Source: https://seerepo.com/compare/conductor-oss/conductor/vs/payloadcms/payload
Markdown source: https://seerepo.com/compare/conductor-oss/conductor/vs/payloadcms/payload.md
Description: conductor and payload share 4 technologies: Redis, Postgres, MongoDB, and AWS S3. conductor is written in Java and payload in TypeScript.

# conductor vs payload

conductor and payload share 4 technologies: Redis, Postgres, MongoDB, and AWS S3. conductor is written in Java and payload in TypeScript.

- [conductor-oss/conductor](https://seerepo.com/r/conductor-oss/conductor): Conductor is an event driven agentic workflow engine providing durable and highly resilient execution engine for applications and AI Agents
- [payloadcms/payload](https://seerepo.com/r/payloadcms/payload): Payload is the open-source, fullstack Next.js framework, giving you instant backend superpowers. Get a full TypeScript backend and admin panel instantly. Use Payload as a headless CMS or for building powerful applications.

## What they share and what sets them apart

- In common: Redis, Postgres, MongoDB, AWS S3
- Only in conductor: Spring, Google
- Only in payload: Stripe, Vercel, Sentry, MCP

## Side by side

| | conductor | payload |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 568,609 lines written, 2,325 code files | 1,054,090 lines written, 4,857 code files |
| Who writes it | 2% of its commits signed by AI. With Claude Code and Cursor | 0.6% of its commits signed by AI. With GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, and Cursor |
| Activity | Last push October 31, 2026, 4,749 commits, 32,400 stars | Last push October 30, 2026, 14,760 commits, 45,594 stars |
| Tests | 705 test files. 34.5% of its code files have a test that imports them | 2,448 test files. 12.6% of its code files have a test that imports them |

- Size: Lines written by people and agents, without generated ones; code files, without tests.
- Who writes it: A commit counts as AI's when it carries its signature: a Co-Authored-By line, its author name or the merge of its branch.
- Activity: From GitHub and its history, on the day SeeRepo read it.
- Tests: The files that test the code, and the share of code files a test imports.

## Frequently asked questions

### Which is bigger, conductor or payload?

payload, with 1,054,090 lines written in 4,857 code files; conductor has 568,609 in 2,325.

The proof: [payloadcms/payload's code at commit ec35164](https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/tree/ec351643011603cf75dc91db5d03f80ff120f1e9)

### Which has more GitHub stars, conductor or payload?

payload, with 45,594 stars; conductor has 32,400.

The proof: [payloadcms/payload on GitHub](https://github.com/payloadcms/payload)

### Which has more tests, conductor or payload?

payload, with 2,448 test files; conductor has 705.

The proof: [payloadcms/payload's code at commit ec35164](https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/tree/ec351643011603cf75dc91db5d03f80ff120f1e9)

### Which was updated more recently, conductor or payload?

conductor: its last push was on October 31, 2026, and payload's on October 30, 2026.

The proof: [conductor-oss/conductor's commits on GitHub](https://github.com/conductor-oss/conductor/commits)

### Which has more commits signed by AI, conductor or payload?

conductor: an AI signed 2% of its commits, with Claude Code and Cursor; in payload, 0.6%.

The proof: [the commits each tool signed in conductor-oss/conductor](https://seerepo.com/r/conductor-oss/conductor/ai)

## Sources

- conductor-oss/conductor: Read on November 1, 2026, at commit 1a6b829 (https://github.com/conductor-oss/conductor/tree/1a6b82985e39ff282d645480287e07391f24b405)
- payloadcms/payload: Read on October 31, 2026, at commit ec35164 (https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/tree/ec351643011603cf75dc91db5d03f80ff120f1e9)

## What is your repo built with?

Any public repo, with no account: https://seerepo.com/r/owner/repo/built, with the owner and name it has on GitHub.