Our take
Pick Payload if next.js teams who will stay on the MIT self-host at $0 while they open a first Collections admin, then keep self-hosting (or wait for whatever Figma ships next) because Payload Cloud will not create a new project for a non-Enterprise team today. Pick Strapi if content / app teams who will stay on Community self-host $0 while they publish a first article, or start Cloud Starter at $35/project/month
**open-source headless CMS you run in Next
Best for
Payload Content you start at $0 on your host
Strapi Entries you start at $35 Cloud or OSS $0
Free plan
Payload $0 · mIT. You run Next.js + a database + media storage. Confirmed by the repo license and the Cloud FAQ (“Payload remains a self-hosted solution”)
Strapi $0 · you run it
Lowest paid
Payload Not published by the vendor
Strapi Usage $1.50/mo
Next step up
Payload
Strapi Starter $35/mo
Runs where
Payload Local or hosted
Strapi Local; you host it
Watch out
Payload Cloud will not create a new project for you today
Strapi Cloud Starter is 100k API requests
Last checked
Payload 2026-10-23 · payloadcms.com/cloud-pricing
Strapi 2026-10-22 · strapi.io/pricing-cloud
next.js teams who will stay on the MIT self-host at $0 while they open a first Collections admin, then keep self-hosting (or wait for whatever Figma ships next) because Payload Cloud will not create a new project for a non-Enterprise team today.
Read the Payload pagecontent / app teams who will stay on Community self-host $0 while they publish a first article, or start Cloud Starter at $35/project/month (100k API requests, 50 GB assets) when they do not want to run Node themselves.
Read the Strapi page