Payload CMS vs Bolt.new
TypeScript-first open-source headless CMS — code-first, config-driven
vs. Prompt to full-stack app in your browser — by StackBlitz
Pricing tiers
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
Bolt.new
Free
1M tokens/month. 300K tokens/day cap. Public + private projects. 10MB file uploads. Hosting + unlimited DBs.
Free
Pro
$25/month. Starts at 10M tokens/month, no daily cap. No Bolt branding, 100MB uploads, custom domains, SEO support, image AI edit. Rollover tokens.
$25/mo
Teams
$30/member/month. Centralized billing, team access, private NPM registries, design system knowledge.
$30/mo
Enterprise
Custom. SSO, audit logs, dedicated account manager, 24/7 support.
Custom
Free-tier quotas head-to-head
Comparing oss on Payload CMS vs free on Bolt.new.
| Metric | Payload CMS | Bolt.new |
|---|---|---|
| No overlapping quota metrics for these tiers. | ||
Features
Payload CMS · 18 features
- Access Control — Function-based per-collection/field access rules.
- Admin UI — React admin — fully customizable components + views.
- Authentication — Built-in JWT + HTTP-only cookies + API keys.
- Blocks — Flexible page-builder pattern via block field.
- Collections — Schema-defined content types with fields, hooks, access control.
- Drafts & Versions — Version every change. Autosave, drafts, scheduled publish.
- Field Types — Rich field library: text, textarea, richText (Lexical), upload, relation, blocks…
- Form Builder Plugin — Dynamic forms with submissions storage.
- Globals — Single-instance documents (site settings, header, footer).
- GraphQL API (auto) — Full schema auto-generated.
- Hooks — Lifecycle hooks: beforeChange/Read/Delete, afterChange, etc.
- i18n — Multi-locale field values + admin UI translations.
- Live Preview — Side-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 Plugin — Multi-tenant content isolation via plugin.
- @payloadcms/plugin-seo — Built-in SEO meta fields.
- Plugins — Official + community plugins (SEO, Stripe, Form Builder, multi-tenant, etc.).
- REST API (auto) — Auto-generated REST endpoints for every collection.
Bolt.new · 14 features
- Browser Terminal — Real shell in-browser. Run npm install, scripts, etc.
- Deploy to Netlify — One-click deploy to Netlify.
- Deploy to Vercel — One-click deploy to Vercel.
- Design System Knowledge — Team plan: shared design-system context for consistent UI.
- Expo Support — Build React Native/Expo apps too.
- GitHub Export — Push full project to a new GitHub repo.
- Image Input — Upload image/sketch → Bolt generates matching UI.
- Import Existing Project — Upload an existing repo and iterate in Bolt.
- Live Edit + Run — Edit code + hot reload alongside AI agent.
- Private NPM Registries — Team plan: use private packages.
- Prompt to App — Describe app → Bolt scaffolds + codes + runs it in the browser.
- Stripe Integration — Hook up Stripe payments in-chat.
- Supabase Integration — Provision + connect Supabase from chat.
- WebContainer runtime — Node.js + terminal + filesystem running entirely in your browser.
Developer interfaces
| Kind | Payload CMS | Bolt.new |
|---|---|---|
| CLI | create-payload-app | — |
| SDK | @payloadcms/next (Node) | — |
| REST | Payload REST API | — |
| GRAPHQL | Payload GraphQL API | — |
| OTHER | Admin UI, Local API (Node.js direct) | Bolt Web App, GitHub Export, StackBlitz Sync, WebContainer runtime |
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Some links to Payload CMS and Bolt.new 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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