Simplify your stack and build anything. Or everything.

USE CASES

Headless CMS Enterprise App Builder Headless E-Commerce Digital Asset Management

FEATURES

Multi-Tenancy White Label Localization Access Control Auth

CASE STUDIES

See what others are building with Payload.

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Build tomorrow’s web with a modern solution you truly own.

PAYLOAD IS FOR

Developers Marketing teams Enterprise companies Agencies & Consultancies

COMPARE PAYLOAD

Payload vs WordPress Payload vs Contentful Payload vs Sanity Payload vs Strapi Payload vs Directus

AGENCY TESTIMONIAL

"Payload has transformed the way our clients manage content. It's an indispensable tool for any modern agency."

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Code-based nature means you can build on top of it to power anything.

Resources

Documentation Examples Templates GitHub Releases Blog

Community

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Payload Cloud

Deploy your entire stack in one place with Payload Cloud.

It’s time to take back your content infrastructure.

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Enterprise Features

SSO AI Auto-Embedding Publishing Workflows Visual Editor Static A/B testing AI features

Customer Stories

Microsoft Blue Origin Hello Bello Mythical Society Tekton

Featured Customer Story

Microsoft chose Payload to tell the world about AI.

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WordPress

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The modern alternative to headless WordPress

Built on Next.js, Payload is a next-generation CMS compared to Wordpress. It is hyperfocused on a superior developer experience with better security.

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Building with Payload can be done quickly and effectively, thanks to its code-based customization and developer-friendly features.

Sowmya Reddy Peta, Engineer

Leave yesterday's technology in the past

Headless by nature, Payload is config-based and purpose-built, delivering GraphQL and local node APIs out-of-box, along with unmatched flexibility.

Don't Frankenstein WordPress. Lean on Payload to power anything you can think of.

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Payload vs WordPress

Enterprise

Point, click, edit.

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

Use Payload Visual Editing to update rich text, relationships, media, and more

Define your schema in code

With Payload, your content schema is defined directly in code—no more "click ops." Enjoy full control over your data structures, relationships, and logic without the limitations of a GUI like WordPress Advanced Custom Fields (ACF).

Explore Docs

1import { buildConfig } from 'payload/config';
2
3export default buildConfig({
collections: [
  {
    slug: 'posts',
    fields: [
      {
        name: 'title',
        type: 'text',
        required: true,
      },
      {
        name: 'content',
        type: 'richText',
      },
      {
        name: 'author',
        type: 'relationship',
        relationTo: 'authors',
      },
      {
        name: 'publishedDate',
        type: 'date',
      },
    ],
  },
],
29});
30
                        

Customize 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.

It's simple yet significantly more powerful than working with WordPress user roles.

Explore Docs

1const Orders = {
// ...
access: {
  create: () => true, // Everyone can create
  read: ({ req: { user } }) => {
    if (user) {
      return { // Users can only read their own
        owner: { equals: user.id, },
      };
    }
11
    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
},
21};
22
                        

Built-in localization

Unlike WordPress, Payload natively offers localization down to the field level. Alongside i18n support, get robust internationalization and localization capability without the hassle of managing multiple plugins.

Explore Docs

1import { buildConfig } from 'payload/config'
2
3export default buildConfig({
collections: [
  // collections go here
],
localization: {
  locales: [
    {
      label: {
        en: 'English', // English label
        nb: 'Engelsk', // Norwegian label
      },
      code: 'en',
    },
    {
      label: {
        en: 'Norwegian', // English label
        nb: 'Norsk', // Norwegian label
      },
      code: 'nb',
    },
  ],
  defaultLocale: 'en',
  fallback: true,
},
                        

Extend your admin UI with ease

The WordPress dashboard is mess of jQuery, React, and PHP. Payload's admin UI is fast, minimal, and most important of all, completely extensible in React.

Explore Docs

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})
                        

Meet every security standard

WordPress is the most commonly targeted CMS and its plugins can expose you to endless vulnerabilities. Payload comes instantly more secure and supports features like SSO, HTTP-only cookies, CSRF protection, rate limiting, and more.

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Config-Based vs "Plugins"

In WordPress, you might combine three or four plugins just to add post types, meaning you need to manually migrate changes between environments. With Payload, you write your schema in code, version control it, and migrate changes easily.

Explore Docs

1import { buildConfig } from 'payload/config';
2import { mongooseAdapter } from '@payloadcms/db-mongodb';
3import { viteBundler } from '@payloadcms/bundler-vite';
4import { lexicalEditor } from '@payloadcms/richtext-lexical';
5
6export default buildConfig({
7  admin: { bundler: viteBundler() },
8  db: mongooseAdapter({}),
9  editor: lexicalEditor({}),
10  collections: [{
11    slug: 'pages',
12    fields: [
13      { name: 'title', type: 'text', required: true },
14      { name: 'content', type: 'richText', required: true },
15    ],
16  }],
17  globals: [{
18    slug: 'header',
19    fields: [{ name: 'nav', type: 'array', relationTo: 'pages' }],
20  }],
21});
22
23                          

Next.js vs PHP

Written top-to-bottom in TypeScript, Payload harnesses Next.js for top-tier performance and scalability, with the option to build on Express. With WordPress, you're stuck writing outdated PHP.

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