Payload CMS Development
Payload is the open-source, TypeScript-native headless CMS we chose for scorchsoft.com itself. We use it to build websites and application back ends that editors can run day to day and developers can extend without fighting the platform.
Payload CMS is an open-source headless content management system written in TypeScript that runs inside a Next.js application. You define your content model as code — collections, fields and access rules — and Payload generates the admin interface, the REST and GraphQL APIs, and the database schema from that definition. It is maintained as an open-source project at payloadcms.com.
Scorchsoft builds with Payload for websites, customer portals and product back ends. The page you are reading is served by it: scorchsoft.com is a Payload application running on Next.js and PostgreSQL, so everything described below is something we operate ourselves rather than something we have read about.
We are a UK app development team based in Birmingham. If you are weighing Payload against WordPress, a hosted headless service or a fully bespoke build, read why we chose Payload and what we compared it against, or book a free consultation — we will tell you where it is the wrong answer as readily as where it is the right one.
Why We Build With Payload
Your content model lives in your codebase
In most content systems the shape of your content is configuration held in a hosted dashboard. In Payload it is TypeScript in your repository, version-controlled alongside the rest of the application.
That sounds like a technical detail. It changes several things at once:
- Content model changes go through pull requests and code review, like any other change
- Database changes ship as migrations, so environments cannot silently drift apart
- Types are generated from the schema, so a mismatch breaks the build rather than the live site
- A new developer reads the model in the repository instead of clicking through an admin panel
It also makes the project far easier to work on with AI coding tools, which we come to further down this page.
Editors get a page builder, not a blank box
Every page on this site is a stack of sections — a hero, a set of panels, an FAQ, a call to action — that a marketing team arranges without touching code.
The sections themselves are built by developers, so the design system holds. Someone can put a new page together in an afternoon and it still looks like the rest of the site, because the only pieces available are pieces we designed for it. There is no free-form layout field where a page can quietly fall apart.
Sections that should read the same everywhere, such as the client logo strip and the closing call to action, are stored once and referenced by every page that uses them. Edit the original and every page follows.
It is an application framework, not just a CMS
Payload gives you authentication, role-based access control, hooks, file uploads, drafts and version history, and REST, GraphQL and local APIs over the same data.
That is most of what a custom web application needs before anyone writes a line of business logic. We use it for portals, scored assessments, form and enquiry handling and internal tools — jobs where a traditional CMS would have been the wrong shape, and a from-scratch back end would have taken longer to build and been harder to hand over.
See the kind of thing we build with it on our portal and web application page, or read our guide to building a customer portal.
Thinking about Payload for your next build?
Scorchsoft are UK app and portal developers with over 16 years' experience building functionally complex web apps. Tell us what you are trying to build and we will give you a straight answer on whether Payload fits.
Built on Payload, Edited With AI, Published by People
Read The Full Story
This website is our reference build
Scorchsoft.com runs on Payload, with Next.js on the front end and PostgreSQL behind it. Pages are composed from a catalogue of reusable sections, media is served from cloud storage, and every change to the content model ships as a database migration rather than an edit made straight against the live database.
We rebuilt the site here after years on an older content platform, and the deciding factor was not a feature checklist. It was that the entire content model sits in the repository as code we can review, test and automate against.
We wrote the whole decision up — the alternatives we weighed, the conventions we settled on and the trade-offs — in why we love Payload CMS.
AI drafts the content. A person publishes it.
We built a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server into the site, so an AI assistant can search pages, read a section's exact schema and lay out a page using the same conventions our developers follow — because it reads them from the same repository.
The safeguards are the interesting part, and each was a deliberate decision:
- AI can only ever write drafts. The write path strips any attempt to publish. Publishing is a human action in the admin, every time.
- AI never deletes content. There is no delete tool for it to reach for.
- Every AI revision is stamped with what produced it, so an editor can see what came from a machine.
- A publish gate checks the page first, confirming every internal link and image reference resolves before anyone pushes it live.
Payload CMS Questions
Payload is an open-source headless CMS built in TypeScript that runs inside a Next.js application. You define collections, fields and access rules as code, and Payload generates the admin interface, the REST and GraphQL APIs and the database schema from them. It is self-hosted, so there are no per-seat or per-record platform fees.
For a content-led marketing site edited by a small team, WordPress is well understood and has an enormous plugin ecosystem — that is a genuine advantage and we will say so. Payload wins when the site is also an application: custom data models, role-based permissions, deep integrations, a front end you control completely, and no plugin sprawl to keep patched. If your requirements are mostly pages and posts, the decision is close. If they include logins, workflows or bespoke data, Payload is usually the cleaner answer.
Yes, and it is one of the main reasons we use it. Authentication, access control, version history, file handling, hooks and three APIs over the same data cover most of a custom application's foundations before any business logic is written. We build portals, assessments, internal tools and enquiry-handling systems on it alongside the marketing site.
Payload is self-hosted, which means you own the database and the deployment rather than renting them. In practice we set that infrastructure up and run it for you, typically on AWS, with automated deployments and database migrations. You keep the code and the data, and no vendor can change the pricing of your own content.
Yes — that is the point of the section-based approach. Your team assembles pages from components we have designed and styled, so pages stay on-brand without a developer involved. We hand over with training and a catalogue showing every section available to you.
It depends on how much of the build is content and how much is application, so we scope it properly rather than guess. Send us a short description of what you need and we will come back with an estimate and our reasoning — get a free quote.
Experience Delivering
Features we regularly build into Payload sites, portals and web apps, from payments and single sign-on to cloud databases and systems integration. Explore the full list on our capabilities page.
Discover How Scorchsoft Can Help
We would love to hear about your project. Please contact us, and share your goals; we'll respond with our thoughts and a rough cost estimate. Scorchsoft is a UK-based team of web and mobile app developers and designers. We operate in-house from Birmingham, and our offices are located in the heart of the Jewellery Quarter.
Building for teams across healthcare, logistics, motorsport and manufacturing
What Our Clients Say
Scorchsoft helped us take our idea for an app and make it a reality. Everything from the planning meeting to decide what we really needed to the project management and execution was great. It was delivered on time - early in fact - and on budget. Highly recommend.
Rebecca PalserDragonfly IntelligenceScorchsoft is a brilliant company with fantastic knowledge of the mobile app industry. From the project management to the development team, they have been the perfect candidate for our project, and we can't thank them enough!
Lance ChorltonGapped OnlineWe're really pleased with the work Scorchsoft has done in developing our web portal! They have been accurate with timelines and budget, delivering a solid product that allows us to monitor and manage patients remotely while they use our novel medical device at-home. The "plan - design - build" approach has worked well and saved us time in the long-run by catching requirements and issues early.
Daniel GreenSensTrainI'm really pleased with how my app came out, it was exactly what I was looking for. The team at Scorchsoft are great at what they do and made the whole process as simple and easy as possible. Being someone who is not very tech savvy the set up and back end operations were done in a great easy to use manner even for myself which makes using my app stress free. Thanks to all the team!
Ruben CarrollMosaic MasterpiecesThe new Flourish Education website has already removed a lot of manual processes, freeing up both schools, candidates and internal employees time. We are delighted with the look and feel which is clean, professional and more engaging. We are also pleased with the decision to have an HD video background on the homepage, and building immediate trust with our clients by giving them a taste of what it looks like in the Flourish Education offices.
James HancocksMarketing Manager, Flourish Education I can't believe how quickly we started to see results with this project. Scorchsoft provided us with graphic-designed mockups of how the app would look once built, and we were able to sell the product for use by our first customer before the product was finished. Since launching in March, we have secured a major television network as a client who now uses Image Approvals to manage the talent approval process for their productions.
Aimee SpinksMD, ImageApprovals.com
Need help building your ideas?
Tell us where you're headed and we'll come back with our thoughts, a realistic plan and a rough cost estimate. Scorchsoft is a UK-based team of app, portal and AI developers, working in-house from Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter.