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Welcoming Payload to the Figma Team | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

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Figma has welcomed the team behind Payload, an open-source headless CMS and application framework, to strengthen its developer tools and connect design more closely with development. Payload will remain open source, with continued investment and no immediate changes for users. The partnership supports Figma’s broader vision of letting teams design, build, and deploy digital products within a collaborative ecosystem.

Why Figma Chose Payload

  • Payload is known for its highly customizable architecture, extensibility, and strong developer experience.
  • It has become one of the leading open-source projects in its category and is used by several Fortune 100 companies.
  • Figma was especially impressed by Payload’s active open-source community and its practice of incorporating developer feedback into the product.
  • Both companies emphasize collaboration, community participation, and continuous improvement.

What Happens to Payload

  • Payload will remain an open-source product.
  • There will be no immediate changes for existing users.
  • Figma plans to continue investing in the project and improving it.
  • Figma and Payload users will receive ongoing communication as the combined CMS strategy and product roadmap develop.

Bridging Design and Development

  • Figma aims to become a central hub where teams can create and deploy digital products.
  • Payload’s CMS and framework capabilities can help connect Figma’s design tools with production websites and applications.
  • As AI accelerates the generation of code and content, controlling deployments and refining user experiences across channels becomes increasingly important.
  • The partnership is intended to reduce the traditional gap between designers and developers.

The Broader Context

  • The announcement follows Figma’s push into web publishing through Figma Sites.
  • Payload’s flexibility and developer-focused tools could expand what developers can build across Figma’s platforms.
  • The companies expect their combined teams and communities to create more integrated design, development, and content workflows.

Figma’s acquisition of the Payload team is positioned as a long-term investment in collaborative, developer-friendly product creation, while preserving Payload’s open-source identity and existing user experience.