From Strapi to Tina CMS

We are the Strapi to Tina CMS migration experts

Challenges with Strapi

Key pain points

Strapi has a fan club because it’s self-hosted, which sounds great until you realise that means you are now responsible for every update, every backup, every scaling issue, and every “why is the server down again?” moment.

Wouldn’t it be easier to use a cloud infrastructure that just… scales, instead of babysitting infra at midnight? And having to maintain a Node.js environment for your content editors is completely unnecessary pain, in our opinion.

It also isn’t exactly friendly for non-technical teams. If you don’t have solid developer talent, the learning curve hits hard, and even simple customisations can turn into “let’s build this from scratch” moments. Plugins help, but not always, and you’ll quickly run into gaps that require custom development. Add the lack of traditional CMS features out of the box, and setup time (and costs) spiral fast.

If you're set on Strapi, fine! Just let us look at it first so we can tell you whether it's actually doable or whether you're about to become a full-time system admin by accident.

Steep learning curve

Strapi looks simple at first, then politely reminds you it’s a developer-first tool. Non-technical teams usually hit a wall long before they hit publish.

Node.js knowledge required

If your team, especially your content team, doesn’t speak Node.js, prepare for a few “so… what does this error mean?” moments. Strapi assumes you’re comfortable under the hood.

Limited traditional CMS features

Things that come out-of-the-box in classic CMSs often need custom setup here. If you’re expecting plug-and-play page building, Strapi is not for you.

Custom development needs

If you need anything slightly beyond the basics, it quickly drifts into “can we ask a developer to build this?” territory. Great for flexibility, not so great for speed.

Plugin limitations

The plugin ecosystem is growing, but not everything works flawlessly, and some gaps still require hand-rolled solutions, which means more dev time than you planned.

Cost-efficiency concerns

Sure, Strapi is free… until you factor in hosting, DevOps, scaling, and ongoing maintenance. “Open-source” doesn’t always mean “cheap.”

Benefits of Tina CMS

Key advantages

Tina CMS has a genuinely compelling core idea: real-time visual editing backed by Git. Instead of your content living in some opaque database, every change becomes a Git commit. For developer teams that already live in Git, this feels natural. The local development workflow is solid too — you can iterate on schema and content simultaneously, merge everything in a single commit, and keep your content pipeline tightly coupled with your codebase. That's a meaningful advantage over CMS platforms that treat content as a completely separate concern.

The inline editing experience is where Tina really shines. Content editors can see their changes in context on the actual live site, which dramatically reduces the feedback loop between "I changed something" and "here's what it looks like." For marketing teams and content creators who are tired of editing fields in a dashboard and then previewing on a separate URL, this is a breath of fresh air. It bridges the gap between developer-friendly and editor-friendly in a way that most headless CMS platforms don't even attempt.

Since going fully open-source under Apache 2.0 and being acquired by SSW, the self-hosting story has improved significantly. You can run your own backend with your own database and auth, which gives you more control than relying on TinaCloud. If you're building a Next.js or React-based project and want a CMS that lives close to your code, Tina is worth serious consideration. If you want help evaluating whether Tina fits your stack, or you're looking at alternatives, we're happy to chat.

Real-time visual editing

Editors can make changes directly on the live site with instant visual feedback. This is genuinely one of the best inline editing experiences in the headless CMS space.

Git-backed content workflow

Every content change becomes a Git commit, so your content versioning, branching, and collaboration all flow through the same tools your developers already use.

Schema defined in code

Content models are defined in your codebase alongside your components, keeping your content structure and frontend tightly aligned and version-controlled.

Strong local development experience

You can develop locally with full CMS functionality, iterate on schema and content together, and push everything in a single commit. No cloud dependency during development.

Markdown and MDX support

Tina works natively with markdown and MDX files, making it a natural fit for documentation sites, blogs, and any project that already uses file-based content.

Fully open-source and self-hostable

The entire backend is open-source under Apache 2.0. You can self-host with your own database, auth, and Git provider, giving you full control over your content infrastructure.