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APIs · head to head

Spring Cloud Gateway vs Strapi

Spring Cloud Gateway logo

Spring Cloud Gateway

APIs

API gateway built on Project Reactor for building microservices

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Strapi logo

Strapi

APIs

Headless CMS with REST and GraphQL APIs

From
$35/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Spring Cloud Gateway has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Spring Cloud Gateway released under the Apache 2.0 license, free and open source with no commercial tier; Strapi cloud pricing is per project, not per account, so a second project doubles the bill
  • They diverge on capability: Spring Cloud Gateway covers Routing, Strapi covers REST API.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Spring Cloud Gateway and Strapi actually diverge.

Attributes where Spring Cloud Gateway and Strapi differ
AttributeSpring Cloud GatewayStrapi
Starting priceFree$35/month
Pricing modelopen-sourcesubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsJava, Spring BootNode.js, Cloud, Self-hosted, Docker
Founded19982015

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (APIs).

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 Spring Cloud Gateway

  • Routing
  • Path Rewriting
  • Circuit Breaker
  • Spring Boot
  • Spring Security
  • Spring Cloud
  • Java support
  • Spring Boot support

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.

Spring Cloud Gateway

  • API Developmentnot Strapi
  • API Gatewaynot Strapi
  • API Testingnot Strapi
  • API Documentationnot Strapi
  • Microservicesnot Strapi

Strapi

  • Running a self hosted headless CMS with a REST or GraphQL APInot Spring Cloud Gateway
  • Giving editors a content admin panel over a custom content modelnot Spring Cloud Gateway

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Spring Cloud Gateway

  • Released under the Apache 2.0 license, free and open source with no commercial tier

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

Spring Cloud Gateway

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Core Spring Cloud Gateway
    • Community support

Strapi

$35/month
  • Starter$35/month
    • 100k API requests
    • 50 GB asset storage
    • 50 GB asset bandwidth
  • Pro$90/month
    • 1M API requests
    • 250 GB asset storage
    • 500 GB asset bandwidth
  • Business$450/month
    • 10M API requests
    • 1000 GB asset storage
    • 1000 GB asset bandwidth

Which should you pick?

Choose Spring Cloud Gateway if

  • You need routing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Java, Spring Boot.
  • You also want path rewriting.
Spring Cloud Gateway review

Choose Strapi if

  • You need rest api.
  • You work on Node.js, Cloud, Self-hosted, Docker.
  • You also want graphql api.
Strapi review

Questions people ask

Is Spring Cloud Gateway or Strapi better?
Neither clearly leads. Spring Cloud Gateway starts at Free and Strapi at $35/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Spring Cloud Gateway or Strapi?
Spring Cloud Gateway has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Spring Cloud Gateway and $35/month for Strapi.
Does Spring Cloud Gateway or Strapi run on more platforms?
Spring Cloud Gateway runs on Java, Spring Boot. Strapi runs on Node.js, Cloud, Self-hosted, Docker.
Can I use Spring Cloud Gateway for free?
Yes. Spring Cloud Gateway has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Strapi starts at $35/month.
What is Spring Cloud Gateway best used for?
Spring Cloud Gateway is most often used for api development, api gateway, api testing, api documentation. Of those, api development and api gateway are not what Strapi is typically brought in for.
What can Spring Cloud Gateway do that Strapi cannot?
Spring Cloud Gateway covers Routing, Path Rewriting, Circuit Breaker, Spring Boot. Strapi covers REST API, GraphQL API, Content management, PostgreSQL.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Spring Cloud Gateway: Is Spring Cloud Gateway free?

Yes, Spring Cloud Gateway is free and open-source software. It is part of the Spring ecosystem and available through GitHub repositories with open-source dependencies like spring-cloud-starter-gateway-server-webflux and spring-cloud-starter-gateway-server-webmvc.

Source
Strapi: How much do API request overages cost?

Additional API requests beyond the plan limit cost $1.50 per 25000 requests. Extra asset storage costs $0.60 per GB, and additional bandwidth costs $30 per 100 GB.

Source
Spring Cloud Gateway: What enterprise support is available for Spring Cloud Gateway?

Tanzu Spring provides optional enterprise support including Day 0 access to security patches for organizations requiring guaranteed support, but specific pricing is not published on the Spring Cloud Gateway project page.

Source
Strapi: Is yearly billing available?

Yes, yearly billing saves up to 17% compared to monthly billing on Strapi Cloud plans.

Source
Strapi: What is included with the Pro plan?

The Pro plan costs $90 per month per project and includes 1M API requests, 250 GB asset storage, 500 GB bandwidth, multi-environment support, weekly backups, and manual backups.

Source
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