44.5k stars · MIT · v3.87.1 (2026-08-06)
A full content database with a generated admin screen and API, for content that has real structure rather than being blog posts.
▶Repo detailsthe review · specs · pros & cons · install
What it is
Payload is an open-source content system that runs inside a Next.js application. Your content is stored in PostgreSQL or MongoDB. You describe your collections in TypeScript, and Payload builds the admin screens and the API for you. An API is a way for one program to ask another program for data.
Why it matters
Entries 1, 2 and 3 all keep content as files. That is right for blog posts. It stops being right when content gets structure: a template gallery where each item has a name, a picture, a category and a difficulty; a case study library; a glossary that both Grasppy and the marketing site read from. Files handle ten of those. They do not handle three hundred. Payload is the honest answer for that case, and I am listing it so you know where the ceiling is, not because you need it this month.
- MIT licence and it is a real MIT licence, with no carved-out directories. That is worth noting after Directus and NocoDB, above.
- Released steadily. Version 3.87.1 came out on 6 August 2026, and the releases before it are only weeks apart.
- It gives you an API without extra work, so your Astro site and Grasppy can read the same content.
- It is a Node.js application sitting next to your Python one. That is a second thing to deploy, watch and update. Grasppy is FastAPI, React and PostgreSQL, so this adds a language to your server.
- Plan for roughly 1 to 2 GB of memory. Check Beszel (Ed. 5 #8) before you install anything.
- It assumes Next.js. Your site is Astro. So Payload becomes a content store that Astro reads from, rather than the site itself. That works, but it is two moving parts, not one.
npx create-payload-app@latest