Sanity vs Payload
Pick Sanity when running a database is work your organisation should not take on: the Content Lake removes provisioning, scaling and patching. Pick Payload when content has to sit inside your own compliance perimeter, or when a TypeScript and Next.js team wants the CMS inside the same application as the frontend. Schemas are version-controlled code on both, so the deciding question is the operating model.
- Sanity Managed platform · open-source Studio
- Payload Self-hosted · code-first · open source
Last verified: 26 August 2026. Pricing and vendor-status claims on this page were checked at the source on that date.
When to pick each
Pick Sanity when
- There is no infrastructure team, and there should not be one — the managed Content Lake removes database operations entirely.
- Real-time, character-level co-editing in the Studio is core to how your content team works.
- AI content operations matter now: Content Agent runs audits and bulk edits on every plan today.
- A small content team wants a serious free start — twenty seats and high quotas at $0.
- Procurement requires a certified managed vendor (SOC 2 Type 2) on the other side of the contract.
Pick Payload when
- Your team is TypeScript and Next.js native and wants one codebase, one deployment, and generated types end to end.
- Content must live inside your own infrastructure — regulated industries, public institutions, data residency.
- Cost needs to be predictable at scale: no seat fees, API meters, or per-dataset add-ons.
- Access control has compliance implications — field-level access functions that ship through code review.
- The admin panel should be part of the product, built from your own React components in the same repo.
Feature comparison
Architecture & hosting
| Feature | Sanity | Payload |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Managed content platform; Content Lake hosted by Sanity | Self-hosted application you run |
| Source code | Studio is open source (MIT); the backend is hosted-only | Entire product open source (MIT) |
| Where content lives | Sanity's Content Lake, on Google Cloud | Your own database — Postgres, MongoDB, or SQLite |
| Hosting | Sanity's cloud; the Studio can deploy anywhere | Your cloud, Vercel, Cloudflare — anywhere Next.js runs |
Pricing & plans
| Feature | Sanity | Payload |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free $0 · Growth $15 per seat · Enterprise custom | Free to self-host; sales-led enterprise tier |
| Usage costs | Metered overages on API requests, bandwidth, and assets | None — cost tracks your infrastructure |
| Free tier | 20 seats, 10k documents, generous quotas | The whole product; you pay for hosting |
| Enterprise-gated features | SSO, custom roles, Content Releases, audit trail, backups | SSO, publishing workflows, audit logs, AI features |
Content modeling & developer experience
| Feature | Sanity | Payload |
|---|---|---|
| Where the schema is defined | Code — Studio schema files in your repo | Code — TypeScript config in your repo |
| Querying | GROQ (openly specified) + GraphQL | REST + GraphQL + a typed local API |
| Local development | Studio runs locally; content stays in the hosted Lake | Fully local against your own database |
| Embedding in an app | Studio is a static app you can host anywhere; data stays remote | Runs inside the same Next.js app |
| Rich text | Portable Text (open specification) | Lexical editor, stored as JSON |
Editor experience & governance
| Feature | Sanity | Payload |
|---|---|---|
| Real-time co-editing | Core Studio capability, character-level | Not built in |
| Visual editing / preview | Visual editing on all plans | Live Preview built in |
| Roles & permissions | Predefined roles per plan; custom roles on Enterprise | Function-based access control in code, field-level |
| Scheduling | Scheduled drafts on Growth; Content Releases on Enterprise | Built in, runs on the jobs queue |
| Compliance certifications | SOC 2 Type 2 | Inherits your infrastructure's posture |
AI, localization & exit
| Feature | Sanity | Payload |
|---|---|---|
| AI capabilities | Content Agent + hosted MCP server, credit-metered | Official MCP plugin |
| Localization | Official plugins, document- or field-level | Core, field-level, unlimited locales |
| Exit path | Full NDJSON export on every plan | Your database — there is no export step |
| Vendor dependency | Higher — the backend cannot leave Sanity's cloud | Lower — open, self-hosted, portable |
Sanity and Payload are both code-first and both ship MIT-licensed code, which makes them look closer than they are. The real fork is where content lives: Sanity hosts the backend for you as a managed subscription; Payload is a backend you install, run, and own. This page lays out where each side wins, then breaks the differences down feature by feature.
The core difference
Sanity is a managed content platform. The Studio — the editing application — is open-source code that lives in your repository and can deploy anywhere, but content itself lives in the Content Lake, a real-time content database that Sanity hosts on Google Cloud and that cannot be self-hosted. You query it with GROQ over Sanity’s APIs, and the operational work of the data layer — scaling, patching, uptime — belongs to the vendor. Since its $85M Series C, Sanity has been building outward from the CMS into a platform of connected products under the “Content Operating System” banner.
Payload is a headless CMS you run yourself. It installs into a Next.js application, the content model is TypeScript in your repository, and the data sits in a database you choose — Postgres, MongoDB, or SQLite. The admin panel is a React application that ships inside the same codebase as your product. The whole platform is MIT-licensed, and it has stayed that way since Figma acquired Payload in June 2025.
Schemas are version-controlled code on both platforms, so the deciding question is an operating model: a managed data layer with a subscription and usage meters, or an owned one with infrastructure and patching on your plate.
Where Sanity is the stronger choice
Sanity earns its keep when running a database is work your organisation should not take on. The Content Lake removes that entire category: no provisioning, no scaling, no data-plane patching, and a SOC 2 Type 2 certificate on the vendor side for the procurement checklist. Its collaborative editing is genuinely ahead — character-level, real-time multiplayer in the Studio is a shipped, mature capability — and Content Agent gives editorial teams AI-driven audits and bulk operations on every plan today.
The Free plan is also a serious on-ramp: twenty seats and quotas most early-stage teams will not hit, at $0, with a full NDJSON export available if you later leave.
Where Payload is the stronger choice
Payload’s case rests on ownership and proximity to the product. Content sits in your own database inside your own compliance perimeter, which for regulated industries and public institutions can be the entire argument. For a TypeScript and Next.js team, the CMS runs inside the same application as the frontend — one deployment, a typed Local API with no network boundary, and schema changes that go through pull requests like everything else.
Its access control is written as code: collection- and field-level access functions, reviewable and auditable in version control, with no plan gate deciding how precise you are allowed to be. And the admin panel is yours to shape: your own React components, shipped through your own release process.
Pricing and total cost of ownership
Sanity’s pricing is public and metered: Free at $0, Growth at $15 per seat with published overage rates on API requests, bandwidth, and assets, and a custom-quoted Enterprise tier that holds most of the governance surface — SSO, custom roles, Content Releases, the audit trail, backups. The bill grows with seats and usage, which makes it easy to start and worth modelling before you scale.
Payload’s software is free to self-host; the cost is the infrastructure you run it on and the engineering time to operate it, including staying current with security patches. For a small team with light usage, Sanity’s Free plan is hard to beat on cost. At institutional scale — many seats, heavy API traffic, several environments — an owned deployment usually wins, and the predictability of the curve is often worth as much as the number.
Payload Cloud, the first-party managed hosting option, is currently paused for new projects. Choosing Payload today means hosting it yourself or on a platform like Vercel or Cloudflare.
An earlier long-form version of this comparison stays online as an archive, with the version-stamped pricing tables, governance detail and the full source list: the long-form Sanity vs Payload write-up. This page is the one kept current.
A note on our position
WAYF is a Payload Partner agency and a top contributor to its open source, so we have an interest in this comparison. We pick Payload often because self-hosting, code-first modeling, and no lock-in fit how we and our clients build. When a team is better served by a managed platform, that is the recommendation we give, and Sanity is a strong one.
Common questions
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Can you self-host Sanity?
Not the content layer. The Studio, which is the editing application, is open-source code that lives in your repository and can deploy anywhere. Content itself lives in the Content Lake, a real-time content database that Sanity hosts on Google Cloud and that cannot be self-hosted. You query it with GROQ over Sanity's APIs, and the operational work of the data layer, meaning scaling, patching and uptime, belongs to the vendor.
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Is Sanity or Payload cheaper?
It depends on scale. Sanity's pricing is public and metered: Free at $0, Growth at $15 per seat with published overage rates on API requests, bandwidth and assets, and a custom-quoted Enterprise tier. Payload's software is free to self-host, and the cost is the infrastructure plus the engineering time to operate it, including staying current with security patches. For a small team with light usage, Sanity's Free plan is hard to beat on cost. At institutional scale, meaning many seats, heavy API traffic and several environments, an owned deployment usually wins.
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Is Payload Cloud available?
Payload Cloud, the first-party managed hosting option, is currently paused for new projects. Choosing Payload today means hosting it yourself or on a platform such as Vercel or Cloudflare. Payload itself is MIT-licensed and has stayed that way since Figma acquired it in June 2025.
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Does Sanity have SOC 2 certification?
Yes. Sanity holds a SOC 2 Type 2 certificate on the vendor side, which is what a procurement checklist is usually asking for when it requires a certified managed vendor on the other side of the contract. With Payload the compliance posture is inherited from the infrastructure you run it on, because the content sits inside your own perimeter.
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Which has better collaborative editing, Sanity or Payload?
Sanity leads on this. Character-level, real-time multiplayer editing in the Studio is a shipped, mature capability, and Content Agent adds AI-driven audits and bulk operations on every plan today. If real-time co-editing is core to how your content team works, that is a reason to pick Sanity.
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