Payload CMS vs Cody
TypeScript-first open-source headless CMS — code-first, config-driven
vs. AI coding assistant by Sourcegraph — code graph + enterprise codebase context
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
Cody
Cody Free
$0. 500 autocompletes + 20 chat messages/mo. Claude Sonnet + GPT-4o-mini.
Free
Cody Pro
$9/user/mo. Unlimited autocomplete, unlimited chat, premium LLMs (Claude Opus, GPT-5).
$9/mo
Enterprise Starter
$19/user/mo. Adds advanced context (code graph), SSO, centralized billing.
$19/mo
Enterprise
$59/user/mo. On-prem deploy option, full Sourcegraph platform, audit logs, SLA.
$59/mo
Free-tier quotas head-to-head
Comparing oss on Payload CMS vs free on Cody.
| Metric | Payload CMS | Cody |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
Cody · 17 features
- Audit Logs — Enterprise compliance.
- Autocomplete — Inline code completion.
- Batch Changes (Enterprise) — Large-scale automated refactors.
- Chat — Conversational AI with @-context.
- Code Graph Context — Automatic dependency-aware context.
- Commands (Slash) — Pre-built prompts (/explain, /doc, /test).
- Custom Prompts — Shareable team-level prompt library.
- Inline Edit — Highlight code → edit via natural language.
- JetBrains Plugin — IntelliJ/PyCharm/WebStorm/etc.
- @ Mentions — Add files/symbols/URLs as context.
- Multi-LLM Selection — Pick Claude/GPT/Gemini per request.
- Neovim Plugin — Nvim integration.
- On-Prem Deploy (Enterprise) — Self-host full Sourcegraph + Cody.
- OpenCtx Extensions — Third-party context providers.
- Prompts Library — Team-wide reusable prompts.
- SSO (Enterprise) — SAML + OIDC.
- VS Code Extension — Primary IDE.
Developer interfaces
| Kind | Payload CMS | Cody |
|---|---|---|
| CLI | create-payload-app | src CLI (context tool) |
| SDK | @payloadcms/next (Node) | — |
| REST | Payload REST API | Cody API (Enterprise) |
| GRAPHQL | Payload GraphQL API | — |
| OTHER | Admin UI, Local API (Node.js direct) | Cody for JetBrains, Cody for Neovim, Cody for VS Code, Sourcegraph Cloud Web |
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Some links to Payload CMS and Cody 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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