PayloadCMS Explained: Build the Modern Web with Ease

In this guide, we’re going to go over what Payload CMS is.

Payload defines themselves as “the backend to build the modern web.” To break this down, you must understand the difference between frontend and backend.

To put it simply, the frontend of a website is the part most people see. That’s what you see when you go to any site like apple.com or payloadcms.com.

The backend of a website is the portion of the site that powers the frontend. This can include a content management system (or CMS) or an inventory management system for ecommerce. This is the role Payload seeks to fill.

That’s the first part of Payload’s definition. The next is what it’s designed to do: “build the modern web.”

The modern web is usually a description of the type of website that is visually appealing and interactive. Payload seeks to be the backbone of such websites by providing a developer-first, marketing-friendly backend to power interactive sites.

The technology

PayloadCMS is built using Next.js, is open source, and is the first CMS that can be embedded directly into another Next.js project. This means that you no longer need to host your backend separately from the frontend. You can keep them both in the same git repository and publish them at the same time on a cloud deployment service.

Because of how Payload is built, it’s extremely flexible in its implementation. You’re able to build your own plugins, roll your own authentication process, and choose how the backend looks and functions.

There are two options to host Payload. You can either go the self-hosted route and spin up your own hosting and database or use their Payload Cloud offering, which includes the hosting and database in the cost.