Comparing Payload to Contentful as a headless CMS underscores the benefits of open-source over a SaaS counterpart. With Payload, you own your data. With Contentful, you do not—and you will inevitably encounter vendor lock-in.

Schedule a Demo

Payload vs. Contentful: Open source vs. SaaS

Simply put, Payload allows you to build exactly what is needed, without compromising on features you expect from a modern solution.

Compare features	Payload	Contentful
Content management	Standard	Standard
Visual editor	As-you-browse or live preview in admin UI	Live preview in admin UI
A/B testing	Statically-rendered (faster)	Server-rendered (slower)
Customization	Fully customizable	Limited flexibility
Robust SEO	Full control, customizable	Predefined options
Use cases beyond content	Pages, posts, DAM, internal tools	Primarily pages, posts
Data ownership	Self-managed, more control	SaaS-controlled data
API access	Your infrastructure, your rules	Usage limits and throttling apply
AI suite	Content generation + vector embedding	Content generation

The world is moving toward open source. Are you?

In a recent study, 8 out of 10 enterprise decision-makers planned to select open-source platforms like Payload—with 89% finding them more secure than SaaS alternatives.

Start a Project

Schedule a Demo

Truly own your infrastructure

While Contentful confines your data to their servers through its third-party API, Payload delivers you the freedom to store and manage your data on your terms.

Explore Docs

1import { postgresAdapter } from '@payloadcms/db-postgres'
2
3export default buildConfig({
// Your config goes here
collections: [
  // Collections go here
],
// Here is where you pass your database adapter
// and the adapter will require options specific to itself
db: postgresAdapter({
  pool: {
    connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URI,
  }
}),
15})
                        

Enterprise

Best-in-class visual editor

Payload's visual editor empowers marketers to create and edit as they browse, delivering a powerful tool that pairs nicely alongside its first-class developer experience.

Explore Visual Editing

Lower costs at scale

As an open-source platform that can be self-hosted, there are no bandwidth, document, or usage limits within Payload. In Contentful, you may be liable for overages and could even hit usage caps based on your plan.

Since you can choose to self-host Payload, you are in full control over the usage (and costs) of your data.

Explore Docs

1const payload = require("payload");
2const express = require("express");
3const app = express();
4
5// Do whatever you want with your app.
6// Just pass it to Payload and everything
7// will be scoped to Payload routers.
8
9payload.init({
10  secret: "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
11  mongoURL: "mongodb://localhost/payload",
12  express: app,
13});
14
15app.listen(process.env.PORT, () => {
16  console.log(`Application listening on ${3000}...`);
17
18                          

Unmatched flexibility

Contentful’s extensibility is significantly limited when compared to Payload. With Payload, you can extend and add additional functionality however you need, including full customization of the admin panel.

Learn about Hooks

Payload's clean minimal admin panel interface

Native authentication

Payload offers customizable, native authentication, allowing full control and robust access management, unlike Contentful, which requires an external auth provider due to its platform-limited authentication.

Learn about Auth

Custom components

You can completely and easily override Payload views, fields, and more with your own React components. In Contentful, you can only swap out fields, and you need to build custom fields via iframes which is significantly more difficult.

Learn about Components

1import { buildConfig } from 'payload/config'
2
3import {
MyCustomNav,
MyCustomLogo,
MyCustomIcon,
MyCustomAccount,
MyCustomDashboard,
MyProvider,
MyCustomAdminAction,
11} from './customComponents'
12
13export default buildConfig({
admin: {
  components: {
    Nav: MyCustomNav,
    graphics: {
      Icon: MyCustomIcon,
      Logo: MyCustomLogo,
    },
    actions: [MyCustomAdminAction],
    views: {
      Account: MyCustomAccount,
      Dashboard: MyCustomDashboard,
    },
    providers: [MyProvider],
  },
},
29})
                        

With Payload, you can power anything. Or everything.

01

Headless CMS

Create with a minimal, powerful editing experience. Extend effortlessly.

02

Enterprise App Builder

Build modern, sophisticated tools—while saving development costs.

03

Headless Ecommerce

Manage all your content, alongside your products, in a single, powerful editing experience.

04

Digital Asset Management

Ensure brand consistency by seamlessly managing digital assets within your CMS.

Schedule time with us

What we'll talk about:

Dedicated engineering support
Demo of enterprise features, including visual editing and AI
Custom solutions to extend Payload
Influence over the Payload roadmap