API Management · head to head
Liveblocks vs Strapi

Liveblocks
API Management
Realtime collaboration infrastructure for building multiplayer features
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Liveblocks on the Free plan, each metered feature has a hard cap and simply pauses when exceeded rather than allowing overage.; Strapi cloud pricing is per project, not per account, so a second project doubles the bill
- They diverge on capability: Liveblocks covers Realtime presence and cursors, Strapi covers REST API.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Liveblocks and Strapi actually diverge.
| Attribute | Liveblocks | Strapi |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | open-source |
| Platforms | web, api | Node.js, Cloud, Self-hosted, Docker |
| Founded | Unknown | 2015 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (API Management).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Liveblocks
- Realtime presence and cursors
- Comments
- Version history
- Custom notifications
- SSO and SOC 2
- Management API
Only in Strapi
- REST API
- GraphQL API
- Content management
- PostgreSQL
- MySQL
- MongoDB
- AWS
- Webhooks
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Liveblocks
- Adding live cursors and presence to a collaborative editornot Strapi
- Building threaded comments on documents or designsnot Strapi
- Sending realtime notifications tied to collaborative actionsnot Strapi
- Restoring previous versions of collaborative contentnot Strapi
Strapi
- Running a self hosted headless CMS with a REST or GraphQL APInot Liveblocks
- Giving editors a content admin panel over a custom content modelnot Liveblocks
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Liveblocks
- On the Free plan, each metered feature has a hard cap and simply pauses when exceeded rather than allowing overage.
- The jump from Pro ($30/month) to Team (starting at $600/month) is steep for teams that outgrow Pro but don't need full Team scale.
- Multi-region hosting and SCIM provisioning are Enterprise-only and require custom pricing.
Strapi
- Cloud pricing is per project, not per account, so a second project doubles the bill
- Starter at $35 a month allows 100,000 API requests, and overage is $1.50 per 25,000
- Extra bandwidth is $30 per 100 GB and extra asset storage $0.60 per GB
- Backups start at the Pro plan, weekly, and only become daily at Business
- An uptime SLA is Business only, at $450 a month per project
- Additional environments cost $60 a month on Pro and $300 a month on Business
Pricing, plan by plan
Liveblocks
Free- FreeFree
- 10 projects
- 3 dashboard seats
- 10 simultaneous connections per room
- Pro$30/month
- $30 monthly credits
- Removes Liveblocks branding
- 3 dashboard seats
- Team$600/month
- SSO and SOC 2
- 10 dashboard seats
- 50 connections/room
Strapi
Free- CommunityFree
- Self-hosted Strapi
- Community support
- Pro$99/monthly
- Cloud hosting
- Advanced features
- Priority support
- Business$undefined/monthly
- Enterprise features
- Custom SLA
- Dedicated support
Which should you pick?
Choose Liveblocks if
- You need realtime presence and cursors.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, api.
- You also want comments.
Choose Strapi if
- You need rest api.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Node.js, Cloud, Self-hosted, Docker.
- You also want graphql api.
Questions people ask
- Is Liveblocks or Strapi better?
- Neither clearly leads. Liveblocks starts at Free and Strapi at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Liveblocks or Strapi?
- Liveblocks starts at Free and Strapi at Free.
- Does Liveblocks or Strapi run on more platforms?
- Liveblocks runs on web, api. Strapi runs on Node.js, Cloud, Self-hosted, Docker.
- Can I use Liveblocks for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Liveblocks best used for?
- Liveblocks is most often used for adding live cursors and presence to a collaborative editor, building threaded comments on documents or designs, sending realtime notifications tied to collaborative actions, restoring previous versions of collaborative content. Of those, adding live cursors and presence to a collaborative editor and building threaded comments on documents or designs are not what Strapi is typically brought in for.
- What can Liveblocks do that Strapi cannot?
- Liveblocks covers Realtime presence and cursors, Comments, Version history, Custom notifications. Strapi covers REST API, GraphQL API, Content management, PostgreSQL.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Liveblocks: What does Liveblocks cost?
Liveblocks offers a Free plan with hard usage caps, a Pro plan at $30/month ($25/month billed annually) including $30 in monthly credits, a Team plan from $600/month, and custom Enterprise pricing.
SourceLiveblocks: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?
Yes, the Free plan includes 10 projects, 3 dashboard seats, 10 simultaneous connections per room, 3,000 collaboration minutes, 200 comments, and 1GB of realtime data storage, with features pausing once a cap is hit.
SourceLiveblocks: How is usage metered?
Paid plans include monthly credits covering collaboration minutes, comments, and storage; usage beyond the credit is billed at metered rates such as $0.002 per collaboration minute and $0.01 per comment, with credits resetting each billing cycle without rollover.
SourceRelated pages
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- Strapi vs Apigee
- Strapi vs Ably
- Strapi vs Pusher
- Strapi vs Kong Gateway
- Strapi vs PubNub
- Strapi vs Treblle
- Strapi vs Apollo GraphQL
- Strapi vs Bruno
- Strapi vs KeystoneJS
- Strapi vs Moesif
- Strapi vs Parse Server
- Strapi vs Stainless
- Strapi vs Stoplight
- Strapi vs Swagger/OpenAPI

