Neon vs Payload CMS

Neon

Payload CMS

Neon · 14 features

• Autoscaling — Compute scales CPU + memory between min and max CU in seconds based on load.
• Branching — Git-like DB branches: copy-on-write snapshots of data + schema. Instant, cheap. …
• Data API (REST) — PostgREST-compatible REST endpoint auto-generated from your schema. Uses Postgre…
• IP Allowlist — Restrict DB access to specific CIDRs. Launch+.
• Launchpad — One-click create-a-database link that can be embedded in OSS repos (DATABASE_URL…
• Logical Replication — Publish changes to Snowflake, BigQuery, Kafka, or other Postgres. Subscribe from…
• Monitoring — Built-in dashboards for CPU/RAM/connections/slow queries. Prometheus export on B…
• Neon Auth — Stack Auth integrated: users table auto-synced into your Postgres (public.users_…
• Point-in-Time Restore — Restore DB to any moment in the retention window (6h free → 30d Scale) via branc…
• Private Networking — AWS PrivateLink / VPC peering. Business plan.
• Read Replicas — Create a read-only compute endpoint on the same branch. Zero replication lag (re…
• Scale to Zero — Compute suspends when idle — no charge for compute while paused. Cold-start ~300…
• Schema Diff — Compare schema between branches — build PR checks and preview migrations safely.
• SQL over HTTP — Serverless driver lets you query Postgres over HTTPS — works in edge runtimes (V…

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.