You can now translate your Payload CMS content from Lingo.dev.
The Payload CMS integration connects your Payload instance to a localization engine you host on Lingo.dev. Choose the collections and globals to cover, and Lingo.dev translates their localized fields into your target languages, then writes each translation back to Payload under that locale, using Payload's own localization model. Rich text translates as a Lexical tree, so formatting, links, uploads, and block structure survive the round trip and only the text inside is replaced.
Setup is one plugin. Install @lingo.dev/payloadcms, add it to your Payload config, and redeploy. Scope, locales, and engine all live in the dashboard, so you can change them without touching your config again.
You choose how translation runs. Add the webhook URL from the dashboard to the plugin and it runs automatically: every change you publish in your source locale is sent to Lingo.dev on its own, and only what changed is translated. Leave the webhook URL out and it runs manually: nothing translates until you start it from the dashboard.
Automatic runs only cover what you publish after connecting, so the dashboard has two buttons for the rest. Sync catches up: it translates whatever changed since the last run, which is how you translate the content that was already in Payload when you connected, fill in a target locale you add later, or retry a failed run. Retranslate rebuilds every document in scope from scratch, for when you change the localization engine's glossary, brand voice, or rules and want your existing translations regenerated against the new configuration.
Draft saves can be translated and written back as drafts to review inside Payload before they go live, or published changes can go straight to your readers, and the Runs tab shows progress per target language.
Every run goes through the full localization pipeline configured on your localization engine, the same stages that run when you localize from code or CI. Whatever you have enabled on the localization engine applies to your Payload content: pre-edit, your glossary, brand voice, and rules, AI review, rephrase, back-translation, and human review, whether that review is handled by your own team in the dashboard or by an external professional translator. Turn a stage on for the localization engine and the next Payload run picks it up.
Check out the guide to set it up. If it's not available on your plan, reach out to the Lingo.dev team to try it out.
