Auth0 vs Payload CMS
Customer identity platform from Okta
vs. TypeScript-first open-source headless CMS — code-first, config-driven
Pricing tiers
Auth0
B2C Essentials
Starting at 500 MAUs. Pro MFA, RBAC, passwordless, SAML, 10 orgs.
$35/mo
B2B Essentials
Unlimited orgs, 3 SSO connections, RBAC.
$150/mo
B2C Professional
Starting at 500 MAUs. Includes attack protection, custom DB, enterprise MFA.
$240/mo
B2B Professional
5+ SSO connections, attack protection, custom DB.
$800/mo
Enterprise
Custom. 99.99% SLA, dedicated support.
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 b2c-essentials on Auth0 vs oss on Payload CMS.
| Metric | Auth0 | Payload CMS |
|---|---|---|
| mau start | 500 MAU | — |
| sso connections | 0 conns | — |
Features
Auth0 · 14 features
- Attack Protection — Bot detection, brute-force protection, breached-password detection, suspicious I…
- Auth0 Actions — Node.js + TS hooks that run during auth flows (login, post-login, signup, MFA). …
- Auth0 FGA (OpenFGA) — Fine-grained relationship-based authorization (ReBAC). Based on Google Zanzibar.
- Custom Database — BYO user DB: scripts in Actions read from your database and create Auth0 users o…
- Custom Domain — Serve auth at auth.yourbrand.com with managed cert.
- Enterprise SSO — SAML 2.0 + OIDC + AD/LDAP enterprise connections. Per-tenant or per-org.
- Log Streaming — Stream tenant logs to Datadog, Splunk, Sumo Logic, Azure Sentinel, HTTP, Mixpane…
- Machine-to-Machine — Client-credentials grant for backend services.
- Multi-Factor Auth — SMS, Voice, Email, TOTP, WebAuthn (biometrics), Push (Guardian app), Duo.
- Organizations — Multi-tenant B2B: orgs with invitations, roles, branding, enterprise connections…
- Passkeys — FIDO2/WebAuthn passkey sign-in.
- Passwordless — Email magic link + code, SMS code, WebAuthn.
- RBAC — Roles, permissions, API scopes — attach to users or orgs.
- Universal Login — Hosted login page with customization, multi-factor flows, passwordless, social, …
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 | Auth0 | Payload CMS |
|---|---|---|
| CLI | Auth0 CLI | create-payload-app |
| SDK | Auth0 Android, Auth0 iOS/Swift, @auth0/nextjs-auth0, Auth0 React SDK, Auth0 SPA.js SDK, Go Auth0 SDK, Node Auth0 Backend SDK, Python Auth0 SDK | @payloadcms/next (Node) |
| REST | Authentication API, Management API | Payload REST API |
| GRAPHQL | — | Payload GraphQL API |
| OTHER | — | Admin UI, Local API (Node.js direct) |
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Outbound links to Auth0 and Payload CMS are plain references to their official websites. Pricing is verified against vendor pages at publication time — reconfirm before buying.
Want this comparison in your AI agent's context? Install the free Staxly MCP server.