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APIs · head to head

Strapi vs Zeplo

Strapi logo

Strapi

APIs

Headless CMS with REST and GraphQL APIs

From
$35/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zeplo logo

Zeplo

APIs

Message queue as a URL prefix, adding retries and delays to any HTTP request

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Zeplo has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Strapi cloud pricing is per project, not per account, so a second project doubles the bill; Zeplo zeplo sits directly in the execution path of your background work, so an outage at a very small vendor means your jobs do not run at all, and there is no published SLA below Enterprise.
  • They diverge on capability: Strapi covers REST API, Zeplo covers URL prefix interface.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Strapi and Zeplo actually diverge.

Attributes where Strapi and Zeplo differ
AttributeStrapiZeplo
Starting price$35/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer month by request count
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsNode.js, Cloud, Self-hosted, DockerWeb, Cloud
Founded2015Unknown

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 Strapi

  • REST API
  • GraphQL API
  • Content management
  • PostgreSQL
  • MySQL
  • MongoDB
  • AWS
  • Webhooks

Only in Zeplo

  • URL prefix interface
  • Retries with backoff
  • Delayed delivery
  • Cron scheduling
  • Concurrency limits
  • Deduplication keys
  • Request logs
  • Team workspaces

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Strapi

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

Zeplo

  • A Vercel or Cloudflare Workers application that needs retried background jobs without deploying a separate always-on workernot Strapi
  • A team that wants a webhook receiver protected by a concurrency limit so a burst does not overwhelm a downstream APInot Strapi
  • A small product needing cron jobs against HTTP endpoints without adding a scheduler to its infrastructurenot Strapi
  • A developer adding idempotent retries to an unreliable third-party API call with a one-line URL changenot Strapi

Where each one falls short

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

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

Zeplo

  • Zeplo sits directly in the execution path of your background work, so an outage at a very small vendor means your jobs do not run at all, and there is no published SLA below Enterprise.
  • The free Developer tier includes only 500 requests a month and one team member, so it is a demonstration allowance rather than a usable free plan for anything real.
  • Overage on the Developer tier is 20 US dollars per 100,000 requests, two hundred times the marginal rate on the Company tier, so exceeding the free allowance without upgrading is expensive.
  • Team members cost 15 US dollars each beyond the plan allowance, which is an odd charge on an infrastructure product billed by request volume.
  • Log retention is 30 days on both published tiers, so anything requiring longer audit trails on job execution has to be logged separately.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Zeplo

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • 500 requests a month included
    • $20 per additional 100,000 requests
    • 1 team member
  • Company$39/month
    • 1,000,000 requests a month included
    • $10 per additional million requests
    • Up to 3 team members
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Volume discounts
    • Custom team size
    • Support with SLA

Which should you pick?

Choose Strapi if

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

Choose Zeplo if

  • You need url prefix interface.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cloud.
  • You also want retries with backoff.
Zeplo review

Questions people ask

Is Strapi or Zeplo better?
Neither clearly leads. Strapi starts at $35/month and Zeplo at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Strapi or Zeplo?
Zeplo has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $35/month for Strapi and Free for Zeplo.
Does Strapi or Zeplo run on more platforms?
Strapi runs on Node.js, Cloud, Self-hosted, Docker. Zeplo runs on Web, Cloud.
Can I use Zeplo for free?
Yes. Zeplo has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Strapi starts at $35/month.
What is Strapi best used for?
Strapi is most often used for running a self hosted headless cms with a rest or graphql api, giving editors a content admin panel over a custom content model. Of those, running a self hosted headless cms with a rest or graphql api and giving editors a content admin panel over a custom content model are not what Zeplo is typically brought in for.
What can Strapi do that Zeplo cannot?
Strapi covers REST API, GraphQL API, Content management, PostgreSQL. Zeplo covers URL prefix interface, Retries with backoff, Delayed delivery, Cron scheduling.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Zeplo: How does Zeplo work?

You prefix your endpoint URL with zeplo.to and add query parameters for retries, delay, cron or concurrency. No SDK or broker is needed.

Strapi: Is yearly billing available?

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

Source
Zeplo: What does it cost?

Free for 500 requests a month; 39 US dollars a month for a million requests, then 10 dollars per additional million.

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
Zeplo: Is it suitable for critical jobs?

It is a small vendor in your execution path with no published SLA below Enterprise, so weigh that against the convenience.

Zeplo: Does it work with serverless platforms?

Yes, that is its main use, covering Vercel, Cloudflare Workers, Netlify and similar environments that lack long-running workers.

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