Stytch vs Payload CMS
Authentication platform for B2C and B2B
vs. TypeScript-first open-source headless CMS — code-first, config-driven
Pricing tiers
Stytch
Free
10,000 MAU. Unlimited orgs. 5 SSO/SCIM connections. 1,000 M2M tokens. 10,000 fraud fingerprints. Full auth suite.
Free
Pay as you go
Usage-based after free allowances. Volume discounts for high MAU.
$0 base (usage-based)
Enterprise
Custom. 99.99% SLA, private Slack, migration assistance, HIPAA/BAA.
Custom
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
Free-tier quotas head-to-head
Comparing free on Stytch vs oss on Payload CMS.
| Metric | Stytch | Payload CMS |
|---|---|---|
| fraud fingerprints included | 10000 fingerprints/month | — |
| m2m tokens included | 1000 tokens | — |
| mau included | 10000 users/month | — |
| organizations | unlimited orgs | — |
| sso connections included | 5 conns | — |
Features
Stytch · 15 features
- B2B Auth — Multi-tenant auth: organizations, roles, JIT provisioning, enterprise SSO, SCIM.
- B2C Auth — Consumer auth: passwordless (magic links, OTP), passwords, OAuth, passkeys, WebA…
- Device Fingerprinting — Fingerprint devices at signup/login. Block bots, credential stuffing, and ATO at…
- Device-Fingerprint Risk API — Real-time risk scoring API usable even without full auth.
- Enterprise SSO (OIDC) — OIDC SSO per organization.
- Enterprise SSO (SAML) — SAML 2.0 SSO per organization. Self-serve admin portal.
- JIT Provisioning — Auto-create users in an org on first SSO sign-in.
- Machine-to-Machine — Client-credentials OAuth for service-to-service.
- OAuth / Social — Google, Apple, Microsoft, GitHub, Slack, Discord, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, Bi…
- Organizations — Multi-tenant primitive with policies per org.
- Passkeys (WebAuthn) — FIDO2 passkey enrollment and authentication.
- Passwordless — Magic links (email) + OTP (email/SMS/WhatsApp) + embeddable magic links.
- RBAC — Roles and permissions per organization (B2B).
- SCIM Provisioning — Directory user/group provisioning from Okta, Azure, Google Workspace.
- Sessions — JWT or opaque session tokens. Configurable lifetime.
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.
Developer interfaces
| Kind | Stytch | Payload CMS |
|---|---|---|
| CLI | — | create-payload-app |
| SDK | Android SDK, Go backend SDK, iOS SDK, Java backend SDK, JavaScript SDK, Next.js SDK, Node backend SDK, Python backend SDK, React SDK, Ruby backend SDK | @payloadcms/next (Node) |
| REST | B2B API, B2C API | Payload REST API |
| GRAPHQL | — | Payload GraphQL API |
| OTHER | — | Admin UI, Local API (Node.js direct) |
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Some links to Stytch 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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