Payload CMS vs DatoCMS
Compare Payload CMS and DatoCMS for your content needs. Find out what actual users are saying about each product and which one is best suited for you!
At a Glance
Quick overview of key features differences between Payload CMS and DatoCMS. Click on any feature to read more details.
| Feature | Payload CMS | DatoCMS |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Features | ||
| Hosting Option | Cloud & Self-hosted | Cloud Only |
| Content Modeling | ||
| Blog on Subdomain | ||
| Blog on Subdirectory | ||
| Marketer Experience | ||
| Mobile-first Experience | Limited | |
| Automatic Content Linking | ||
| Automatic CTA Linking | Limited | |
| Engage with Comments | ||
| Multi-tenancy | ||
| Read all reviews from marketers → | ||
| Developer Experience | ||
| Ease of Integration | Medium | Medium |
| Custom React Components | ||
| Full Text Search | ||
| Starter Kits | (3 kits) | (3 kits) |
| Read all reviews from developers → | ||
What Users Say
See what users who have used Payload CMS and DatoCMS have to say about their overall experience with the product.
Payload CMS's Key Strengths
Read what users love about Payload CMS.
DatoCMS's Key Strengths
Read what users love about DatoCMS.
Payload CMS's Key Issues
Read what issues users have with Payload CMS.
DatoCMS's Key Issues
Read what issues users have with DatoCMS.
What Marketers & Content Creators Say
Hear from the users who uses Payload CMS and DatoCMS daily about their experience with the editors.
Payload CMS's Editorial Experience Highlights
What marketers love about Payload CMS's editor.
DatoCMS's Editorial Experience Highlights
What marketers love about DatoCMS's editor.
Payload CMS's Editorial Experience Issues
What marketers dislike about Payload CMS's editor.
DatoCMS's Editorial Experience Issues
What marketers dislike about DatoCMS'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
DatoCMS offers a functional mobile interface for content creation, but improvements are needed for a better mobile-first experience.
"DatoCMS is a headless CMS equipped with all the features presented above that a mobile CMS should have."Source
"Dato’s mobile interface is functional. Again, some tweaks could make the mobile experience more pleasant."Source
"DatoCMS provides content as a service. This means it delivers content through an API, which can be consumed by various front-end systems such as websites, mobile apps, or other internet-connected platforms."Source
"DatoCMS is a cloud-based headless CMS designed to work with websites, mobile apps, and server-side applications of any kind."Source
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
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
DatoCMS does not support automatic CTA linking; however, it allows modular content creation.
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
DatoCMS does not support external commenting features for site visitors. Comments are limited to internal collaborators via plugins.
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
DatoCMS supports multi-tenancy, enabling agencies to manage multiple client accounts with unique content.
"DatoCMS is a cloud-based headless CMS that provides all the benefits and features you have just seen and much more. It was designed to work with static websites, mobile apps, and server-side applications."Source
"They needed a platform that could manage completely separate brands, with their own segmented markets, price lists, inventories, promotions, and customers."Source
What Developers Say
Hear from developers who've integrated and built on Payload CMS and DatoCMS about their experiences.
Payload CMS's DX Highlights
What developers love about building with Payload CMS.
DatoCMS's DX Highlights
What developers love about building with DatoCMS.
Payload CMS's DX Issues
What developers dislike about building with Payload CMS.
DatoCMS's DX Issues
What developers dislike about building with DatoCMS.
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
DatoCMS has extensive content modelling features, including a variety of field types like text, media, modular content, and blocks.
"Models are composed of several field types - where each field serves a specific purpose for accepting data (such as the title, slug, featured image, etc.)."Source
"The Modular Content field is used to define a dynamic area for richer page layouts, allowing writers to choose among various blocks."Source
"Blocks allow you to define complex and repeatable structures that can be embedded inside records, providing significant expressive freedom."Source
"DatoCMS has advanced content modelling capability using the unique Modular Content field."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.
DatoCMS allows custom React components through its Plugin SDK and functionalities.
"DatoCMS plugins can be built using React, allowing for extensive customizations."Source
"A set of components and utilities to work faster with DatoCMS in React environments."Source
"You can also use our <StructuredText> component to render it."Source
"You can implement custom components to render in modals."Source
"The react-datocms Image component is used for responsive images in React."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.
DatoCMS supports full-text search across multiple fields using its Site Search API.
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.)
DatoCMS offers several starter kits and templates for quick project setup.
(Expand section to see a list of DatoCMS templates and starter kits.)
Pricing & Plans
Compare the prices of Payload CMS and DatoCMS.
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.