Webflow CMS vs Payload CMS

Compare Webflow CMS and Payload CMS for your content needs. Find out what actual users are saying about each product and which one is best suited for you!

Webflow CMS
Webflow CMS
Webflow's CMS allows marketing teams to create, edit, and publish dynamic content without writing code, streamlining the site management process.
Payload CMS
Payload CMS
Payload is an open-source headless CMS and application framework that emphasizes flexibility, customization, and a developer-friendly environment. Provides powerful APIs, a clean UI, and robust support for various integrations.

What Users Say

See what users who have used Webflow CMS and Payload CMS have to say about their overall experience with the product.

Webflow CMS's Key Strengths

Read what users love about Webflow CMS.

Payload CMS's Key Strengths

Read what users love about Payload CMS.

Webflow CMS's Key Issues

Read what issues users have with Webflow CMS.

Payload CMS's Key Issues

Read what issues users have with Payload CMS.

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What Marketers & Content Creators Say

Hear from the users who uses Webflow CMS and Payload CMS daily about their experience with the editors.

Webflow CMS's Editorial Experience Highlights

What marketers love about Webflow CMS's editor.

Payload CMS's Editorial Experience Highlights

What marketers love about Payload CMS's editor.

Webflow CMS's Editorial Experience Issues

What marketers dislike about Webflow CMS's editor.

Payload CMS's Editorial Experience Issues

What marketers dislike about Payload CMS's editor.

Mobile Editing

Find out how the platforms handle the mobile-first experience for the new generation of workforce on the move.

Webflow CMS:
Not Suitable for Mobile

Webflow does not natively support a mobile-first content editing experience; it relies on desktop editing through web apps.

"Webflow offers the designer and editor, which are both web apps that require a desktop browser to work. There isn’t any mobile app."
Source
"The Phoneflow app costs money, but ideally Webflow itself should have the same mobile functionality… does it?"
Source
Payload CMS:
Mobile-First Experience

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

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.

Webflow CMS:
No Automatic Content Linking

Webflow does not support automatic related blog linking; features are mostly manual or require external tools.

"Automatically link to blog post, and search through all of your blog posts for keywords and create internal links with simple clicks."
Source
"LinkerFlow automatically optimizes internal links, but is a third-party tool."
Source
"Seamless internal linking requires third-party integrations."
Source
Payload CMS:
No Automatic Content Linking

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.

Webflow CMS:
No Automatic CTA Linking

Webflow does not support automatic CTA linking through AI features for dynamic content.

"The Webflow CMS allows management of dynamic content but does not specify support for automatic CTA linking."
Source
"While Webflow provides a solid CMS, it lacks features for automatic dynamic linking of CTAs."
Source
"Current AI features of Webflow focus on content editing but do not include automated CTA linking."
Source
Payload CMS:
Manual CTA Linking

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

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.

Webflow CMS:
No Comments Supported

Webflow lacks a native commenting feature; alternatives depend on third-party integrations like Supersparks.

"Unlike tools like Wordpress, Webflow does not offer native commenting functionality."
Source
"Just to be clear, is there no current integration or feature available to allow website commenting?"
Source
Payload CMS:
Comments Supported

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

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.

Webflow CMS:
Limited Multi-tenancy

Webflow Memberships allow basic multi-tenancy but lacks full user-specific content delivery.

"Webflow Memberships... allow you to have many users on the same application, but currently they don’t have a good way to display unique information per logged in user."
Source
Payload CMS:
Multi-tenancy Supported

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

What Developers Say

Hear from developers who've integrated and built on Webflow CMS and Payload CMS about their experiences.

Ease of Integrating Webflow CMS:
Medium
Webflow's integration is fairly intuitive but requires some coding knowledge for effective use.
Ease of Integrating Payload CMS:
Medium
Users find Payload CMS has a moderate integration complexity, with some issues noted in documentation and support.

Webflow CMS's DX Highlights

What developers love about building with Webflow CMS.

Payload CMS's DX Highlights

What developers love about building with Payload CMS.

Webflow CMS's DX Issues

What developers dislike about building with Webflow CMS.

Payload CMS's DX Issues

What developers dislike about building with Payload CMS.

Content Modelling

Find out how developers model and manage their content with the platform with key highlights and limitations.

Webflow CMS:
Customisable Content Types

Webflow supports content modeling through customizable CMS Collections with various field types.

"Webflow CMS gives you the power to define your content and its structure however you'd like with over a dozen field types."
Source
"Webflow’s powerful CMS revolves around 'Collections,' bringing structured content management to your website."
Source
"Webflow CMS also allows you to create custom content types with their 'CMS Collections.'"
Source
Payload CMS:
Customisable Content Types

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

Custom React Components

Find out if the platform supports custom React components to go beyond the basic HTML components for content.

Webflow CMS:
No Custom React Components Supported

Webflow does not support adding custom React components directly within the CMS content editor.

"DevLink allows you to build components in Webflow for use in React projects."
Source
"Add to your components in Webflow for use in your React project."
Source
"... this builtin is not currently supported: React component."
Source
"React allows for the creation of reusable components, making it easier to manage complex UI elements."
Source
Payload CMS:
Custom React Components Supported

Payload CMS supports custom React components through its admin panel, allowing rich interactive content.

"Payload provides a pattern for you to supply your own React components through your Payload Config."
Source
"You can build completely custom field types in Payload by swapping in your own React components for any field in your app."
Source

Full Text Search

Find out if the platform supports full text search across multiple fields to help users find content quickly.

Webflow CMS:
Limited Search

Full text search functionality is available but limited to certain fields; not all content is indexed.

"Site search is available on all sites with CMS Site plans or above. However, it does not crawl or index search terms within custom fields."
Source
"(Note: Full-featured search is only available on sites with CMS or Business hosting.)"
Source
"Currently, text search within a CMS collection only applies to the 'Name' field."
Source
Payload CMS:
Full Text Search Supported

Payload CMS supports full text search through the @payloadcms/plugin-search, enabling advanced search across various fields.

"This plugin generates records of your documents that are extremely fast to search on."
Source
"I would like to create a fulltext search endpoint for one of my collections."
Source
"A plugin for Payload to generate records of your documents that are extremely fast to search on."
Source

Starter Kits

Discover starter kits and templates to help you get started with the platform.

Webflow CMS:
Available

Webflow offers various CMS templates and starter kits for users.

(Expand section to see a list of Webflow CMS templates and starter kits.)

Payload CMS:
Available

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.)

Pricing & Plans

Compare the prices of Webflow CMS and Payload CMS.

Webflow CMS's Pricing
Starter
$0 / lifetime
- Free to use
- Build up to 2 websites
- No code export
- No site transfer
Lite
$16 / month
- Build up to 10 projects
- Code export
- Site transfer
Pro
$35 / month
- Unlimited projects
- White labeling
- Password protection
Team
$35 / month
- Unlimited projects
- Team dashboard
Enterprise
$0 / custom
- Custom features
- Tailored support
Basic
$12 / month
- Up to 100 pages
- Static websites
- No CMS
CMS
$16 / month
- Up to 100,000 visits
- Search functionality
- CMS included
Business
$36 / month
- Up to 1,000,000 visits
- Unlimited form submissions
- Enhanced CDN
Enterprise
$0 / custom
- Custom plan features
- Enhanced support
Standard
$29 / month
- Up to 500 items
- Essential ecommerce features
Plus
$74 / month
- Up to 1,000 items
- No transaction fees
- All Business features
Advanced
$212 / month
- Up to 3,000 items
- All Plus features
Payload CMS's Pricing
Free
$0 / lifetime
- Completely open source
- Self-hosted
Standard
$35 / month
- MongoDB Atlas serverless DB
- 3GB database storage
- 30GB S3 file storage
- 40GB bandwidth /mo
- 512MB RAM, 1 vCPU
- 50 million serverless RPUs /mo
- One custom domain
- On-demand backup
- Payload-branded email service
Pro
$199 / month
- Dedicated M10 Atlas cluster
- 30GB database storage
- 150GB file storage
- 100GB bandwidth /mo
- 1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 2 instances
- High-availability compute
- Up to 3 custom domains
- Automatic backups
- White-labeled email service
Custom
$0 / custom
- Any size Atlas database
- Unlimited database storage
- Unlimited file storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- RAM and CPU scaled to needs
- High-availability compute
- Unlimited custom domains
- White-labeled email service
- Single Sign-On (SSO)
- Enterprise plugins
- 99.9% uptime SLA

Compare with other technologies

Looking for a better alternative to Webflow CMS & Payload CMS? Try Wisp.
Wisp is the best solution for blogging. Try it free today!