Payload CMS vs Crafter CMS
Compare Payload CMS and Crafter CMS for your content needs. Find out what actual users are saying about each product and which one is best suited for you!
What Users Say
See what users who have used Payload CMS and Crafter CMS have to say about their overall experience with the product.
Payload CMS's Key Strengths
Read what users love about Payload CMS.
Crafter CMS's Key Strengths
Read what users love about Crafter CMS.
Payload CMS's Key Issues
Read what issues users have with Payload CMS.
Crafter CMS's Key Issues
Read what issues users have with Crafter CMS.
What Marketers & Content Creators Say
Hear from the users who uses Payload CMS and Crafter CMS daily about their experience with the editors.
Payload CMS's Editorial Experience Highlights
What marketers love about Payload CMS's editor.
Crafter CMS's Editorial Experience Highlights
What marketers love about Crafter CMS's editor.
Payload CMS's Editorial Experience Issues
What marketers dislike about Payload CMS's editor.
Crafter CMS's Editorial Experience Issues
What marketers dislike about Crafter CMS's editor.
Mobile Editing
Find out how the platforms handle the mobile-first experience for the new generation of workforce on the move.
Payload CMS supports mobile-first experiences, allowing content creation on mobile devices seamlessly.
"It works seamlessly on desktop and mobile (still can't believe most headless CMS admin panels aren't responsive in 2022)."Source
"Payload will give you backend superpowers... even non-technical users can independently make use of its Admin Panel to manage whatever they need to without having to know code."Source
"Users in the Admin Panel have the ability to choose between light mode and dark mode for their editing experience."Source
Craft CMS does not support a dedicated mobile-first content creation experience; desktop usage is recommended.
Automatic Content Linking
Find out if the platform supports automatic linking of related content to help user discover more content without additional manual effort from the marketer. This automatically create topical clusters of content and is essential for SEO.
Payload CMS requires manual linking using the Relationship field; automated linking for SEO is not available.
"One of the most straightforward ways to manage related content in Payload CMS is through the Relationship field. This feature allows you to link different documents together."Source
"By leveraging these relationship types, Payload CMS enables users to build complex content architectures that cater to a wide range of applications, from e-commerce sites to blogs with related posts."Source
"The Rich Text field features a Link element which allows for users to automatically reference related documents within their rich text."Source
Craft CMS does not support automatic linking of related blog content; manual relationships are required.
"Entries are flexible content containers... but do not support automatic linking of related content."Source
"Feature request for better auto-saving behavior shows Craft's focus on manual linking options."Source
"Craft CMS features highlight flexibility but lack mention of automatic related content linking."Source
Automatic CTA Linking
Find out if the platform supports automatic display of Call-to-Actions using AI to help users take actions that are relevant to the content they are reading.
Supports custom components but lacks dedicated automatic CTA linking functionality.
"All Custom Components in Payload are React Server Components by default. This enables the use of the Local API directly on the front-end."Source
"You can design and build your own Slate elements and leaves to extend the editor with your own functionality."Source
"You can use Relationships to link to existing documents within the Rich Text field."Source
The status of Automatic CTA Linking in Craft CMS remains unclear; sources provide no definitive confirmation.
Comments
Find out if the platform supports comments from your users to improve user engagement. This is often a great way to collect feedback and user emails.
Payload CMS supports commenting via a dedicated plugin with features like comment approval and email alerts.
"A fully-customizable plugin for Payload CMS to create a collection for comments, reviews, or other user-submitted feedback."Source
"Implement a comment functionality where everyone can comment without logging in."Source
"The community discusses challenges and features of Payload, including the need for custom implementations."Source
Built-in commenting with features like moderation, email notifications, and anonymous commenting support.
"Allow your users to comment on elements. Threaded comments - users can comment on other comments. Comment moderation by admins - prevent comments from appearing on your site until approved."Source
"Comment on any element – whether it be an entry, product or event. Threaded comments. Email Notifications for element authors when someone posts a comment."Source
Multi-tenancy
Find out if the platform supports managing multiple clients or projects within a single account. This is useful for agencies, multi-client or multi-project scenarios.
Payload CMS offers multi-tenancy via a plugin that enables hierarchical tenant management, domain mapping, and isolation.
"This plugin sets up multi-tenancy for your application from within your Admin Panel. It adds a `tenant` field to all specified collections."Source
"This plugin allows multiple tenants to access different resources in the same instance of Payload CMS."Source
"Payload's Access Control facilitated a multi-tenant, "subsite"-based system."Source
Craft CMS supports multi-tenancy, allowing multiple sites from a single installation.
What Developers Say
Hear from developers who've integrated and built on Payload CMS and Crafter CMS about their experiences.
Payload CMS's DX Highlights
What developers love about building with Payload CMS.
Crafter CMS's DX Highlights
What developers love about building with Crafter CMS.
Payload CMS's DX Issues
What developers dislike about building with Payload CMS.
Crafter CMS's DX Issues
What developers dislike about building with Crafter CMS.
Content Modelling
Find out how developers model and manage their content with the platform with key highlights and limitations.
Payload CMS supports content modeling with various field types including relationships, arrays, and blocks.
"Payload provides a wide variety of built-in Field Types, each with its own unique properties and behaviors."Source
"Payload allows parent/child content modelling using a nested docs plugin for hierarchical content."Source
"Each Collection can have its own unique Access Control, Hooks, Admin Options, and more."Source
Craft CMS supports content modeling with custom fields and types, offering flexibility and built-in options for various content structures.
"Craft provides a number of distinct building blocks, each appropriate for different kinds of content. We use the term elements to collectively describe the variety of content types Craft comes with."Source
"Craft CMS gives you flexibility and control throughout the entire content modeling and editing process."Source
"New CLI commands for taming your content model, a new Link field type, and more! We now have a total of 23 built-in custom field types."Source
"Craft is unique in that it is both a simple and a complex CMS. You can create the structure, fields, and all the forms without ever touching any code."Source
Custom React Components
Find out if the platform supports custom React components to go beyond the basic HTML components for content.
Payload CMS supports custom React components through its admin panel, allowing rich interactive content.
Craft CMS does not support embedding custom React components directly in the content editor.
"Craft's entire API is at your finger tips but does not mention the support for custom React components."Source
"Matrix fields allow you to manage nested entries but not specifically React components."Source
"Craft can act as a headless CMS and use GraphQL, but does not support React directly in the content editor."Source
Full Text Search
Find out if the platform supports full text search across multiple fields to help users find content quickly.
Payload CMS supports full text search through the @payloadcms/plugin-search, enabling advanced search across various fields.
Craft CMS supports full text search across multiple fields, including advanced syntax for querying.
"Craft includes a system-wide search index used for finding elements via keywords."Source
"Craft CMS includes a system-wide search service used for finding elements via keyword search."Source
"Craft's full-text search based on the underlying database is powerful and the very best choice for the vast majority of users."Source
Starter Kits
Discover starter kits and templates to help you get started with the platform.
Payload CMS offers several starter kits, including an Ecommerce and a SvelteKit template.
(Expand section to see a list of Payload CMS templates and starter kits.)
Craft CMS offers several starter kits including starter projects and boilerplates.
(Expand section to see a list of Crafter CMS templates and starter kits.)
Pricing & Plans
Compare the prices of Payload CMS and Crafter CMS.