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Finally, a CMS that works the way you do.

No black magic, all TypeScript, and fully open-source.

npx create-payload-app

sean sean

“CMS” doesn’t have to be a bad word.

Code-first by design, Payload provides solutions—not roadblocks.

App frameworks give you a backend, but lack CMS-grade admin UI. Payload gives you both.

Its extensibility allows it to power everything from enterprise websites to native apps, and everything in between.

Step 01
Write a TypeScript config.
Dead simple to learn
Build and organize it how you want
Check it into Git and version control
Share code between projects
Config docs
payload.config.ts
import { buildConfig } from 'payload';
import { Customers, Media, Products, Orders } from './collections';
import { MainMenu, Footer, SocialMedia } from './globals';

export default buildConfig({
collections: [
Admins,
Media,
Products,
Orders,
],
globals: [
MainMenu,
Footer,
SocialMedia
],
});
Step 02
Boom—you've got a CMS.
Everything is dynamic and based on your config. No code generation, so no breaking changes when we update. Extend anything.
01
Database
Get a perfectly clean, reusable schema that scales with you. Fully portable and not Payload-specific.
02
API
Powerful and reusable REST, GraphQL and Local Node APIs to power the backend of any project.
03
Admin UI
A CMS-grade editor generated for you, but still completely extensible in React. White-label, swap in your own components, and more.
Step 03
Now make use of Payload's power to build whatever you dream up.
Every single part of Payload is meant to be extensible. Out of the box, it delivers incredible power with minimal effort, but its code-based nature means that you can build on top of it to power anything you can imagine.
Self-hosted
Keep full control over your Express app.
Nothing is imposed on the structure of your app. Just initialize Payload and pass it your Express app. Maintain your own functionality outside of Payload.
Learn how
const payload = require('payload');
const express = require('express');

const app = express();

// Do whatever you want with your app.
// Just pass it to Payload and everything
// will be scoped to Payload routers.

payload.init({
secret: 'XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX',
mongoURL: 'mongodb://localhost/payload',
express: app,
});

app.listen(process.env.PORT, () => {
console.log(`Application listening on ${3000}...`);
});

Access Control
Extremely powerful function-based access control.
Secure your data by writing access control functions based on either a document or field level. Build out your own RBAC or any access control pattern you need.
More on access control
const Orders = {
// ...
access: {
create: () => true, // Everyone can create
read: ({ req: { user } }) => {
if (user) {
return { // Users can only read their own
owner: { equals: user.id, },
};
}

return false; // Not logged in? Can't read any
},
update: ({ req: { user } }) => {
// Only Admins can update Orders
if (user.roles.includes('admin')) return true;
return false;
},
delete: () => false, // No one can delete
},
};

20+ Field Components
Make use of 20 built-in field types.
Payload’s field types are far and away more robust than any other headless CMS out there. Dynamic fields like Arrays and Blocks unlock incredible potential while purpose-built fields like Relationship and GeoJSON allow for incredibly flexible data modeling.
See all fields
Extend with Hooks
Extend everything Payload does with Hooks.
Both document and field-level hooks expose a ton of potential. Customize output, sanitize incoming data, or easily integrate with third-party platforms. The pattern is extremely powerful.
Learn about Hooks
const Customers = {
// ...
hooks: {
beforeChange: [
// Before the Customer is created or updated,
// sync it to Hubspot
syncCustomerToHubspot,
],
afterChange: [
// Send the new Customer a welcome email
// after it's successfully created
sendWelcomeEmail,
],
afterRead: [
// Dynamically append user's active subscriptions
// straight from Stripe
addStripeSubscriptions,
],
},
};

Custom React Components
Swap in your own React components.
Want to add a view to the Admin UI? Simple. How about building a custom field type? Or maybe swap in your client’s branding? Every high-level component in the Admin dashboard is easily swappable with your own React component. Customize existing views or field types—or even add your own routes—with an extremely intuitive API.
Learn how