Webflow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/strapi-vs-webflow.md)
- [Strapi vs WordPress](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/strapi-vs-wordpress.md)