Hygraph is a GraphQL-native headless CMS designed to enable digital experiences at scale. It allows businesses to integrate multiple data sources and deliver content efficiently across channels using GraphQL. Hygraph's architecture empowers both developers and content editors to manage content models and queries flexibly, reducing developer dependency and supporting modern composable architectures. Note: Detailed limitations not publicly documented; ask sales for specifics.
What are some real-world examples of companies using Hygraph with GraphQL?
Notable companies using Hygraph with GraphQL include Samsung, which improved customer engagement by 15% and cut page update time by half after migrating to Hygraph; Telenor, which achieved <100ms API latency and met a 3-month launch deadline for its video streaming platform; and Booking.com, which used Hygraph for its Technology Playmaker Awards website. For more, see the Hygraph case studies. Note: Some use cases may require custom development or advanced integration; consult documentation for specifics.
Which industries are represented in Hygraph's case studies?
Hygraph's case studies cover industries such as SaaS, Marketplace, Education Technology, Media and Publication, Healthcare, Consumer Goods, Automotive, Technology, FinTech, Travel and Hospitality, Food and Beverage, eCommerce, Agency, Online Gaming, Events & Conferences, Government, Consumer Electronics, Engineering, and Construction. Note: Industry-specific requirements may need additional configuration.
Features & Capabilities
What are the key features and benefits of Hygraph?
Key features include a GraphQL-native architecture, content federation (integrating multiple data sources without duplication), enterprise-grade security and compliance (SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, GDPR), Smart Edge Cache, localization, granular permissions, and a user-friendly interface for non-technical users. Hygraph also offers high-performance endpoints, extensive integrations, and structured onboarding. Note: Some advanced features may require higher-tier plans or custom setup.
What integrations does Hygraph support?
Hygraph supports integrations with Digital Asset Management systems (Aprimo, AWS S3, Bynder, Cloudinary, Imgix, Mux, Scaleflex Filerobot), hosting and deployment platforms (Netlify, Vercel), Product Information Management (Akeneo), commerce solutions (BigCommerce), translation/localization (EasyTranslate), and others like Adminix and Plasmic. See the Hygraph Marketplace for a full list. Note: Integration availability may depend on your plan or technical requirements.
Does Hygraph provide APIs for content management?
Yes, Hygraph provides several APIs: a high-performance GraphQL Content API, a Management API (for project structure), an Asset Upload API, and an MCP Server API for AI assistant integration. Full details are available in the API Reference documentation. Note: API usage may be subject to rate limits or plan restrictions.
How does Hygraph perform in terms of speed and reliability?
Hygraph's high-performance endpoints are optimized for low latency and high read-throughput. For example, Telenor achieved less than 100ms latency on millions of API calls. The platform also offers a read-only cache endpoint with 3-5x latency improvement. See the performance improvements blog and GraphQL Report 2024 for more details. Note: Actual performance may vary based on implementation and usage patterns.
Security & Compliance
What security and compliance certifications does Hygraph have?
Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant (since August 3, 2022), ISO 27001 certified for hosting infrastructure, and GDPR compliant. The platform also adheres to the German Data Protection Act (BDSG) and Telemedia Act (TMG). For more, see the Secure Features page. Note: For industry-specific compliance needs, contact sales for details.
What security features does Hygraph offer?
Security features include granular permissions, SSO integrations (OIDC/LDAP/SAML), audit logs, encryption in transit and at rest, regular backups with one-click recovery, secure API policies (custom origin, IP firewalls), and automatic SSL certificates for all endpoints. Note: Some features may require enterprise plans or custom configuration.
Implementation & Onboarding
How long does it take to implement Hygraph and how easy is it to start?
Implementation time varies by project. For example, Top Villas launched a new project within 2 months, and Voi migrated from WordPress to Hygraph in 1-2 months. Hygraph offers structured onboarding, starter projects, and extensive documentation to help users get started quickly. See the Getting Started guide. Note: Complex migrations may require additional planning and resources.
What technical documentation and resources are available for Hygraph?
Hygraph provides API reference documentation, guides on schema components and references, integration guides (e.g., Mux, Akeneo, Auth0), AI feature documentation, and classic docs for legacy users. Access all resources at the Hygraph Documentation page. Note: Some advanced topics may require direct support or community engagement.
Customer Proof & Recognition
Who are some of Hygraph's customers and what results have they achieved?
Customers include Samsung (15% engagement boost), Komax (3x faster time-to-market), AutoWeb (20% increase in website monetization), Telenor (<100ms API latency), and Voi (scaled content across 12 countries and 10 languages). See Hygraph case studies for more. Note: Results may vary based on implementation and business context.
What feedback have customers given about Hygraph's ease of use?
Customers praise Hygraph's intuitive interface, quick adaptability, and accessibility for non-technical users. For example, Sigurður G. (CTO) noted the UI is intuitive, and Anastasija S. (Product Content Coordinator) highlighted instant front-end updates. Charissa K. (Senior CMS Specialist) described it as fast to comprehend and localizable. Note: User experience may differ based on team size and project complexity.
Pain Points & Problems Solved
What problems does Hygraph solve for businesses?
Hygraph addresses operational inefficiencies (reducing developer dependency, modernizing legacy stacks, ensuring content consistency), financial challenges (lowering operational costs, accelerating speed-to-market, supporting scalability), and technical issues (simplifying schema evolution, integrating third-party systems, optimizing performance, and managing localization/assets). Note: Some pain points may require additional customization or integration work.
What are common pain points expressed by Hygraph customers?
Customers often mention developer dependency for content updates, challenges with legacy tech stacks, content inconsistency across regions, workflow inefficiencies, high operational costs, slow speed-to-market, scalability issues, complex schema evolution, integration difficulties, performance bottlenecks, and localization/asset management challenges. Hygraph addresses these with its architecture and features. Note: Not all pain points may be fully resolved without additional configuration.
Target Audience & Fit
Who can benefit from using Hygraph?
Hygraph is suitable for developers, content creators, product managers, and marketing professionals in enterprises and high-growth companies. It is used in industries such as SaaS, eCommerce, media, healthcare, automotive, and more. Best fit for teams seeking a modern, scalable CMS with GraphQL support; teams with highly specialized legacy systems may require additional integration work.
8 examples of products transforming industries with GraphQL
Successful adoption of GraphQL in enterprises can help deliver stellar user experiences and, by that, transform entire industries. Let's take a look at companies and products that did it.
Last updated by Jing
on Jan 21, 2026
Originally written by Jing
As stated in the State of API Report, GraphQL's popularity has grown over the past three years. This is reflected in the GraphQL Report 2024, with 61.5% of survey respondents using GraphQL in production and 15.5% exploring it.
Developers appreciate GraphQL for its structured data (31.1%). They also like its ease of use (28.7%) and type checking (18.7%). These qualities highlight its power to simplify data access and speed up development. GraphQL is also changing how companies in many industries build and deliver great user experiences.
The debate between GraphQL and RESTFUL APIs continues. However, it's important to remember that GraphQL is better for some uses. It can get the exact data in one request, reducing over- and under-fetching.
You may be contemplating using GraphQL in your next project or feel stuck in a REST environment. In this article, we will discuss 8 examples of successful GraphQL adoptions in enterprises and how companies use this powerful query language to revolutionize their products and services.
#Meta: from mobile applications to the Meta app rewrite
One of the most prominent examples of using GraphQL is Meta, the company that created and open-sourced GraphQL. Back in 2012, Meta was still Facebook. The platform faced many challenges with RESTFUL APIs. These were especially related to over-fetching, versioning, and mobile optimization. The engineering team would have lost significant time if they continued developing with REST. Instead, Meta developed GraphQL. It is a data query language that lets clients specify the data they need from a server. They can do this in a hierarchical and strongly typed way.
Using GraphQL, Facebook can:
Optimize its data fetching and delivery.
Reduce code and complexity on the client and the server.
Iterate faster and more confidently on new features.
Fast-forward to 2015, Facebook introduced GraphQL publicly. With React-based frameworks like Next.js, React, React Native, and Gatsby, developers gained powerful tools to revolutionize development workflows. As of today, React-based frameworks are still the strongest for pulling data from GraphQL APIs.
In 2020, Meta engineers performed a complete rewrite to deliver the new Meta app for a client-first experience. This time, Meta was rearchitected using React and Relay (a client for GraphQL in React), and GraphQL was used to modernize its data-fetching infrastructure (since the old site retrieved data ad-hoc through server-side PHP rendering). This results in Meta's app fetching the right data by default. It enables the development of features in a performance-optimized way.
As said by Meta Engineers Ashley Watkins and Royi Hagigi, “Engineering experience improvements and user experience improvements must go hand in hand”. An advanced tech stack was essential for Meta to deliver the most modern experience.
#Samsung: Using GraphQL to power its customer platform
Samsung is the leader in digital devices. It has explored innovative ways to connect with its customers, one of which is enhancing its digital members’ platform. In its quest to improve customer engagement, Samsung encountered challenges, and GraphQL played a pivotal role.
The members’ platform was initially designed as a mobile-only platform, which prevented Samsung from connecting with customers who bought other devices. Furthermore, Samsung’s subsidiaries suffered from slow development cycles due to a legacy stack. The legacy stack used Abode Experience Manager as a monolithic CMS. This means every time the Marketing team wanted to create a new type of content, they needed support from the development team. As a result, development capability was significantly reduced.
Hygraph's out-of-the-box GraphQL support allowed frontend developers to concentrate on building features without involving backend developers for API adjustments.
On the other hand, content editors use the content models provided by the developers. They only need to make development requests when a new content model is needed, thus making the editorial experience more scalable.
As a result, Samsung launched the new members’ platform. It works on both mobile and desktop. It cut page update time by half and boosted customer engagement by 15%.
Hygraph’s out-of-the-box support for GraphQL allows our frontend developers to concentrate on building features without involving backend developers for API adjustments. They can swiftly build and test queries inside Hygraph intuitive UI which allows us to flexibly shape the content models and test the outcome almost immediately in the frontend.
Andre LangHead Of Development at Cheil
#LinkedIn: Using GraphQL to accelerate product development
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. It has embraced GraphQL to streamline product development.
In 2022, LinkedIn developers shared how they used GraphQL to craft the onboarding process for new use cases for external API partners. An efficiency challenge with REST API led to this decision: LinkedIn had to make a new REST API for each use, and running all external APIs was a high-cost barrier. Only highly-scaled or high-ROI use cases could overcome it.
LinkedIn’s development cycle with REST API
By adopting GraphQL, LinkedIn allows users to explore service capabilities using types. New use cases can be created by defining new GraphQL queries. So no more engineering effort is needed. The GraphQL service will automatically work with its type system for this new query. By doing so, LinkedIn accelerated development by 90% in crafting and externalizing APIs.
Earlier in 2023, LinkedIn developers shared their latest experience adopting GraphQL. This time, they used GraphQL to build member and customer-facing applications. The GraphQL layer is architected in a unique manner, as follows:
The GraphQL-type system is autogenerated by federating individual entity schemas from the Rest.li, LinkedIn's own framework for building and operating microservices.
The GraphQL query execution endpoint is distributed and available on each individual frontend microservice, avoiding the need for a central gateway service and an additional network hop.
Only pre-registered queries are allowed on production servers. This allows for better performance, security, and developer experience.
Linkedin’s GraphQL schema federation from Rest.li artifacts
LinkedIn's example showcases how GraphQL can introduce a paradigm shift that boosts productivity, efficiently handles complex data, and delivers a high-quality user experience.
#Netflix: revolutionizing video content delivery with GraphQL
Netflix started using GraphQL in 2018. Developers chose to use the query language to get data for an internal app called Monet. Netflix replaced REST API with GraphQL. This allowed them to load data from a wide range of sources well and without overfetching, resulting in fewer bandwidth bottlenecks.
Perhaps the success back then contributed to Netflix developers’ confidence in GraphQL. In 2022, Netflix updated its iOS and Android apps. Netflix moved its mobile apps to GraphQL with zero downtime. This required a complete overhaul from the client to the API layer.
This time, GraphQL replaced Netflix’s internal API framework, Falcor. Federated GraphQL now backs mobile apps. It is a distributed approach to APIs where domain teams can independently manage and own specific sections of the API. Netflix moved to GraphQL safely. This was for 100s of millions of customers and caused no disruption.
Netflix’s migration to GraphQL phase 1: Built GraphQL Shim Service on top of Monolith Falcor API
Netflix’s migration to GraphQL phase 2: Replace the GraphQL Shim Service and Legacy API Monolith with GraphQL services that domain teams own
Telenor is a Norwegian telecom company. It is another example of a company that uses GraphQL. They use it to power their video service.
Telenor needed a scalable and flexible solution to manage the metadata of thousands of videos and movies from various sources. It would deliver them to millions of customers across different platforms and devices.
Telenor chose Hygraph for its strong GraphQL API, no-code schema editor, and easy content editing UI. Hygraph lets Telenor centralize data management and simplifies the process by removing the manual and error-prone work of editing XML files.
Telenor also leveraged GraphQL benefits, such as fetching exactly the data needed, reducing network payload and latency, and enabling faster and easier development and testing. This example shows how GraphQL empowered Telenor to build a scalable and efficient video streaming platform. It demonstrates GraphQL's versatility in the media and entertainment industry.
Telenor achieved the following as a result:
Full GraphQL-native support, including powerful API and ecosystem support
The API meets performance needs. It has less than 100ms latency on millions of API calls. It is much faster than other commercial GraphQL APIs.
A high degree of flexibility with the tech stack
Hygraph enables a quick time to market with the first iteration of the project meeting the 3-month deadline
Sleek UI, which makes it easy to add quick fixes to the content
No heavy licensing fees like monolith systems
Fast feature development
#Zalando: transforming eCommerce with GraphQL Unified Backend-For-Frontend
Zalando, Europe's leading fashion eCommerce giant, faced challenges managing numerous backend services for its web and mobile apps. This led to inconsistent and inefficient data delivery, hindering developers and customers. To tackle this, Zalando implemented GraphQL as a Unified Backend-For-Frontend (UBFF) solution.
To do this, Zalando created a single GraphQL API that all frontend teams could access. Developers can reduce unnecessary data transfers by specifying specific data requirements using GraphQL's declarative queries. Zalando even customized the GraphQL implementation with graphql-jit for further performance optimization.
Zalando’s GraphQL architecture
As a result, developers found the experience smooth. They enjoyed easier data finding, helpful GraphQL tools, and faster deployments. Features' delivery sped up. A single data source reduced duplicate work across platforms. Most importantly, customers benefit from a consistent experience on the web and mobile apps thanks to the single source of truth for product information.
Customer experience is based on consistency, if not the most important factor. Zalando's success story shows the potential of GraphQL for unifying data access and streamlining development. Both are indispensable criteria for delivering a consistent customer experience. It's a powerful example for any organization looking to overcome the challenges of managing multiple backend services and delivering a unified user experience across platforms.
#Booking.com: Federated GraphQL to power a scalable and efficient data system
Booking.com first adopted GraphQL to modernize its Perl-based systems. The systems led to scalability issues, and it was hard to maintain the old technologies. In the start, Booking.com explored GraphQL by adding it to their infrastructure. They began with a centralized approach, using GraphQL to facilitate data access across the platform. However, they soon encountered scalability challenges with this setup.
Booking.com acknowledged the need for a more scalable solution. So, it transitioned to a Federated GraphQL architecture. This shift empowered teams to oversee and manage their data domains and work independently, which fosters a more scalable and efficient data system.
As a result of their migration efforts, Booking.com saw a big increase in GraphQL adoption within the company. They now process billions of requests daily. They also witnessed an impressive 600% increase in federation traffic in 2023.
Booking.com continues to explore optimization opportunities with GraphQL. Despite the complexities involved, their journey underscores GraphQL's transformative potential in modernizing legacy systems and fostering developer empowerment.
#New York Times: redesigning the website with React, Relay, and GraphQL
To maintain its position as an industry leader, the New York Times constantly seeks ways to enhance digital experiences to deliver award-winning content to millions of subscribers. The New York Times moved to React, Relay, and GraphQL as it redesigned its website.
Before they adopted GraphQL, React, and Relay, the New York Times had issues with their old stack. The frontend applications struggled with complex data needs. They also had slow network requests and trouble managing the state of components. This led to slower load times. It also caused negative user experiences, making frontend development workflows more complex. Developers dreamed of a single repository. It would be used to create and reuse components. It would also be a place to store and get data.
The classic New York Times format
The New York Times now
As a result, developers overhauled their frontend architecture, and GraphQL served as the backbone. It offered a flexible and efficient way to get data through its precise query language. React was the core of dynamic user interface development. It enabled reusable components and streamlined state management. Relay seamlessly integrates React with GraphQL. It hides the complexities of fetching data, caching, and managing state.
The new stack empowered the New York Times. It lets them build highly responsive, feature-rich applications. They could do this while keeping scalability and performance. This integration made the Times' frontend architecture harmonious, and served its diverse content and engaged its vast audience well.
NYT embraced modern frontend technologies, which allowed them to surpass traditional architectural limits. These technologies improved performance and boosted developer productivity, allowing them to deliver great user experiences on their digital platforms.
Choosing between GraphQL and REST is more than a matter of preference. Having looked at so many examples, we aim to demonstrate that adopting GraphQL can change your product development paradigm and propel it forward.
Surely, whether or not to choose GraphQL for your project also depends on your project scope and the development resources available. That's why carefully planning, gathering resources such as the GraphQL Report 2024, and selecting a trustworthy vendor matter, such as Hygraph's GraphQL-native CMS, which has a developer community that actively discusses their projects and always provides guidance with documentation.
We’ve encountered several other developer articles demonstrating their excellent use of GraphQL. Take a look:
In the context of composability, GraphQL plays a crucial role by simplifying the consolidation of multiple data types, APIs, and services. Federation techniques facilitate the easy composition of APIs from various sources into a unified API, offering developers a more ergonomic and efficient approach. While it's possible to achieve composability without GraphQL, its nesting capabilities, and reduced complexity make the process significantly easier. With GraphQL, developers can achieve diverse data combinations with minimal typing, aligning well with the industry shift towards enhanced composability.
Brayn RobinsonHead Of Developer Relations at Hygraph
GraphQL offers unmatched possibilities. You can use it to craft dynamic and efficient applications. If you are looking for more statistics and insights on the usage of GraphQL, don’t miss out on our 2024 GraphQL annual report.
The GraphQL Report 2024
Statistics and best practices from prominent GraphQL users.
8 examples of products transforming industries with GraphQL
Successful adoption of GraphQL in enterprises can help deliver stellar user experiences and, by that, transform entire industries. Let's take a look at companies and products that did it.
Last updated by Jing
on Jan 21, 2026
Originally written by Jing
As stated in the State of API Report, GraphQL's popularity has grown over the past three years. This is reflected in the GraphQL Report 2024, with 61.5% of survey respondents using GraphQL in production and 15.5% exploring it.
Developers appreciate GraphQL for its structured data (31.1%). They also like its ease of use (28.7%) and type checking (18.7%). These qualities highlight its power to simplify data access and speed up development. GraphQL is also changing how companies in many industries build and deliver great user experiences.
The debate between GraphQL and RESTFUL APIs continues. However, it's important to remember that GraphQL is better for some uses. It can get the exact data in one request, reducing over- and under-fetching.
You may be contemplating using GraphQL in your next project or feel stuck in a REST environment. In this article, we will discuss 8 examples of successful GraphQL adoptions in enterprises and how companies use this powerful query language to revolutionize their products and services.
#Meta: from mobile applications to the Meta app rewrite
One of the most prominent examples of using GraphQL is Meta, the company that created and open-sourced GraphQL. Back in 2012, Meta was still Facebook. The platform faced many challenges with RESTFUL APIs. These were especially related to over-fetching, versioning, and mobile optimization. The engineering team would have lost significant time if they continued developing with REST. Instead, Meta developed GraphQL. It is a data query language that lets clients specify the data they need from a server. They can do this in a hierarchical and strongly typed way.
Using GraphQL, Facebook can:
Optimize its data fetching and delivery.
Reduce code and complexity on the client and the server.
Iterate faster and more confidently on new features.
Fast-forward to 2015, Facebook introduced GraphQL publicly. With React-based frameworks like Next.js, React, React Native, and Gatsby, developers gained powerful tools to revolutionize development workflows. As of today, React-based frameworks are still the strongest for pulling data from GraphQL APIs.
In 2020, Meta engineers performed a complete rewrite to deliver the new Meta app for a client-first experience. This time, Meta was rearchitected using React and Relay (a client for GraphQL in React), and GraphQL was used to modernize its data-fetching infrastructure (since the old site retrieved data ad-hoc through server-side PHP rendering). This results in Meta's app fetching the right data by default. It enables the development of features in a performance-optimized way.
As said by Meta Engineers Ashley Watkins and Royi Hagigi, “Engineering experience improvements and user experience improvements must go hand in hand”. An advanced tech stack was essential for Meta to deliver the most modern experience.
#Samsung: Using GraphQL to power its customer platform
Samsung is the leader in digital devices. It has explored innovative ways to connect with its customers, one of which is enhancing its digital members’ platform. In its quest to improve customer engagement, Samsung encountered challenges, and GraphQL played a pivotal role.
The members’ platform was initially designed as a mobile-only platform, which prevented Samsung from connecting with customers who bought other devices. Furthermore, Samsung’s subsidiaries suffered from slow development cycles due to a legacy stack. The legacy stack used Abode Experience Manager as a monolithic CMS. This means every time the Marketing team wanted to create a new type of content, they needed support from the development team. As a result, development capability was significantly reduced.
Hygraph's out-of-the-box GraphQL support allowed frontend developers to concentrate on building features without involving backend developers for API adjustments.
On the other hand, content editors use the content models provided by the developers. They only need to make development requests when a new content model is needed, thus making the editorial experience more scalable.
As a result, Samsung launched the new members’ platform. It works on both mobile and desktop. It cut page update time by half and boosted customer engagement by 15%.
Hygraph’s out-of-the-box support for GraphQL allows our frontend developers to concentrate on building features without involving backend developers for API adjustments. They can swiftly build and test queries inside Hygraph intuitive UI which allows us to flexibly shape the content models and test the outcome almost immediately in the frontend.
Andre LangHead Of Development at Cheil
#LinkedIn: Using GraphQL to accelerate product development
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. It has embraced GraphQL to streamline product development.
In 2022, LinkedIn developers shared how they used GraphQL to craft the onboarding process for new use cases for external API partners. An efficiency challenge with REST API led to this decision: LinkedIn had to make a new REST API for each use, and running all external APIs was a high-cost barrier. Only highly-scaled or high-ROI use cases could overcome it.
LinkedIn’s development cycle with REST API
By adopting GraphQL, LinkedIn allows users to explore service capabilities using types. New use cases can be created by defining new GraphQL queries. So no more engineering effort is needed. The GraphQL service will automatically work with its type system for this new query. By doing so, LinkedIn accelerated development by 90% in crafting and externalizing APIs.
Earlier in 2023, LinkedIn developers shared their latest experience adopting GraphQL. This time, they used GraphQL to build member and customer-facing applications. The GraphQL layer is architected in a unique manner, as follows:
The GraphQL-type system is autogenerated by federating individual entity schemas from the Rest.li, LinkedIn's own framework for building and operating microservices.
The GraphQL query execution endpoint is distributed and available on each individual frontend microservice, avoiding the need for a central gateway service and an additional network hop.
Only pre-registered queries are allowed on production servers. This allows for better performance, security, and developer experience.
Linkedin’s GraphQL schema federation from Rest.li artifacts
LinkedIn's example showcases how GraphQL can introduce a paradigm shift that boosts productivity, efficiently handles complex data, and delivers a high-quality user experience.
#Netflix: revolutionizing video content delivery with GraphQL
Netflix started using GraphQL in 2018. Developers chose to use the query language to get data for an internal app called Monet. Netflix replaced REST API with GraphQL. This allowed them to load data from a wide range of sources well and without overfetching, resulting in fewer bandwidth bottlenecks.
Perhaps the success back then contributed to Netflix developers’ confidence in GraphQL. In 2022, Netflix updated its iOS and Android apps. Netflix moved its mobile apps to GraphQL with zero downtime. This required a complete overhaul from the client to the API layer.
This time, GraphQL replaced Netflix’s internal API framework, Falcor. Federated GraphQL now backs mobile apps. It is a distributed approach to APIs where domain teams can independently manage and own specific sections of the API. Netflix moved to GraphQL safely. This was for 100s of millions of customers and caused no disruption.
Netflix’s migration to GraphQL phase 1: Built GraphQL Shim Service on top of Monolith Falcor API
Netflix’s migration to GraphQL phase 2: Replace the GraphQL Shim Service and Legacy API Monolith with GraphQL services that domain teams own
Telenor is a Norwegian telecom company. It is another example of a company that uses GraphQL. They use it to power their video service.
Telenor needed a scalable and flexible solution to manage the metadata of thousands of videos and movies from various sources. It would deliver them to millions of customers across different platforms and devices.
Telenor chose Hygraph for its strong GraphQL API, no-code schema editor, and easy content editing UI. Hygraph lets Telenor centralize data management and simplifies the process by removing the manual and error-prone work of editing XML files.
Telenor also leveraged GraphQL benefits, such as fetching exactly the data needed, reducing network payload and latency, and enabling faster and easier development and testing. This example shows how GraphQL empowered Telenor to build a scalable and efficient video streaming platform. It demonstrates GraphQL's versatility in the media and entertainment industry.
Telenor achieved the following as a result:
Full GraphQL-native support, including powerful API and ecosystem support
The API meets performance needs. It has less than 100ms latency on millions of API calls. It is much faster than other commercial GraphQL APIs.
A high degree of flexibility with the tech stack
Hygraph enables a quick time to market with the first iteration of the project meeting the 3-month deadline
Sleek UI, which makes it easy to add quick fixes to the content
No heavy licensing fees like monolith systems
Fast feature development
#Zalando: transforming eCommerce with GraphQL Unified Backend-For-Frontend
Zalando, Europe's leading fashion eCommerce giant, faced challenges managing numerous backend services for its web and mobile apps. This led to inconsistent and inefficient data delivery, hindering developers and customers. To tackle this, Zalando implemented GraphQL as a Unified Backend-For-Frontend (UBFF) solution.
To do this, Zalando created a single GraphQL API that all frontend teams could access. Developers can reduce unnecessary data transfers by specifying specific data requirements using GraphQL's declarative queries. Zalando even customized the GraphQL implementation with graphql-jit for further performance optimization.
Zalando’s GraphQL architecture
As a result, developers found the experience smooth. They enjoyed easier data finding, helpful GraphQL tools, and faster deployments. Features' delivery sped up. A single data source reduced duplicate work across platforms. Most importantly, customers benefit from a consistent experience on the web and mobile apps thanks to the single source of truth for product information.
Customer experience is based on consistency, if not the most important factor. Zalando's success story shows the potential of GraphQL for unifying data access and streamlining development. Both are indispensable criteria for delivering a consistent customer experience. It's a powerful example for any organization looking to overcome the challenges of managing multiple backend services and delivering a unified user experience across platforms.
#Booking.com: Federated GraphQL to power a scalable and efficient data system
Booking.com first adopted GraphQL to modernize its Perl-based systems. The systems led to scalability issues, and it was hard to maintain the old technologies. In the start, Booking.com explored GraphQL by adding it to their infrastructure. They began with a centralized approach, using GraphQL to facilitate data access across the platform. However, they soon encountered scalability challenges with this setup.
Booking.com acknowledged the need for a more scalable solution. So, it transitioned to a Federated GraphQL architecture. This shift empowered teams to oversee and manage their data domains and work independently, which fosters a more scalable and efficient data system.
As a result of their migration efforts, Booking.com saw a big increase in GraphQL adoption within the company. They now process billions of requests daily. They also witnessed an impressive 600% increase in federation traffic in 2023.
Booking.com continues to explore optimization opportunities with GraphQL. Despite the complexities involved, their journey underscores GraphQL's transformative potential in modernizing legacy systems and fostering developer empowerment.
#New York Times: redesigning the website with React, Relay, and GraphQL
To maintain its position as an industry leader, the New York Times constantly seeks ways to enhance digital experiences to deliver award-winning content to millions of subscribers. The New York Times moved to React, Relay, and GraphQL as it redesigned its website.
Before they adopted GraphQL, React, and Relay, the New York Times had issues with their old stack. The frontend applications struggled with complex data needs. They also had slow network requests and trouble managing the state of components. This led to slower load times. It also caused negative user experiences, making frontend development workflows more complex. Developers dreamed of a single repository. It would be used to create and reuse components. It would also be a place to store and get data.
The classic New York Times format
The New York Times now
As a result, developers overhauled their frontend architecture, and GraphQL served as the backbone. It offered a flexible and efficient way to get data through its precise query language. React was the core of dynamic user interface development. It enabled reusable components and streamlined state management. Relay seamlessly integrates React with GraphQL. It hides the complexities of fetching data, caching, and managing state.
The new stack empowered the New York Times. It lets them build highly responsive, feature-rich applications. They could do this while keeping scalability and performance. This integration made the Times' frontend architecture harmonious, and served its diverse content and engaged its vast audience well.
NYT embraced modern frontend technologies, which allowed them to surpass traditional architectural limits. These technologies improved performance and boosted developer productivity, allowing them to deliver great user experiences on their digital platforms.
Choosing between GraphQL and REST is more than a matter of preference. Having looked at so many examples, we aim to demonstrate that adopting GraphQL can change your product development paradigm and propel it forward.
Surely, whether or not to choose GraphQL for your project also depends on your project scope and the development resources available. That's why carefully planning, gathering resources such as the GraphQL Report 2024, and selecting a trustworthy vendor matter, such as Hygraph's GraphQL-native CMS, which has a developer community that actively discusses their projects and always provides guidance with documentation.
We’ve encountered several other developer articles demonstrating their excellent use of GraphQL. Take a look:
In the context of composability, GraphQL plays a crucial role by simplifying the consolidation of multiple data types, APIs, and services. Federation techniques facilitate the easy composition of APIs from various sources into a unified API, offering developers a more ergonomic and efficient approach. While it's possible to achieve composability without GraphQL, its nesting capabilities, and reduced complexity make the process significantly easier. With GraphQL, developers can achieve diverse data combinations with minimal typing, aligning well with the industry shift towards enhanced composability.
Brayn RobinsonHead Of Developer Relations at Hygraph
GraphQL offers unmatched possibilities. You can use it to craft dynamic and efficient applications. If you are looking for more statistics and insights on the usage of GraphQL, don’t miss out on our 2024 GraphQL annual report.
The GraphQL Report 2024
Statistics and best practices from prominent GraphQL users.