Products
AI Benchmark
Desktop
Mobile
Monthly visits
163.2K
Down21.2%MoMOct 2026
MRR
$100Claimed
Disclosed 2026-10-03Indie Hackers
Entry price
Free
No monthly subscription pricing
Creators
Dan Ribbens
No social account linkedCo-created with Elliot DeNolf, James Mikrut +2 more
Launched
5y ago
2021-03-02 · Est.

Traffic & revenue

Monthly visitsData through Oct 2026
MRRSelf-reported, unverified · Indie Hackers
  • Oct 2026$100Self-reported MRR · unverified
Events1 revenue disclosure · 1 marketing move

Revenue evidence

Publicly disclosed & verified revenue figures, sorted by date

Marketing moves

Launches, search & content, referrals, promotions
  • Launched on DevHuntLaunch

    Payload — Open-source Next.js-native headless CMS

    Oct 1 · 44d agoLaunch page

    At the time: 207K visits/moVisits: prior 3 mo -23%, next 1 mo -21%
  • Payload CMS launched on Product HuntLaunch

    TypeScript headless CMS + app framework

    Oct 9, 2023 · 3y agoSource

  • Payload CMS launched on Product HuntLaunch

    The best TypeScript CMS developer experience there is

    Jul 19, 2022 · 4y agoSource

  • Payload CMS launched on Product HuntLaunch

    Developer-first TypeScript & React headless CMS

    May 12, 2021 · 5y agoSource

  • Payload CMS launched on Show HN (7 pts · 3 comments)Launch

    Payload CMS–a new, self-hosted TypeScript CMS

    Mar 2, 2021 · 5y agoSource

Third-party reviews & case dossiers

Acquisition breakdowns, engineer reviews & open-source metrics
selfh.st★ 45.8K Stars · 4,428 ForksMITTypeScript
2021-01-05Source

Headless CMS and application framework

Open Source & Self-Hosting

GitHub · MCP / Skill
Last commit 2026-11-11
GitHub Stars
★ 45.8K
Forks
4,428
License
MIT
Primary language
TypeScript
COSS Monetization Path:Community Self-Hosted (MIT · Docker) → Managed Cloud (Free)
View cloud pricing →

Traffic sources

Oct 2026

Traffic breakdown

Channels

  • Organic Search51%
  • Direct29%
  • Referrals12%
  • Other7%

Countries

  • United States16%
  • Germany10%
  • India10%
  • Poland5%
  • United Kingdom4%

Search

Domain authority 75Domain registered 2018-04-02

KeywordMonthly volume
payload cms55.1K
payload42.2K
payloadcms3,020
playload1,860
nextjs cms1,540

Traffic data: Vaneform

Pricing

Public pricing: PaidRaw source text; structured plans are extracted after website capture.

Pages & changes

Tracked since 2021-05-12

Key pages

Weekly snapshots

Changes

No pricing, plan, or positioning changes detected since tracking started.

Design

First-screen visual analysis & :root CSS

Dark Developer (Dark canvas, balanced density) featuring split copy & visual layout and product ui screenshot / component visuals.

First-screen preview · click to zoom

First-screen pitch & conversion flow

“The Agentic Content Framework”

Split Copy & Visual hero structure paired with start free / sign up CTA and no explicit trust bar.

Conversion path: Split Copy & Visual + Product UI Screenshot / Component → Start Free / Sign Up

Palette · click to copy

5-D design score7.9 / 10
Typography
8.0
Color & Contrast
8.0
Layout & Spacing
8.0
Craft & Polish
8.0
Distinctiveness
7.0

Structure

Fonts
Geist / Geist Mono
Primary visual
Product UI Screenshot / Component
Conversion CTA
Start Free / Sign Up
Social proof
No Explicit Trust Bar
Navigation
Full-Width Top Bar
Theme & density
Dark · Balanced
Corners & depth
Small Radius · With shadow
Preview full AI design brief (includes :root CSS variables & layout rules)Style tokens only; never copy brand names, logos, copy, or images
# Design Brief: Dark Developer (with Minimal Monochrome)

Deep dark surfaces, monospace typography, terminal/code snippets, and high-precision borders.

## Design Tokens

```css
:root {
  --background: #050505;
  --surface: #1b1d20;
  --foreground: #ffffff;
  --muted-foreground: #a3a3a3;
  --accent: #f5f5f5;
  --radius: 4px;
  --font-heading: "Geist", ui-sans-serif, system-ui, sans-serif;
  --font-body: "Geist", ui-sans-serif, system-ui, sans-serif;
  --font-mono: "Geist Mono", ui-monospace, monospace;
}
```

Color area ratio: Background #050505 (~58%) · Surface #1B1D20 (~20%) · Text #FFFFFF (~10%) · Muted Text #A3A3A3 (~7%) · Accent #F5F5F5 (~5%). Background and surface dominate the canvas; reserve the accent color for primary buttons and active states.

## Layout & Conversion Structure

- Hero layout: Split Copy & Visual
- Navigation: Full-Width Top Bar
- Theme & density: Dark · Balanced
- Border radius & elevation: Small Radius; use elevation shadows to separate layers
- Primary visual medium: Product UI Screenshot / Component
- Conversion CTA: Start Free / Sign Up
- Headline hook: Category Positioning Anchor
- Hero components: Large Hero Product Shot, Code & Terminal
- Spatial layout notes: Split Copy & Visual hero structure paired with start free / sign up CTA and no explicit trust bar.
- Visual summary: Dark Developer (Dark canvas, balanced density) featuring split copy & visual layout and product ui screenshot / component visuals.

## Avoid

- Warm pastel backgrounds
- Playful cartoon illustrations
- Oversized pill buttons everywhere

Implement the UI following the design tokens and layout specifications above: use only these color variables, and reserve the accent color strictly for primary actions and active states. Adopt only this visual style—never copy any reference product’s brand name, logo, copy, or imagery.

Questions & evidence

How much website traffic does Payload CMS get?
Vaneform estimates 163.2K website visits in 2026-10. Visits can include repeat visits; this estimate measures web traffic separately from paying customers or revenue.Source
What is Payload CMS and what platforms does it support?
Payload CMS is catalogued under Backend, Databases & Storage: The Agentic Content Framework. Supported platforms: API.
Is Payload CMS open source?
Payload CMS has a public repository (https://github.com/payloadcms/payload) under the MIT license, recording 45.8K GitHub stars, and supporting self-hosted deployment.Source
What is Payload CMS's publicly disclosed revenue?
Indie Hackers records a founder-reported figure of $100 /mo stated on 2026-10-03.Source

Related products in this category

Software Development / Backend, Databases & Storage

These products share a catalog category. Compare customer tasks, features and deployment requirements before treating them as alternatives.