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 4 APIs on the APIs.io network, including Authentication API, Collections API, Globals API, and 1 more. 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
36.8/100 thin ▬ flat Agent 18/100 agent aware saas Full breakdown ↓
scored 2026-09-08 · rubric v0.20.0
AccessFreemium
1 APIs
Application FrameworkCMSContentHeadlessNext.jsTypeScript

Kin Score

Kin Score Kin Score How this is scored →
scored 2026-09-08 · rubric v0.20.0
Composite quality — 36.8/100 · thin
Contract Quality 10.6 / 23
Developer Ergonomics 4.3 / 18
Access Clarity 8.5 / 18
Operational Transparency 1.5 / 12
Contract Governance 0.0 / 11
Discoverability 6.8 / 9
Create-or-Update Ergonomics 2.2 / 10
Agent readiness — 18/100 · agent aware
Machine-Readable Contract 18 / 18
Agentic Access Contract 0 / 10
Documented Reversibility 0 / 6
MCP Server 0 / 12
Machine-Readable Auth 10 / 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
Delegated User Identity 0 / 6
Protected Resource Metadata 0 / 5
Registration Without a Human 0 / 6
Agentic Commerce Well-Known Document 0 / 5
Create-or-Update Ergonomics applies to this provider. This API accepts writes, so it carries 10 points of the composite. It is scored from the published contracts themselves: whether a caller can create-or-update in one call, whether the write accepts a key the caller already holds, and whether the response says which branch ran. Without that, every write needs a search-and-branch in front of it, and the first time that check is skipped a duplicate record is created. Scored against the observed mean rather than raw — a provider at the catalog average is unchanged by this facet, not penalised by it.
Improve this rating by publishing the missing artifacts — every area above can be raised, and the full rubric is at apis.io/rating/. Every facet and dimension name above is a link: it opens that measurement's own page — what it means, the exact checks that feed it, how the whole catalog distributes on it, and the providers at the top of it. 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. Submit an artifact on GitHub — free → Manage your own listing — the Influence plan, $499/mo →

APIs 5

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...

Payload Authentication API

The Authentication API from Payload — 8 operation(s) for authentication.

Payload Collections API

The Collections API from Payload — 3 operation(s) for collections.

Payload Globals API

The Globals API from Payload — 1 operation(s) for globals.

Payload Preferences API

The Preferences API from Payload — 1 operation(s) for preferences.

Open Collections 5

Open, tool-agnostic API collections (OpenAPI-derived and Bruno).

API Collection

OPEN COLLECTION

Payload CMS REST Authentication API

OPEN COLLECTION

Payload CMS REST Collections API

OPEN COLLECTION

Payload CMS REST Globals API

OPEN COLLECTION

Payload CMS REST Preferences API

OPEN COLLECTION

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
deliveryModel:
  model: saas
  open_source: false
  commercial: true
  callable_host: false
  label: Hosted service · you call their endpoint
  confidence: medium
  source:
  - openapi
  - pricing
  generated: '2026-08-28'
  method: derived
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: '0.23'
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
- aid: payload:payload-authentication-api
  name: Payload Authentication API
  description: The Authentication API from Payload — 8 operation(s) for authentication.
  humanURL: https://payloadcms.com/
  baseURL: https://payloadcms.com/api
  tags:
  - Authentication
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/payload-authentication-api-openapi.yml
- aid: payload:payload-collections-api
  name: Payload Collections API
  description: The Collections API from Payload — 3 operation(s) for collections.
  humanURL: https://payloadcms.com/
  baseURL: https://payloadcms.com/api
  tags:
  - Collection
  tags_raw:
  - Collections
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/payload-collections-api-openapi.yml
- aid: payload:payload-globals-api
  name: Payload Globals API
  description: The Globals API from Payload — 1 operation(s) for globals.
  humanURL: https://payloadcms.com/
  baseURL: https://payloadcms.com/api
  tags:
  - Globals
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/payload-globals-api-openapi.yml
- aid: payload:payload-preferences-api
  name: Payload Preferences API
  description: The Preferences API from Payload — 1 operation(s) for preferences.
  humanURL: https://payloadcms.com/
  baseURL: https://payloadcms.com/api
  tags:
  - Preferences
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/payload-preferences-api-openapi.yml
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

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