Payload CMS — Pricing & Engagement Costs
Payload CMS Is Free.Building It Right Is Not.
Payload CMS itself is open source and costs nothing to license. What businesses actually pay for is the architecture, implementation, and expertise to make it work. This page breaks down both.
Principal-led engagements. Maximum 3 active clients. Germany, Austria, UK, US.
The software answer
Payload CMS has no licensing fee.
Payload CMS is MIT-licensed and free to self-host. There is no monthly software fee, no per-seat cost, and no API call pricing. You download it, you own it, you deploy it anywhere Next.js runs. The codebase is public.
The cost of a Payload CMS project comes from infrastructure (servers, database, storage), development time to build and configure the system, and ongoing maintenance. That is what this page actually covers.
Payload CMS license fee
$0
Open source license
MIT
On any Node.js-compatible host
Self-hostable
The real question isn't what Payload costs. It's what it costs to build and run it well.
Cost drivers
What actually determines what a Payload CMS project costs
No two Payload CMS projects cost the same because no two systems have the same scope. The factors below are what drive real project cost — not the software license, which is always zero.
1. Content architecture complexity
How many collections, fields, access control rules, and relationships your system needs. A marketing site with 3 content types costs a fraction of a multi-tenant platform with 20+ collections, localization, and custom admin UI.
2. Integrations
Every third-party system you connect — CRM, e-commerce platform, analytics, email, ERP — adds discovery, design, and implementation time. Shopify, Stripe, HubSpot, Salesforce each have their own integration cost profile.
3. Multi-tenancy
If you need a single Payload installation to serve multiple brands, regions, or clients with isolated data and separate admin access, the architecture is fundamentally different from a single-tenant site.
4. AI capabilities
Adding semantic search, RAG (retrieval-augmented generation), vector indexing, or an AI chatbot layer requires additional infrastructure design, embedding pipelines, and testing. This is not a checkbox — it is a system design problem.
5. Localization and internationalization
Supporting multiple languages across content, URLs, admin UI, and automated translation workflows multiplies content modeling complexity. The more markets, the more surface area.
6. Migration from an existing CMS
Moving from WordPress, Contentful, Sanity, Strapi, or a custom system requires data mapping, content transformation scripts, SEO preservation work, and a phased rollout strategy. The older and messier the source, the more it costs.
7. Infrastructure and hosting setup
A production-grade Payload deployment requires decisions about hosting provider, database provider, object storage, CDN, caching, and backup strategy. Setting this up correctly the first time avoids expensive fixes later.
8. Ongoing maintenance and evolution
After launch, the system needs dependency updates, content model adjustments as the business changes, performance optimization, and occasional Payload version migrations. This is recurring cost, not a one-time event.
These factors stack. A straightforward marketing site and a multi-market e-commerce platform are both "Payload CMS projects" — but they are entirely different scopes.
Migrating from an existing CMS? See the full migration guide for how content complexity, SEO work, and cutover strategy affect scope.
Engagement types
Three ways to engage
Each engagement shape reflects a different starting point. All three are principal-led — no handoffs, no juniors, no parallel teams.
Pillar 1
Payload CMS Websites
From $15,000
End-to-end design and build of a Payload CMS website that acts as business infrastructure — not just a marketing page. Includes content architecture, admin UI configuration, AI and automation layers, integrations, and launch.
Best for: founders and operators who need a new website built correctly from the ground up.
See what's includedPillar 2
Bespoke AI Applications
From $5,000
Custom internal systems where AI is part of the operational machinery — not a user-facing chatbot. Built for teams where the problem is internal friction, data silos, or workflows that don't scale. Starting price reflects a narrower first intervention; full system builds extend well beyond the entry point.
Best for: ops-heavy businesses and teams that need internal tooling, not a public website.
See what's includedAdvisory
Next.js + Payload CMS Advisory
Cadence-based
For teams that already have developers and want to keep implementation in-house. I provide architecture direction, content modeling guidance, PR review on high-risk areas, and weekly decision sessions. Your team builds. I make sure the decisions are correct.
Best for: engineering teams new to Payload CMS who want to avoid expensive architectural mistakes.
See how advisory worksNot sure which fits? The /how-i-work page explains the engagement model in full. Or describe your situation on the contact page — I'll tell you directly which path makes sense.
Scope clarity
What's in scope — and what isn't
Every engagement is defined during the first phase. The items below give you a directional sense of scope before we talk. Nothing is hidden — if something matters to your project, we discuss it explicitly before any work begins.
Typically included
- System and content architecture definition.
- Payload CMS configuration: collections, fields, access control, hooks.
- Admin UI configuration and custom component implementation.
- Frontend integration with Next.js (App Router).
- Deployment setup and infrastructure configuration.
- One round of integrations defined at project start (e.g. Shopify, Brevo, HubSpot, Stripe).
- Launch and stabilization support.
- Documentation of system decisions.
Not included by default
- Ongoing content entry or editorial work.
- Paid third-party service fees (hosting, database, storage, email sending).
- Design work beyond what Katharina (design partner) provides within the defined scope.
- Additional integration systems not defined at project start.
- Post-launch retainer or maintenance unless agreed as a separate engagement.
- Staff augmentation or ticket-based task execution.
Scope is always defined in writing before build begins. If your project has unusual complexity — multi-tenant, multi-locale, complex e-commerce — the starting price is a floor, not a ceiling. I will tell you that directly.
Context
How this compares to other approaches
When evaluating Payload CMS project costs, the relevant comparisons are not between CMS licenses — they are between how different vendors and approaches price the work. Here is a direct comparison.
WordPress agency
A typical WordPress agency will charge $5,000–$30,000 for a marketing site build, often including a theme purchase and plugin stack. The entry price is lower. The long-term cost is often higher: plugin licensing compounds annually, security vulnerabilities require ongoing patching, and the system becomes harder to extend cleanly over time. When you eventually need real custom functionality, you're rebuilding around WordPress rather than designing from a clean architecture.
Contentful agency
Contentful-based builds introduce ongoing SaaS fees — $300/month for the Lite plan, custom enterprise pricing above that — on top of development costs. You are permanently paying a content infrastructure fee to a vendor who controls your data and API access. Payload eliminates that dependency entirely; you own the database, the schema, and the API. Over a three-year horizon, the total cost of ownership for a comparable system is typically lower with Payload, even accounting for higher upfront development cost.
Generic headless CMS freelancer or agency
A Payload CMS project built by a developer without deep Payload experience will have the same software cost but different outcome risk. Content modeling decisions made incorrectly in Payload are expensive to reverse. Access control architecture, hook design, and collection structure require specific knowledge. The work on this site is principal-led by someone who has built production Payload systems across multiple clients and industries. That is the relevant differentiator — not the tool.
Self-managing Payload yourself
If you have a development team in-house, Payload is genuinely self-hostable for infrastructure costs under €10/month on a Hetzner VPS with Coolify for a small site. The tooling cost is negligible. The expertise cost is the variable. The advisory engagement exists specifically for teams in this situation — you keep implementation in-house while getting architecture oversight on decisions that are difficult or expensive to reverse.
The right comparison is not "Payload CMS vs WordPress license" — it is "principal-led Payload architecture vs whatever the alternative is." That comparison usually favors Payload.
Frequently asked
Pricing questions, answered directly
Why don't you publish fixed prices?
Because fixed prices either undercharge complex projects or overcharge simple ones. The scope of a Payload CMS project is defined by content architecture, integrations, multi-tenancy, AI capabilities, and migration complexity — variables I cannot assess without understanding your situation. What I do publish are starting points: Payload CMS websites from $15,000 and bespoke AI applications from $5,000. These tell you whether you are in the right budget range before we talk. The /how-i-work page covers the full engagement model.
What is the single biggest factor that affects project scope?
Content architecture complexity — specifically, how many distinct content types you have, how they relate to each other, and whether the system needs multi-tenancy, localization, or custom access control. A single-locale marketing site with five collections is a fundamentally different project from a multi-tenant platform serving three markets with separate admin access per tenant. Get this decision right and the rest of the build follows cleanly. Get it wrong and you are refactoring at the worst possible time.
Is Payload CMS cheaper than WordPress long-term?
For technically sophisticated sites, yes — typically. WordPress's apparent low cost is offset by plugin licensing fees that compound annually ($500–$3,000/year for a typical plugin stack), security patching overhead, and the cost of working around limitations as the business evolves. Payload has no per-site license fee, no plugin subscription model, and a modern TypeScript codebase that extends cleanly. The upfront development cost is higher because you are building a designed system rather than assembling plugins. Over a three-year horizon, comparable systems built on Payload and WordPress often reach similar total cost — with the Payload system delivering significantly more architectural control and flexibility.
What if my budget is smaller than the starting price?
There are a few honest answers. First, the advisory engagement has a different cost profile — if you have developers in-house and need architecture guidance rather than full delivery, that is the right conversation. Second, for genuinely small scopes, the starting price may be achievable — not every project hits the complexity ceiling. Third, if the budget is significantly below the starting point, this work is probably not the right fit, and I will say that directly rather than take the project at a scope that will not produce a good outcome. What I do not do is take under-scoped projects and expand them mid-engagement.
How does payment structure work?
Payment structure is defined per engagement during scoping. For website and application builds, a milestone-based structure is standard — typically a portion at engagement start, milestone checkpoints during the build, and a final payment at launch. For advisory, payment is structured around the cadence agreed at kickoff. Full details are confirmed in writing before any work begins. There are no surprise charges for scope defined at project start.
What happens after launch?
After the initial build, there are three common paths: a second build phase to extend the system, incremental iteration and expansion as the business evolves, or transition into a lighter advisory or system-oversight role. The path is decided based on system maturity and business needs — not a preset retainer model. There is no obligation to continue after the first engagement, and no lock-in to ongoing fees. Systems are delivered in a state of full client ownership — the codebase, database, and infrastructure are yours.
Do you work with teams that have existing Payload CMS installations?
Yes. The advisory engagement is specifically designed for in-house teams already building with Next.js and Payload CMS. If the question is whether I can review and improve an existing system rather than build from scratch, the answer is yes — though the engagement shape depends on what the system needs. An architecture review, data model audit, or migration strategy are all valid starting points. More detail on who this works for is on the consultant page.
How much does it cost to self-host Payload CMS?
Infrastructure costs for a self-hosted Payload CMS site vary by scale. A small production site on a Hetzner VPS with a self-hosted Postgres instance can run under €10/month. A mid-scale platform using managed hosting (Vercel, Render, Railway, Fly.io) with managed Postgres (Neon, Supabase, DigitalOcean) typically runs $40–$100/month. Enterprise-scale deployments with high availability, multi-region, and extensive caching can reach $200–$500+/month. Payload Cloud, the managed hosting option from the Payload team, starts at $35/month. Development and maintenance costs are always substantially larger than infrastructure costs for any meaningful project.
If this is in your budget range, let's talk.
Describe your project or situation. I'll tell you which engagement shape fits, whether the scope is realistic for the budget, and what the first step looks like. No pitch, no sales process — just a direct conversation.
Start the conversationMaximum 3 active clients. Current availability varies — ask directly.