Interesting feedback. But I strongly disagree. Just my two cents: Strapi is not “just” a CMS. It’s a valid foundation for all kinds of use cases, which includes serving as a backend for SPA/WebApps.
For me Strapi is so much more than just Node.js and Express. That is comparing apples and oranges.
I am happily using Strapi for several projects as the application back office, including:
- Data provider for NextJS
- Newsletter Management (Several pools/sources/lists, authoring and bulk sending w/ scheduling etc.)
- Custom CRM solution
- Custom Management and Analytics solution for plugins for Adobe Creative Cloud
- etc.
For me strapi is not an overcomplicated infrastructure. I can setup a new instance in 15min on Digital Ocean and Mongo Atlas. For example. Then I have a admin backoffice with a clean UI, REST/GraphQL support, data modeling with components, relations and even dynamic zones, and a robust authentication system.
Sure if you don’t need all this then vanilla nodejs+express is a valid choice, too. But I don’t want to miss all the Strapi goodness that increases productivity (and stability) a lot for me…
Sure strapi is still very young and I have a long list of feature requests, but that is another story ;D
Again. This is just my personal opinion. And it should always be: Chose the right tool for the right job!