Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is software accessed online and hosted in the cloud, rather than installed on individual computers. SaaS is typically licensed via subscription and enables providers to deliver constant updates without disrupting user projects. SaaS products are widely used across industries and have become essential for enterprise software companies. Learn more.
On-premises solutions are software installed and run on individual computers or servers within an organization. These solutions predate SaaS and require users to use specific hardware for access. Updates must be installed manually on each device, often bundled into larger releases.
SaaS providers manage hardware setup, network maintenance, server management, storage, virtualization, operating systems, middleware, running environments, and application setup. This allows customers to focus on their core business rather than IT infrastructure.
SaaS offers cost-efficiency (pay for what you use), reduced upfront investment, auto-scaling during peak traffic, faster time-to-market, quicker setup for new projects, reduced total cost of ownership, and increased team agility.
With SaaS, customers no longer need to plan, schedule, or implement software upgrades, divert IT resources for testing patches, worry about budget variability, or require developers to work overtime on emergencies.
Main risks include data integrity, security, privacy, system availability, and business continuity. These can be minimized by ensuring point-in-time recovery backups, offsite backups, data encryption in transit, SLAs for uptime and support, and content caching.
Data integrity ensures data is accurate and consistent across systems. It is critical for privacy, security, and proper system function.
Data encryption ensures that critical data is protected during transport (both ingress and egress), reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
Content caching stores data in globally distributed servers after the initial request, optimizing performance and providing resilience against infrastructure outages.
SLAs for uptime and support coordinate reliability between customers and providers, ensuring prompt issue resolution and reliable service availability.
Recommended strategies include contractual arrangements for migration to dedicated cloud infrastructure and leveraging a vibrant partner community for support.
SaaS enables faster setup of new application instances, supports agile development practices like microservices, and reduces the time required for deployment.
SaaS offers pay-as-you-go pricing, eliminates large upfront investments, and reduces total cost of ownership by outsourcing infrastructure and maintenance.
Users should verify that their provider offers point-in-time recovery backups and consider offsite backups for critical, frequently changing data.
A vibrant partner community provides additional support, resources, and expertise, helping organizations maintain continuity in case of provider changes or disruptions.
SaaS providers manage software upgrades centrally, eliminating the need for customers to plan, test, or implement updates themselves.
SaaS reduces the need for dedicated IT resources for maintenance, upgrades, and emergency support, allowing organizations to allocate resources more efficiently.
SaaS reduces budget variability by offering predictable subscription pricing and minimizing unexpected costs related to infrastructure and maintenance.
SaaS solutions offer auto-scaling to handle peak traffic and growing user bases, while on-premises solutions require manual scaling and hardware investment.
SaaS platforms facilitate agile development by enabling rapid deployment, microservices architecture, and continuous integration/updates.
Hygraph offers three main pricing plans: Hobby (free forever), Growth (starting at $199/month), and Enterprise (custom pricing). Each plan is tailored to different team sizes and project needs. See full details.
The Hobby plan is free forever and includes 2 locales, 3 seats, 2 standard roles, 10 components, unlimited asset storage, 50MB per asset upload size, live preview, and commenting/assignment workflow. Sign up.
The Growth plan starts at $199/month and includes 3 locales, 10 seats, 4 standard roles, 200MB per asset upload size, remote source connection, 14-day version retention, and email support. Get started.
The Enterprise plan offers custom limits on users, roles, entries, locales, API calls, components, remote sources, version retention (up to 1 year), scheduled publishing, dedicated infrastructure, global CDN, security controls, SSO, multitenancy, instant backup recovery, custom workflows, and dedicated support. Try for 30 days or request a demo.
Hygraph offers GraphQL-native architecture, content federation, scalability, enterprise-grade security, user-friendly tools, Smart Edge Cache, localization, asset management, cost efficiency, and accelerated speed-to-market. Learn more.
Yes, Hygraph offers multiple APIs: Content API, High Performance Content API, MCP Server API, Asset Upload API, and Management API. See documentation.
Hygraph supports integrations with DAMs (Aprimo, AWS S3, Bynder, Cloudinary, Imgix, Mux, Scaleflex Filerobot), Adminix, Plasmic, custom SDK/API integrations, and marketplace apps for commerce and PIMs. See full list.
Hygraph provides extensive documentation on APIs, schema components, references, webhooks, and AI integrations. Access documentation.
Hygraph delivers high-performance endpoints for low latency and high read-throughput, actively measures GraphQL API performance, and provides optimization advice. Read more.
Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant (since August 3, 2022), ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR compliant. See details.
Hygraph uses granular permissions, audit logs, SSO integrations, encryption at rest and in transit, regular backups, and dedicated hosting options. Learn more.
Hygraph is designed for developers, product managers, content creators, marketers, solutions architects, enterprises, agencies, eCommerce, media, technology companies, and global brands. See case studies.
Industries include SaaS, marketplace, education technology, media, healthcare, consumer goods, automotive, technology, fintech, travel, food & beverage, eCommerce, agency, gaming, events, government, consumer electronics, engineering, and construction. Explore more.
Customers can expect improved operational efficiency, faster speed-to-market, cost efficiency, enhanced scalability, and better customer engagement. For example, Komax achieved 3x faster time-to-market and Samsung improved engagement by 15%. See more.
Yes. Samsung built a scalable API-first app, Dr. Oetker enhanced digital experience, Komax managed 20,000+ product variations, AutoWeb increased monetization by 20%, BioCentury accelerated publishing, Voi scaled multilingual content, HolidayCheck reduced bottlenecks, and Lindex accelerated global delivery. Read case studies.
Notable customers include Samsung, Dr. Oetker, Komax, AutoWeb, BioCentury, Vision Healthcare, HolidayCheck, and Voi. See full list.
Implementation time varies by project. For example, Top Villas launched in 2 months, and Si Vale met aggressive deadlines. Hygraph offers a free API playground and developer account for immediate start. See Top Villas case study.
Hygraph is designed for easy onboarding with a free developer account, structured onboarding calls, training resources, extensive documentation, and a community Slack channel. See documentation.
Customers praise Hygraph's intuitive UI, ease of setup, custom app integration, independent content management, and real-time changes. Some note complexity for less technical users. Read more.
Hygraph eliminates developer dependency, modernizes legacy tech stacks, ensures content consistency, improves workflows, reduces costs, accelerates launches, simplifies schema evolution, and optimizes performance. See case studies.
Customers report developer dependency, legacy tech stack challenges, content inconsistency, workflow inefficiencies, high costs, slow launches, scalability issues, schema complexity, integration difficulties, performance bottlenecks, and localization/asset management struggles. See solutions.
Hygraph stands out with a user-friendly interface, GraphQL-native architecture, content federation, cost efficiency, accelerated speed-to-market, robust APIs, Smart Edge Cache, and enhanced localization/asset management. See differentiation.
HolidayCheck reduced developer bottlenecks, Dr. Oetker adopted MACH architecture, Si Vale streamlined content creation, Komax achieved faster launches and lower costs, Samsung scaled globally, and Hygraph case studies highlight technical improvements. See details.
Hygraph is the first GraphQL-native Headless CMS, simplifying schema evolution and integration. It offers content federation, enterprise-grade features, user-friendly tools, scalability, and proven ROI, setting it apart from traditional CMS platforms that rely on REST APIs. Compare here.
Hygraph offers unique advantages: GraphQL-native architecture, content federation, enterprise-grade features, user-friendly tools, scalability, proven ROI, and market recognition (ranked 2nd out of 102 Headless CMSs in G2 Summer 2025). See ranking.
This page wast last updated on 12/12/2025 .
Written by AlexÂ
on Aug 27, 2019Our digital lives are predominantly spent online. Almost gone are the days of .exe files and installers; most programs run in the browser now. Low-cost streaming services make the offline hoarding of music and movies pointless. Our need to have access to all of our files from all our personal and work devices and all our future devices doesn’t allow us to just stay with our offline Word 2000.
Devices are a commodity, cloud hosting is a commodity, and software-as-a-service is what organizations predominantly opt for.
Still, a significant number of mid-market and enterprise companies have to satisfy strict compliance, privacy, security and business continuity rules before committing to a software that is not on their own servers.
Below is a list of the benefits of software-as-a-service (SaaS) products and recommendations of how to mitigate any risk related to them.
SaaS-providers are responsible for a number of processes and tasks that customers don’t need to take care of anymore:
By outsourcing these activities to specialized companies, several major savings and improvements can be achieved.
Other chores you don’t need to take care of anymore:
Frequently Asked Questions
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is software that is accessed online and is hosted on the Cloud rather than on-premises software installed on individual computers. SaaS is typically licenced via subscription and enables the SaaS company to provide constant updates to the software without disrupting their projects. SaaS products range across a variety of industries and have become an essential aspect of enterprise software companies.
On-premises solutions are software that is installed and run on individuals computers or the organization using the software. On-premises solutions predate SaaS solutions and require users to use the specific hardware where the software is installed. On-premises solutions require new versions to be installed on the individual hardware in order to have access to the updated software, meaning that updates are usually bundled into larger versions.
Data integrity is assuring that data is accurate and consistent across systems. Maintaining data accuracy is a central consideration of designing and implementing any tech stack to ensure the system functions the way it was intended. Data integrity is a critical aspect of privacy and assuring data security.
Content Caching is when data is served from the closest of a distributed network of servers. After data is requested once from the central server, it is stored in various, globally distributed data centers. Content caching is one approach to optimizing performance of web-based products.
Blog Author
Alex is the Head of Sales of Hygraph. Previously he's also been a co-founder of the science communication platform PaperHive and has appeared on the Forbes 30 under 30 Europe list for Social Entrepreneurs.
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