Staxly

Knock vs Payload CMS

Notifications-as-a-service: in-app feeds, email, push, SMS, chat via one API
vs. TypeScript-first open-source headless CMS — code-first, config-driven

Knock websitePayload CMS website

Pricing tiers

Knock

Developer
Free forever. 10K messages, 500 guide users, 500 AI credits/month.
$0 base (usage-based)
Starter
$250/mo. 50K messages, 2.5K guide users, 2K AI credits. Remove branding.
$250/mo
Enterprise
Custom pricing. White-label, i18n, data warehouse, Datadog, SCIM, SAML, HIPAA/BAA.
Custom
Knock website

Payload CMS

Open Source (self-host)
MIT license. Run free on any Node host. Full admin + APIs.
$0 base (usage-based)
Cloud — Standard
$35/month. 3 GB DB storage, 30 GB file storage, 40 GB bandwidth.
$35/mo
Cloud — Pro
$199/month. Higher resources + priority support.
$199/mo
Cloud — Enterprise
Custom cloud hosting with dedicated support.
Custom
Payload CMS website

Free-tier quotas head-to-head

Comparing starter on Knock vs oss on Payload CMS.

MetricKnockPayload CMS
guide users2500 users
guide users overage$0.05/user USD/user
messages monthly50000 messages/mo
messages overage$0.005/message USD/message

Features

Knock · 13 features

  • AI AgentsAutonomous notification drafting & workflow generation.
  • Batch + DigestGroup notifications into digests on schedule or window.
  • ChatSlack, Microsoft Teams, Discord.
  • EmailSend via SendGrid/Postmark/Resend/Mailgun/AWS SES as relays.
  • GuidesIn-product messaging, announcements, modals, banners.
  • i18n / LocalizationTranslate templates by user locale.
  • In-App FeedNotification inbox with React/Vue/iOS/Android drop-in components.
  • Multi-tenancyPer-tenant branding, preferences, quiet hours.
  • Outbound WebhooksSubscribe to delivery events.
  • PreferencesUser + tenant preference center with granular controls.
  • PushiOS (APNs), Android (FCM), Expo, Web Push.
  • SMSTwilio, MessageBird, Telnyx, Vonage as providers.
  • WorkflowsVisual notification orchestration (branch, batch, delay, throttle).

Payload CMS · 18 features

  • Access ControlFunction-based per-collection/field access rules.
  • Admin UIReact admin — fully customizable components + views.
  • AuthenticationBuilt-in JWT + HTTP-only cookies + API keys.
  • BlocksFlexible page-builder pattern via block field.
  • CollectionsSchema-defined content types with fields, hooks, access control.
  • Drafts & VersionsVersion every change. Autosave, drafts, scheduled publish.
  • Field TypesRich field library: text, textarea, richText (Lexical), upload, relation, blocks
  • Form Builder PluginDynamic forms with submissions storage.
  • GlobalsSingle-instance documents (site settings, header, footer).
  • GraphQL API (auto)Full schema auto-generated.
  • HooksLifecycle hooks: beforeChange/Read/Delete, afterChange, etc.
  • i18nMulti-locale field values + admin UI translations.
  • Live PreviewSide-by-side editor + iframe preview of Next.js site.
  • Local API (zero latency)Direct in-process data access. Ideal for Next.js server components.
  • Multi-Tenancy PluginMulti-tenant content isolation via plugin.
  • @payloadcms/plugin-seoBuilt-in SEO meta fields.
  • PluginsOfficial + community plugins (SEO, Stripe, Form Builder, multi-tenant, etc.).
  • REST API (auto)Auto-generated REST endpoints for every collection.

Developer interfaces

KindKnockPayload CMS
CLIKnock CLIcreate-payload-app
SDKknockapi (Python), knockapi (Ruby), knock-elixir, knock-go, knock-java, @knocklabs/node, @knocklabs/react@payloadcms/next (Node)
RESTKnock REST APIPayload REST API
GRAPHQLPayload GraphQL API
MCPKnock MCP Server
OTHEROutbound WebhooksAdmin UI, Local API (Node.js direct)
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Some links to Knock and Payload CMS may be affiliate links — Staxly may earn a commission if you sign up through them, at no extra cost to you. Pricing is verified against vendor pages at publication time — reconfirm before buying.

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