Payload website screenshot

Payload

Payload is an open-source TypeScript-first headless CMS and application framework that ships with auto-generated REST, GraphQL, and Local APIs, authentication, access control, file storage, and a Next.js-native admin UI used to build content-driven websites, applications, and digital products.

Payload publishes 1 API on the APIs.io network: Payload. Tagged areas include Application Framework, CMS, Content, Headless, and Next.js.

Payload’s developer surface includes documentation, engineering blog, GitHub presence, pricing, and 7 more developer resources.

🌐 Visit website 📡 Source on GitHub
37.0/100 thin ▬ flat Agent 19/100 agent aware Full breakdown ↓
scored 2026-07-28 · rubric v0.6
AccessFreemium
1 APIs
Application FrameworkCMSContentHeadlessNext.jsTypeScript

Kin Score

Kin Score Kin Score How this is scored →
scored 2026-07-28 · rubric v0.6
Composite quality — 37.0/100 · thin
Contract Quality 8.1 / 25
Developer Ergonomics 3.0 / 20
Commercial Clarity 14.2 / 20
Operational Transparency 4.8 / 13
Governance 0.0 / 12
Discoverability 6.9 / 10
Agent readiness — 19/100 · agent aware
Machine-Readable Contract 18 / 18
Agentic Access Contract 0 / 10
MCP Server 0 / 12
Machine-Readable Auth 0 / 10
Idempotency 0 / 9
Stable Error Semantics 0 / 8
Request/Response Examples 0 / 7
Rate-Limit Signaling 7 / 7
Typed Event Surface 0 / 6
Agent Skills 0 / 5
Well-Known Catalog 0 / 4
Consent & Bot Identity 0 / 3
A2A Agent Card 0 / 8
Dry-Run / Simulate Mode 0 / 4
Improve this rating by publishing the missing artifacts — every area above can be raised, and the full rubric is at apis.io/rating/. This rating is computed from github.com/api-evangelist/payload: open an issue to ask a question, or submit a pull request to add artifacts. Want it done for you? Prioritized profiling — $2,500 →

APIs 1

Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.

Payload

Payload is a TypeScript-first headless CMS and application framework that automatically generates REST, GraphQL, and Local APIs from collection schemas, with built-in authentica...

GraphQL 1

GraphQL schemas published by this provider.

Payload GraphQL API

Payload is a TypeScript-first headless CMS and application framework that automatically generates REST, GraphQL, and Local APIs from collection schemas, with built-in authentica...

GRAPHQL

Pricing Plans 1

Published pricing tiers and plan structures.

Payload Plans Pricing

3 plans

PLANS

Rate Limits 1

Documented rate limits and quota policies.

Payload Rate Limits

5 limits

RATE LIMITS

FinOps 1

Cost, billing, and metering signals for API financial operations.

Payload Finops

FINOPS

Security Posture 1

Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals.

Payload Domain Security

TLSv1.3 · HSTS · DMARC

SECURITY

Resources

Documentation 1

Reference material describing how the API behaves

Documentation
Documentation

Agent Surfaces 1

MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs

LlmsText
LlmsText

Build 1

SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with

GitHub
GitHub

Access & Security 1

Authentication, authorization, and security posture

DomainSecurity
DomainSecurity

Operate 1

Status, limits, changes, and where to get help

Community
Community

Commercial 3

Pricing, plans, and the legal terms of use

Pricing
Pricing
 TermsOfService
TermsOfService
 PrivacyPolicy
PrivacyPolicy

Company 3

The organization behind the API

LinkedIn
LinkedIn
 Website
Website
 Blog
Blog

Source (apis.yml)

apis.yml Raw ↑ 
aid: payload
name: Payload
description: Payload is an open-source TypeScript-first headless CMS and application framework that ships with auto-generated
  REST, GraphQL, and Local APIs, authentication, access control, file storage, and a Next.js-native admin UI used to build
  content-driven websites, applications, and digital products.
type: Index
accessModel:
  pricing: freemium
  onboarding: unknown
  trial: false
  try_now: false
  public: false
  label: Freemium
  confidence: medium
  source:
  - plans
  generated: '2026-07-22'
  method: derived
position: Consuming
access: 3rd-Party
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/payload.png
tags:
- Application Framework
- CMS
- Content
- Headless
- Next.js
- TypeScript
created: '2025-02-24'
modified: '2026-04-28'
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/payload/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
specificationVersion: '0.20'
apis:
- aid: payload:payload
  name: Payload
  description: Payload is a TypeScript-first headless CMS and application framework that automatically generates REST, GraphQL,
    and Local APIs from collection schemas, with built-in authentication, access control, and a Next.js admin panel.
  humanURL: https://payloadcms.com/
  baseURL: https://payloadcms.com/api
  tags:
  - CMS
  - Content
  - Headless
  - REST
  - GraphQL
  - TypeScript
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://payloadcms.com/docs
  - type: REST API
    url: https://payloadcms.com/docs/rest-api/overview
  - type: GraphQL API
    url: https://payloadcms.com/docs/graphql/overview
  - type: Local API
    url: https://payloadcms.com/docs/local-api/overview
  - type: Authentication
    url: https://payloadcms.com/docs/authentication/overview
  - type: GitHub
    url: https://github.com/payloadcms/payload
  - type: Pricing
    url: https://payloadcms.com/cloud-pricing
  - url: graphql/payload-graphql.md
    type: GraphQL
common:
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/payload-domain-security.yml
- type: LinkedIn
  url: https://www.linkedin.com/company/payload-cms
- type: Website
  url: https://payloadcms.com/
- type: Documentation
  url: https://payloadcms.com/docs
- type: Blog
  url: https://payloadcms.com/posts
- type: GitHub
  url: https://github.com/payloadcms/payload
- type: Community
  url: https://discord.com/invite/payload
- type: Pricing
  url: https://payloadcms.com/cloud-pricing
- type: TermsOfService
  url: https://payloadcms.com/terms
- type: PrivacyPolicy
  url: https://payloadcms.com/privacy
- type: LlmsText
  url: https://payloadcms.com/llms.txt
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com