PAYLOAD CMS BLOCKS, COMPARED
Other Payload kits give you blocks and pages.Tome gives you that, plus the business engines behind them.
If you build on Payload, you have real options for blocks now. This page puts them side by side: what each one gives you, how it gets into your project, and what it costs. It also says plainly when one of the others is the better call.
IF YOU ONLY READ ONE PART
Which one is for you.
Choose Tome
Your client projects outgrow the marketing site.
Start with the block library, then add the engine a project needs: courses with progress and certificates, a catalog with checkout, a CRM that catches the leads.
Choose Payblocks
You build marketing sites in Tailwind and shadcn.
And you'd rather pay once for a boilerplate you fork and own.
Choose Payload's own
A starting site, or products plus a cart plus Stripe, is the whole job.
They're free, and Payload maintains them.
THE TABLE
Five ways to get blocks for Payload.
| Feature | Tome | Payblocks | Payload themes on ThemeForest | Free block kits | Payload's own templates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | Blocks, plus engines you can add behind them | A Next.js and Payload boilerplate with marketing blocks | A finished marketing-site theme | A set of marketing blocks | A starting site; an ecommerce template and plugin |
| How it gets into your project | npm install into the Payload project you already have; updates are npm update | Fork the source repository and build from it; improvements land in that repository | Download the theme | Copy the code into your project | create-payload-app, or an npm plugin |
| Blocks | 161 across 12 packs; 2 packs (19 blocks) free | "24+ block types, 70+ blocks" | Whatever the theme includes | 25 (LayoutBlocks), 9 (PayloadKit) | The template's own |
| Business features with matching blocks | Learning, Commerce, and CRM & Marketing engines, added per project; more on request | Marketing, forms, and sign-in blocks | None | None | Checkout backend (products, cart, orders, Stripe), no blocks |
| Free to start | 2 packs with a free account, no card | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Price | Blocks: $250 a year for every paid pack, or $49 a pack once. Engines: from $300 a year each, added per project | $379 once, lifetime access to the repository | $24 per theme (regular license) | Free | Free |
| A demo you can click through | starter.wabbit.com, a whole running site | A hosted demo | A theme preview | — | — |
Sources for every cell are at the bottom of the page.
THREE THINGS YOU CAN CHECK
What's different about Tome.
01 · Install
It installs into the project you already have.
Most Payload kits are a starting point you clone. Tome's blocks are npm packages that drop into the site you already run, and they update the same way. We test the install before every release: the last run passed all 96 checks.
02 · Engines
The engines behind the pages.
A block library can give you a course card. Tome also runs the course: enrollments, progress, quizzes, certificates. A catalog with checkout. A CRM pipeline for the leads your pages bring in. Engines aren't part of the block library: you add one, by the year, when a project needs it.
03 · Demo
A running site, not a screenshot.
starter.wabbit.com is one Tome install running the blocks and engines together. Enroll in a course and watch your progress save. Check out a free product. Walk the org chart.
FAIR IS FAIR
Sometimes the answer isn't us.
Payblocks
Better if you build marketing sites in Tailwind and shadcn and want to pay once. You get lifetime access to a boilerplate you fork and own, plus shadcnblocks' wider component library.
A ThemeForest theme
Better if you want one client's marketing site to look finished quickly, for about the price of lunch.
Payload's own
Better if a starting site, or products plus a cart plus Stripe, is the whole job. Free, from the people who make Payload.
A free block kit
Better if you need a handful of blocks and you're happy copying code into your project.
If one of those covers everything you need, use it. Tome earns its fee when the second client asks for courses, or the third wants a store.
WHAT IT COSTS
Blocks by the library. Engines by the project.
The blocks
Free
$0
Marketing Starter and Content Writer, 19 blocks. A free account, no card, no trial.
Craft Library
$250/yr
Every paid pack and theme. Stop whenever you like: what you've installed keeps working; you just stop receiving new releases.
Single packs
$49
Each, once, if you only need one.
The engines · added per project, on any plan
Learning
$300/yr
Courses, lessons, and progress.
CRM & Marketing
$400/yr
Contacts, pipeline, campaigns, and intake forms.
Commerce
$400/yr
Catalog and checkout, set up with us because it touches payments.
Agency
$4,800/yr
Every engine included, for studios running many client sites.
Against a one-time price
Payblocks · $379 once
Lifetime access to a boilerplate you fork. Its improvements land in that repository, and you bring them into your copy.
Tome · by the year
Blocks and engines stay packages in your project, so an update is npm update. That's what the yearly fee pays for: blocks that keep working as Payload ships new releases every few weeks, and engines that keep growing.
FIVE STEPS
From npm install to a rendered block.
- STEP 01
Get a free key, point npm at our registry.
Create a free account (no card), then claim the free license and generate an install token in Account → Credentials. Every install needs one, free packs included. Registry line in your project's .npmrc, token in your user-level ~/.npmrc.
- STEP 02
Install a pack.
npm install @wabbit/tome-blocks-marketing-starter - STEP 03
Load the design tokens.
@import '@wabbit/tome-blocks-core/styles.css'; - STEP 04
Add blocks to your pages.
Import the ones you want and put them in your Pages collection's blocks field, next to the blocks you already have:
import { pricingBlock, faqBlock } from '@wabbit/tome-blocks-marketing-starter' - STEP 05
Render them on Tome's page grid.
<RenderBlocks blocks={blocks} components={blockComponents} gridClassName={gridStyles.grid} />
WHERE TO NEXT
Pick your door.
Browse the blocks
All 161, with live previews.
Two packs are free with a no-card account.
Browse the blocks →See it running
Blocks and engines, running together.
starter.wabbit.com
Open the demo →Have it built
A platform shaped to your operation.
If you need that rather than a toolkit, that's what we do.
How we build platforms →WHERE THESE FACTS COME FROM
Checked 24 September 2026. If something here has gone out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.
Payblocks: price, contents, and delivery from shadcnblocks.com/payload-cms and shadcnblocks.com/pricing.
Payload themes on ThemeForest: prices from the Pixy and Lumex listings.
Free block kits: LayoutBlocks and PayloadKit.
Payload's own templates and plugin: the ecommerce plugin docs and the templates on GitHub.
Tome: block counts are the live count on /blocks; install steps from the get-started guide and the blocks-core reference; the install test is scripts/blocks-fresh-install-smoke.mjs in the Tome platform repository.