Replace WordPress ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) with Payload

WordPress Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), now Secure Custom Fields, was always a bandaid. With Payload, you get clean, structured data, custom fields in code, and bidirectional relationships. And unlike ACF, it's truly open source.

What is Payload?

Payload is the fastest growing, developer-first headless CMS. Next.js-native and fully TypeScript, it can power anything from enterprise websites to internal applications.

npx create-payload-app@beta

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Truly open source. Not a paid plug-in.

With Payload, custom fields are part of the core—no licensing fees, no extra plugins, just open-source simplicity.

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1import { CollectionConfig } from 'payload/types'
2
3export const Page: CollectionConfig = {
slug: 'pages',
fields: [
  {
    name: 'myField',
    type: 'text', 
  },
  {
    name: 'otherField',
    type: 'checkbox', 
  },
],
15}
                        

Build your schema in code, and depart restrictive "click-ops"

Skip the endless UI clicks. In Payload, you define your schema entirely in code, reducing overhead and ensuring consistency across your project.

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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                          

Bidirectional relationships

Payload includes developer-friendly capabilities like bidirectional relationships that aren’t available in WordPress ACF.

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bidirectional relationships table showing books assigned to an individual author

No more bloated wp_posts table

Payload gives your data proper structure, with each collection in its own table—no more cramming everything into a single bloated table.

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Build beyond WordPress

Payload is the fully open-source alternative to WordPress.

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npx create-payload-app