diff --git a/packages/payload-plugin-netlify-deploy/src/components/DeployButton.tsx b/packages/payload-plugin-netlify-deploy/src/components/DeployButton.tsx
index 5861a4b34..faacf9ac2 100644
--- a/packages/payload-plugin-netlify-deploy/src/components/DeployButton.tsx
+++ b/packages/payload-plugin-netlify-deploy/src/components/DeployButton.tsx
@@ -18,18 +18,19 @@ import type { DeployView } from "./DeployPanel.js";
 import { useDeploy } from "./useDeploy.js";
 
 const LABELS: Record<DeployView, string> = {
-  idle: "Publish",
+  idle: "Deploy",
   starting: "Building…",
   queued: "In queue…",
   building: "Building…",
   ready: "Preview ready",
   failed: "Build failed",
-  publishing: "Publishing…",
+  publishing: "Deploying…",
 };
 
 type Props = { placement?: "document" | "header" };
 
-// The Publish button — beside Save on a document, or in the admin's top bar — and the drawer it opens.
+// The Deploy button — beside Save on a document, or in the admin's top bar — and the drawer it opens.
+// Not "Publish": with drafts on, Payload's own Publish sits next to it and means the document.
 export const DeployButton = ({ placement = "document" }: Props) => {
   const info = useDocumentInfo();
   const { mostRecentUpdate } = useDocumentEvents();
@@ -102,7 +103,7 @@ export const DeployButton = ({ placement = "document" }: Props) => {
   const waiting = view === "idle" ? status.changes.length : 0;
 
   // Cancel means nothing goes live: the build is stopped or its preview deleted, and the drawer
-  // closes on the Publish button again.
+  // closes on the Deploy button again.
   const cancel = async () => {
     closeModal(drawerSlug);
     if (current) {
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ export const DeployButton = ({ placement = "document" }: Props) => {
           {LABELS[view]}
           {waiting > 0 && (
             <span
-              aria-label={`${waiting} unpublished changes`}
+              aria-label={`${waiting} changes not deployed`}
               style={{
                 padding: "0 7px",
                 borderRadius: 999,
@@ -144,7 +145,7 @@ export const DeployButton = ({ placement = "document" }: Props) => {
           )}
         </span>
       </Button>
-      <Drawer slug={drawerSlug} title="Publish site">
+      <Drawer slug={drawerSlug} title="Deploy site">
         <DeployPanel
           error={error}
           log={log}
@@ -159,8 +160,8 @@ export const DeployButton = ({ placement = "document" }: Props) => {
       </Drawer>
       <ConfirmationModal
         body={`${status.note ? `${status.note} ` : ""}The preview replaces what is live at ${host}.`}
-        confirmLabel="Publish"
-        heading={`Publish ${host}?`}
+        confirmLabel="Deploy"
+        heading={`Deploy ${host}?`}
         modalSlug={confirmSlug}
         onConfirm={async () => {
           if (current) {
diff --git a/packages/payload-plugin-netlify-deploy/src/components/DeployPanel.tsx b/packages/payload-plugin-netlify-deploy/src/components/DeployPanel.tsx
index e0eb01b9c..cad4da51f 100644
--- a/packages/payload-plugin-netlify-deploy/src/components/DeployPanel.tsx
+++ b/packages/payload-plugin-netlify-deploy/src/components/DeployPanel.tsx
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ type Props = {
   onPublish: () => void;
 };
 
-// Payload's theme has no green (`success` is blue), so live takes the Publish button's green.
+// Payload's theme has no green (`success` is blue), so live takes the Deploy button's green.
 export const TONES: Record<DeployTone, string> = {
   live: "#16a34a",
   past: "#2f5bd3",
@@ -158,11 +158,11 @@ export const DeployPanel = ({
 
   const badge: Record<DeployView, { label: string; tone: DeployTone; line: string }> = {
     idle: {
-      label: status.lastPublishedAt ? "Live" : "Not published",
+      label: status.lastPublishedAt ? "Live" : "Not deployed",
       tone: status.lastPublishedAt ? "live" : "muted",
       line: status.lastPublishedAt
-        ? `Last published ${ago(status.lastPublishedAt, now)}`
-        : "Nothing published yet",
+        ? `Last deployed ${ago(status.lastPublishedAt, now)}`
+        : "Nothing deployed yet",
     },
     starting: { label: "Starting", tone: "busy", line: "Asking Netlify for a build…" },
     queued: {
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ export const DeployPanel = ({
       line: current ? `Stopped ${ago(current.createdAt, now)}` : "The build stopped",
     },
     publishing: {
-      label: "Publishing",
+      label: "Deploying",
       tone: "busy",
       line: "Replacing the live site with the preview…",
     },
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ export const DeployPanel = ({
   const builtAt = view === "ready" && current ? new Date(current.createdAt).getTime() : null;
   const changeLists =
     view === "idle"
-      ? [{ title: "Saved since the last publish", note: null, changes: status.changes }]
+      ? [{ title: "Saved since the last deploy", note: null, changes: status.changes }]
       : builtAt !== null
         ? [
             {
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ export const DeployPanel = ({
               onClick={onBuild}
               size="medium"
             >
-              {site.locked ? "Start publishing" : "Build and publish"}
+              {site.locked ? "Start deploying" : "Build and deploy"}
             </Button>
           )}
           {view === "failed" && can.build && (
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ export const DeployPanel = ({
           {(view === "starting" || view === "queued" || view === "building") && (
             <>
               <Button buttonStyle="primary" disabled margin={false} size="medium">
-                {ownBuild || view === "starting" ? "Building…" : "Start publishing"}
+                {ownBuild || view === "starting" ? "Building…" : "Start deploying"}
               </Button>
               {ownBuild && can.build && current && (
                 <Button
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ export const DeployPanel = ({
                 onClick={onPublish}
                 size="medium"
               >
-                Publish
+                Deploy
               </Button>
               {/* A new build replaces this preview as the one offered; this one stays on Netlify. */}
               {can.build && (
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ export const DeployPanel = ({
           )}
           {view === "publishing" && (
             <Button buttonStyle="primary" disabled margin={false} size="medium">
-              Publishing…
+              Deploying…
             </Button>
           )}
         </div>