Staxly

Pusher vs Payload CMS

Realtime pub/sub WebSocket Channels + programmatic push (Beams)
vs. TypeScript-first open-source headless CMS — code-first, config-driven

Pusher websitePayload CMS website

Pricing tiers

Pusher

Beams: Sandbox
Free. 1K subscribers.
$0 base (usage-based)
Channels: Sandbox
Free. 100 concurrent conns, 200K msg/day.
$0 base (usage-based)
Beams: Startup
$29/mo. 10K subscribers.
$29/mo
Channels: Startup
$49/mo. 500 concurrent conns, 1M msg/day.
$49/mo
Channels: Pro
$99/mo. 2K concurrent conns, 4M msg/day.
$99/mo
Beams: Pro
$99/mo. 50K subscribers.
$99/mo
Beams: Business
$199/mo. 115K subscribers.
$199/mo
Channels: Business
$299/mo. 5K concurrent, 10M msg/day.
$299/mo
Beams: Premium
$399/mo. 250K subscribers.
$399/mo
Channels: Premium
$499/mo. 10K concurrent, 20M msg/day.
$499/mo
Channels: Growth
$699/mo. 15K concurrent, 40M msg/day.
$699/mo
Channels: Plus
$899/mo. 20K concurrent, 60M msg/day.
$899/mo
Channels: Growth Plus
$1,199/mo. 30K concurrent, 90M msg/day.
$1199/mo
Channels: Enterprise
Custom. 10M+ concurrent, 100B+ msg/day. SLA, dedicated support.
Custom
Pusher 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 be-sandbox on Pusher vs oss on Payload CMS.

MetricPusherPayload CMS
subscribers1000 subscribers

Features

Pusher · 11 features

  • BeamsPush notifications for iOS/Android/Web with device interest groups.
  • Beams Authenticated UsersTarget users by auth user ID across devices.
  • ChannelsWebSocket pub/sub — realtime events, live updates, notifications.
  • Channels WebhooksReceive server-side notifications of channel activity.
  • Client EventsPublish events from clients directly (triggered from browser).
  • Debug ConsoleLive channel debugging dashboard.
  • Encrypted ChannelsEnd-to-end encrypted messages.
  • Global ClustersUS, EU, AP-Southeast, etc. Pick nearest region.
  • Presence ChannelsTrack who is online in a channel.
  • Private ChannelsAuth-required channels with server-signed tokens.
  • StatsConnection / message dashboards.

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

KindPusherPayload CMS
CLIcreate-payload-app
SDKPusher Beams Android, Pusher Beams iOS, Pusher Beams Web SDK, pusher-http-go, pusher-http-java, pusher-http-php, pusher-js (client), pusher (Node), pusher (Python), pusher (Ruby), PusherSwift, pusher-websocket-java (Android)@payloadcms/next (Node)
RESTBeams Publish API, Pusher HTTP APIPayload REST API
GRAPHQLPayload GraphQL API
OTHERChannels Webhooks, Pusher WebSocketAdmin UI, Local API (Node.js direct)
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Some links to Pusher 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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