Transforming Business with AI
Payload is the right choice when your content model and application logic belong in code you control. When a hosted CMS serves you better, we will say exactly that.
Oronts engineers Payload systems from Munich: headless content backends, custom applications built on the Payload framework, and admin tooling that runs inside your own Next.js app. Config as code, your database, your hosting, no vendor lock-in.
The stack we build on
Choose Payload, the open-source TypeScript-native headless CMS and application framework, when your content model and business logic are the product and you want to own them in code. It fits when a hosted CMS becomes a ceiling: you define collections, fields, access control, and hooks as TypeScript config, expose them over REST, GraphQL, and a local API, and run the whole thing inside or alongside your own Next.js app. You pick the database, Postgres or MongoDB through adapters, you self-host, and you keep the source. The trade is that it is a framework, not a turnkey product, so it rewards teams that have or want engineering ownership. Where a hosted CMS covers the need, we will tell you plainly in the first call.
Collections, fields, access rules, and hooks are defined as typed configuration in your codebase. The content model is version-controlled and reviewed like any other code, not clicked together in a dashboard you cannot diff.
Payload is open source and self-hostable. You choose Postgres or MongoDB through official adapters, the data stays in your database, and there is no platform that can hold your content hostage.
Deployed into your own cloud or container platform with no mandatory vendor host and no per-seat or per-record platform fee. Any competent TypeScript or Node team can pick the project up after handover.
The admin UI and the API layer can run inside an existing Next.js application, so content tooling and your app share one deployment. REST, GraphQL, and the local API expose the same data to any frontend.
One content core, exposed once through GraphQL and REST, consumed by every frontend and backend.
Editors work in the Payload admin while collections, access control, and media sit in one core on your database. That core is exposed once through GraphQL and REST, so your Next.js site, mobile app, and storefront read the same content as your services, jobs, and integrations. You own the schema and the code.
Complete content backends: collection and field architecture, access control, drafts and versioning, media handling, and a React or Next.js frontend connected over REST, GraphQL, or the local API.
Payload is an application framework, not only a CMS. We build internal tools, portals, and product backends on it, using its access control and hooks as the backbone instead of stitching together a separate API layer.
Payload running inside your existing Next.js app, sharing one deployment and one TypeScript codebase, so editors and your application use the same backend with no separate service to operate.
Postgres or MongoDB chosen on the facts of your case and wired through the official Payload adapters, with migrations, schema design, and access patterns built for the data you actually run.
From a hosted CMS, a legacy headless backend, or a custom content store to Payload, with content modeled cleanly as collections and data moved through repeatable, verifiable imports rather than one-off scripts.
Deployment architecture, observability, and upgrade paths for teams that run Payload in their own cloud, so the system is operable by your engineers, not dependent on us to keep it running.
Two to four days: we review your Payload installation or your plans for one, assess collection design, access control, data flows, and scaling risks, and deliver a written engineering assessment with a concrete roadmap.
Fixed price, scoped to your system. Request the exact quote.
A content platform is a long-term commitment. Here is what matters per role.
You want a TypeScript-native CMS you own end to end.
Payload in your repo and your database, no vendor lock-in, GDPR-grade engineering.
You need content plus an API shipped fast.
A Payload build live in a 90-day pilot, GraphQL and REST out of the box.
Your client needs senior headless CMS work under your brand.
White-label Payload engineering, senior-only delivery.
Content and applications must run in your region and support Arabic.
Self-hosted Payload in your region, your Postgres or MongoDB, native Arabic and full RTL, and you own the schema and the code.
From fit check to a launched, owned system: scoped, built, and supported by senior engineers, with the schema and the roadmap in your hands.
We scope your content model, application logic, and integrations, and confirm Payload is the right fit before committing. If a hosted CMS serves you better, we say so here.
We design the collection and field architecture, access control, and hooks as typed config on top of Payload, with the database choice made on facts.
We build the Payload backend, the admin tooling, and the frontend over REST, GraphQL, or the local API, with tests and documentation so your team can read and extend it.
We connect the systems your case needs, search, media storage, auth, payments, and any external data, wired cleanly through Payload hooks and the API.
Staged launch with content migration, testing, and a cutover plan, then handover of the source, the schema, and a runbook so you operate it without us in the loop.
Payload is two things at once, and which one you lean on shapes the build.
Payload is open source and runs on infrastructure you control. You self-host it in your own cloud, pick Postgres or MongoDB through official adapters, and keep full source and full data ownership. There is no mandatory vendor cloud and no platform that gates running or changing what you build.
Payload defines collections, fields, access control, and hooks as TypeScript config, and exposes them over REST, GraphQL, and a local API in the same process. That makes it a backend for applications, not only a place to edit content. The decision is whether you need a content tool or an application backend, and we engineer both and tell you honestly which fits your case.
Payload can run inside an existing Next.js application, so the admin UI, the API, and your app share one codebase and one deployment. For teams already on Next.js this removes a separate service to host and operate. We design the integration so content tooling and your application stay one system, not two that drift apart.
The same framework gives very different outcomes depending on who engineers it. This is where a hosted or SaaS CMS stops, where self-running Payload leaves you, and what changes when we build and own the hard parts with you.
Scroll sideways to compare all three columns.
| Hosted / SaaS CMS | Payload (self-run) | Payload + Oronts | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full source and data ownership | |||
| Content model as version-controlled code | |||
| TypeScript-native config and types | |||
| Choice of database (Postgres or MongoDB) | |||
| Self-hosting without a per-record platform fee | |||
| Deep custom logic (access rules, hooks) | Build it yourself | ||
| Runs inside an existing Next.js app | |||
| Production architecture and observability | Vendor-run | Your responsibility | |
| Senior engineering team behind it | If you have it |
A check means the capability is there out of the box. A minus means it is partial or needs work. Text cells say what it actually takes.
Concrete content and tooling situations a TypeScript-native headless CMS plus our engineering solves.
Payload running as code in your Next.js app, with typed collections, access control and a Git-versioned schema.
A headless content core with GraphQL and REST, so every frontend reads the same governed content.
A custom admin on Payload with roles and audit, consolidating internal tooling on one TypeScript stack.
A migration to self-hosted Payload you own, with your content and schema in your repository and your cloud.
Payload deployed in your EU environment with an AVV (Art. 28 GDPR) and data residency under your control.
Localized collections in Payload, modeled for multi-language content from the start, including RTL.
Moving content and tooling onto Payload is a sequence, not a switch. We migrate you onto self-hosted Payload in defined stages, each verified against a copy of production before it touches what your editors or users see. The result is a TypeScript content system you own end to end, with your schema in your repository.
We map your existing content in full: content types and relationships, media and assets, users and roles, the frontends that consume the content, and any custom editorial logic. The output is a clear inventory of what migrates to Payload cleanly, what is remodeled as collections, and what is retired.
We model your content as typed Payload collections and globals, with access control, validation, and the editorial workflow your team actually uses. Decisions like localization strategy and which fields are versioned are made here, on facts, before any build work starts.
We build the Payload backend, the typed admin your editors work in, and the GraphQL and REST layer your frontends read, inside your Next.js app. Each piece ships with tests and documentation so your team can read and extend it, not just run it.
We migrate content in increments through idempotent scripts, mapping old fields to the new schema and bringing media across one content type at a time. Every increment is verified against a copy of production before the next begins, so a re-run is safe and nothing is lost in transit.
We validate content, media, access, and the consuming frontends against criteria agreed with you, then run a controlled cutover with a defined fallback. We stay on hand through the first publishing cycle, and you keep the source code, the schema, and the runbook to operate it without us in the loop.
The ownership, hosting, and support facts a procurement and IT review will ask about, answered up front and without fabricated certifications.
How responsibility splits across the delivery chain on a Payload engagement.
| Responsibility | Oronts | Your agency / partner | You | Cloud provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload build and custom code | Oronts owns Payload build and custom code | |||
| Source code and IP | You owns Source code and IP | |||
| Hosting and infrastructure | You owns Hosting and infrastructure | Cloud provider owns Hosting and infrastructure | ||
| Content and customer data | Oronts owns Content and customer data | You owns Content and customer data | ||
| Security and patching | Oronts owns Security and patching | Your agency / partner owns Security and patching | ||
| Acceptance and sign-off | You owns Acceptance and sign-off | |||
| Incident response | Oronts owns Incident response | Your agency / partner owns Incident response |
Oronts works with serious teams that need senior delivery, not low-cost outsourcing.
Exact pricing depends on scope, responsibility, delivery speed, team size, integrations, support expectations and production risk.
Funding programs such as Digitalbonus Bayern may cover part of eligible digitalization projects; Oronts can support with the technical project description and application preparation.
Founder-led, senior-only delivery from Munich. Scope your Payload project in one conversation.