Most calls about Strapi come from one of three places: a project stuck on Strapi 4 that needs Strapi 5, a plugin nobody on the team wants to touch, or a content API that returns too much and answers slowly. A Strapi developer from us has shipped self-hosted projects and knows where the defaults hurt.
What a Strapi developer does for you
- Upgrading from Strapi 4 to 5, including the response shape, document identifiers and the Document Service changes in custom code.
- Writing custom plugins, policies, controllers and lifecycle logic for things the Marketplace does not cover.
- Tuning the content API: population rules, field selection, pagination and indexes, so a list page does not load a whole tree.
- Setting roles and permissions that match your editors and your frontend clients.
- Deploying and operating Strapi: Docker images, a database that is not SQLite, media storage on object storage, and a path from staging to production.
- Connecting a frontend, usually Next.js, with preview and revalidation on publish.
How we vet Strapi engineers
- Candidates know that nested populate is the main source of slow Strapi responses and can show how they restrict it per endpoint.
- Content type changes are files, and the database must follow. They explain how a change travels from a laptop to production without losing data.
- They have read a plugin’s code to see whether it survives a major version, and can fork or replace it.
- They understand the difference between a draft and a published version of the same document and test preview flows against it.
- They size the Node process, set up a reverse proxy and think about uploads, since Strapi stores media locally by default.
We ask each candidate to walk through an upgrade they ran, including what broke afterwards.
The first month on a Strapi project
Week one: repository, staging, and a read of the schema, custom code and plugin list. Week two: a written plan that names the risky parts, such as plugins without Strapi 5 support or controllers relying on removed APIs. By the end of the month the first change is live. On an upgrade project that is the backend on Strapi 5 behind the compatibility header so your frontend keeps working. On a feature project it is the first endpoint or plugin, reviewed in a pull request.
Engagement options
One dedicated Strapi developer works well when you have a lead and a backlog. IT staff augmentation suits a larger group that needs more Node.js capacity. A dedicated team makes sense if the CMS and the frontend should have one owner. Hourly rates run between $50 and $150 for different roles and levels, and the exact figure comes after an intro call. Someone starts once the call and the stack match are done.
Who gets the most from a Strapi developer
Teams with a Node.js background who want to own hosting and data get the most from Strapi. The admin panel is approachable for editors, and the code is easy for a JavaScript developer to read. The trade is that you run it: upgrades, backups, media storage and performance tuning are your responsibility, or ours if you want that. If nobody on your side wants to operate a Node service, a hosted platform may be less work.
If you need the whole project
Our Strapi development services cover the full process and the Strapi 4 to 5 upgrade table. If you are comparing options, Strapi against Payload is the closest match for self-hosted teams. For the frontend side, you can hire a Next.js developer alongside. Other platforms sit under hire a headless CMS developer.
