Compile strapi project to better fit storage requirements

If I understood it correctly, I require all the files that are generated via the setup of strapi. And then I can run strapi either with the provided npm command or a server.js file. However, with Including my own content data structures the whole folder roughly amounts to 400MB (including node_modules). It does generate a builds folder, but from what I have gathered it only includes the frontend.
Is there a way to compile it down to the minimal size so I can use it in a server with strict storage limits? So instead of having to install all dependencies via npm and such I just put the compiled files in a folder and execute the server via node server.js or similar?

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