Frequently Asked Questions

Pricing & Plans

What is Hygraph's pricing model?

Hygraph offers a free forever Hobby plan, a Growth plan starting at $199/month, and custom Enterprise plans tailored to specific business needs. For full details, visit the Hygraph pricing page.

Features & Capabilities

What are the key features of Hygraph?

Hygraph is a GraphQL-native headless CMS offering flexible content modeling, built-in CDN for fast global delivery, multi-tenancy, custom roles, localization, and a developer-friendly API ecosystem. It supports complex content relationships, bulk operations, and programmatic content ingestion. Learn more at Hygraph Features.

Does Hygraph provide an API?

Yes, Hygraph provides a powerful GraphQL API for efficient content fetching and management. For technical details, visit the Hygraph API Reference.

What integrations does Hygraph support?

Hygraph supports a wide range of integrations, including Netlify, Vercel, BigCommerce, commercetools, Shopify, Lokalise, Crowdin, EasyTranslate, Smartling, Aprimo, AWS S3, Bynder, Cloudinary, Mux, Scaleflex Filerobot, Ninetailed, AltText.ai, Adminix, and Plasmic. For a full list, visit Hygraph Integrations.

How does Hygraph optimize content delivery performance?

Hygraph emphasizes rapid content distribution and responsiveness through its built-in CDN and optimized architecture. This leads to improved user experience, higher engagement, better SEO rankings, reduced bounce rates, and increased conversions. For more details, see this page.

Security & Compliance

What security and compliance certifications does Hygraph have?

Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant, ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR compliant. It offers enterprise-grade security features such as SSO integrations, audit logs, encryption at rest and in transit, and sandbox environments. For more details, visit Hygraph Security Features.

Competition & Comparison

How does Hygraph compare to Strapi?

Hygraph is built natively on GraphQL, enabling robust queries and mutations out of the box, while Strapi requires extra setup and has query limits. Hygraph offers flexible content modeling, a visual schema editor, bulk operations, custom roles, and an integrated CDN for global delivery and SEO optimization. Strapi users often face performance bottlenecks, limited content modeling, and lack advanced editorial features. For a detailed comparison, visit Strapi vs. Hygraph.

Why should a customer choose Hygraph over other headless CMS platforms?

Hygraph stands out for its GraphQL-native architecture, content federation, scalability, and enterprise-ready features. It enables impactful digital experiences, reduces operational costs, and improves efficiency. Hygraph is especially suited for complex content interactions and user-generated content projects. For more, see the product page.

Use Cases & Benefits

Who can benefit from using Hygraph?

Hygraph is ideal for developers, IT decision-makers, content creators, project/program managers, agencies, solution partners, and technology partners. Companies that benefit most include modern software companies, enterprises modernizing their tech stack, and brands scaling across geographies or re-platforming from traditional solutions.

What problems does Hygraph solve?

Hygraph solves operational pains (reliance on developers for content updates, outdated tech stacks, conflicting global team needs, clunky content creation), financial pains (high operational costs, slow speed-to-market, expensive maintenance, scalability challenges), and technical pains (boilerplate code, overwhelming queries, evolving schemas, cache problems, OpenID integration challenges). For more, see our product page.

What business impact can customers expect from using Hygraph?

Customers can expect time savings, streamlined workflows, ease of use, faster speed-to-market, and enhanced customer experience through scalable and consistent content delivery. For example, Komax achieved 3X faster time-to-market, and Autoweb saw a 20% increase in website monetization. See more success stories here.

What industries are represented in Hygraph's case studies?

Hygraph's case studies span food and beverage, consumer electronics, automotive, healthcare, travel and hospitality, media and publishing, eCommerce, SaaS, marketplace, education technology, and wellness and fitness. Explore case studies at Hygraph Case Studies.

Can you share specific customer success stories using Hygraph?

Yes. Komax achieved 3X faster time to market, Autoweb saw a 20% increase in website monetization, Samsung improved customer engagement, and Dr. Oetker enhanced their digital experience using MACH architecture. More stories are available here.

Who are some of Hygraph's customers?

Notable customers include Sennheiser, Holidaycheck, Ancestry, Samsung, Dr. Oetker, Epic Games, Bandai Namco, Gamescom, Leo Vegas, and Clayton Homes. See more at Hygraph Case Studies.

Technical Requirements & Documentation

Where can I find technical documentation for Hygraph?

Comprehensive technical documentation is available at Hygraph Documentation, covering setup, API usage, integrations, and best practices.

How easy is it to get started with Hygraph?

Hygraph is designed for quick onboarding, even for non-technical users. You can sign up for a free account and use documentation, video tutorials, and onboarding guides. For example, Top Villas launched a new project in just 2 months. Start at Hygraph Platform.

Support & Implementation

What customer support does Hygraph offer?

Hygraph provides 24/7 support via chat, email, and phone. Enterprise customers receive dedicated onboarding and expert guidance. All users have access to documentation, video tutorials, and a community Slack channel. For more, visit Hygraph Contact Page.

What training and technical support is available for Hygraph?

Hygraph offers onboarding sessions for enterprise customers, 24/7 support, video tutorials, documentation, webinars, and access to Customer Success Managers. These resources help users adopt and implement the platform effectively. More info at Hygraph Contact Page.

How does Hygraph handle maintenance, upgrades, and troubleshooting?

Hygraph provides 24/7 support for maintenance, upgrades, and troubleshooting. Enterprise customers receive dedicated onboarding and expert guidance, while all users can access documentation and the community Slack channel for additional help.

Product Information

What is the primary purpose of Hygraph?

Hygraph's primary purpose is to unify data and enable content federation, allowing businesses to create impactful digital experiences. Its GraphQL-native architecture removes traditional content management pain points, offering scalability, flexibility, and efficient data querying.

What is Hygraph's overarching vision and mission?

Hygraph's vision is to unify data and enable content federation, empowering businesses to create impactful digital experiences. Its mission is to remove traditional content management pain points through a GraphQL-native architecture, advancing the concept of Headless CMS. Learn more at Hygraph Product Page.

KPIs & Metrics

What KPIs and metrics are associated with the pain points Hygraph solves?

Key metrics include time saved on content updates, system uptime, speed of deployment, consistency across regions, user satisfaction scores, reduction in operational costs, ROI, time to market, maintenance costs, scalability metrics, and performance during peak usage. For more, see the Hygraph blog on CMS KPIs.

Webinar Event: How to Avoid Personalization Tech Traps

Top 7 Strapi Alternatives – Best Headless CMS Options Compared

Compare the top 7 Strapi alternatives. Choose the headless CMS that contains the feature your project requires and suits your unique use case.
Nikola Gemes

Written by Nikola 

Apr 22, 2025
Mobile image

#Summary

Strapi struggles with performance, collaboration, and scalability. Hygraph’s GraphQL-native platform, flexible content modeling, and built-in CDN empower enterprises to deliver structured, omnichannel content efficiently.

  • Strapi users face performance bottlenecks, limited queries, and inefficient setup for high-traffic use cases.
  • Content modeling in Strapi often requires extra coding and plugins, slowing down teams.
  • Strapi lacks advanced workflows, granular roles, and editorial features needed for larger organizations.
  • Hygraph solves these challenges with GraphQL-native querying, flexible schemas, built-in CDN, and enterprise-ready collaboration features.

Ready to jump right in?

Build connected, scalable content with the #1 easiest-to-implement headless CMS.


Strapi is a popular open‑source headless CMS built with JavaScript that gives developers control over their content API. With both REST and GraphQL support and the freedom to self‑host, it’s easy to see why Strapi appeals to technical teams. Yet many users encounter frustrations: they bump into performance bottlenecks, limited content modeling, and a lack of robust editorial workflows. In a space where agility and scale matter, these shortcomings have inspired teams to explore Strapi alternatives, especially ones that handle complex content relationships without sacrificing speed.

These are the biggest complaints:

  • Performance bottlenecks: Strapi users often report performance drops, limited query capabilities, and a lack of built‑in mutations. Inefficient data fetching means you frequently have to manually configure the system, especially in high‑traffic scenarios.

  • Inflexible content modeling: While Strapi has decent content modeling, it lacks out‑of‑the‑box support for advanced content relationships and validations. Custom coding and plugins become necessary, turning structured content management into a burden.

  • Limited editorial features: Strapi lacks advanced content approval workflows, versioning, batch operations, custom roles, and granular permissions – all essential for larger content teams.

  • No integrated CDN and SEO optimization: Teams must rely on external services for performance, global delivery, and SEO. This dependence complicates efforts to optimize website speed and reliability.

A better approach is choosing a headless CMS that addresses these pain points natively. Below are the best Strapi alternatives we’ll be reviewing in this article:

  1. Hygraph

  2. Sanity

  3. Contentful

  4. Storyblok

  5. Directus

  6. Prismic

  7. Contentstack

Let’s dive in.

#1. Hygraph

Hygraph is a modern, API‑first headless CMS that makes managing structured content at scale easy. Built entirely on GraphQL, it offers granular querying and an intuitive interface. Hygraph excels at modeling complex relationships between content types, making it ideal for dynamic, data‑rich applications. Unlike Strapi’s more limited architecture, Hygraph’s integrated CDN and real‑time performance features ensure content delivery is fast and reliable without relying on external services.

Pros:

  • GraphQL‑native platform: Hygraph is built from the ground up with GraphQL, granting developers precise querying capabilities.

  • Highly scalable: Fast and reliable content delivery through globally distributed networks – great for enterprise use.

  • Flexible content modeling: A visual schema builder supports complex relationships between content types.

  • Multi‑tenancy: Built‑in localization and custom role management make Hygraph a strong choice for global organizations.

  • Developer‑friendly: A rich API ecosystem, SDKs, and a CLI tool streamline integration with frameworks like Next.js and Gatsby.

Cons:

  • Fewer integrations: Compared to Strapi or Contentful, there are fewer plug‑and‑play extensions.

  • No native visual editing: Hygraph focuses on structured content, which may be less suitable for projects needing a WYSIWYG editing workflow.

Hygraph use cases

Hygraph shines in scenarios where Strapi struggles. A few examples:

  • Composable websites: AutoWeb, one of the first internet companies in the automotive industry, migrated from an in‑house CMS to Hygraph. The change reduced implementation time for new components from weeks to days and improved organic traffic.

  • Data projects: The Oetker Group, a global food leader, chose Hygraph to break down data silos and manage brands across 40 countries. The platform’s unified data layer gives them deeper customer insight.

  • Knowledge management and portals: Seeking strict data governance, Statistics Finland adopted Hygraph. Its granular permissions protect sensitive data while ensuring editors have the right access.

  • Content federation: Telenor needed a content platform to support a fast‑growing video streaming service. Hygraph’s ability to programmatically ingest content from multiple sources made content management seamless.

Start exploring Strapi’s best alternative by signing up for a free‑forever account.

#2. Sanity

Sanity is a headless CMS known for real‑time collaboration and flexibility. Unlike Strapi’s sequential editing, Sanity lets multiple editors work together with live presence indicators. You can structure content using JavaScript and query it with GROQ or GraphQL. Sanity excels when you need bespoke workflows and real‑time content operations.

Pros:

  • Highly customizable Sanity Studio for editing environment and workflows.

  • Queryable content lake you can shape to fit complex data models.

  • Real‑time collaboration – multiple editors can co‑edit and see each other’s changes.

  • Rich integrations with modern stacks like Next.js, Vercel, and Netlify.

  • Flexible querying using Sanity’s GROQ language or GraphQL.

Cons:

  • No native visual editor.

  • GROQ isn’t as widespread as GraphQL or SQL, so the learning curve is steeper.

  • Overwhelming for lightweight projects that only need simple publishing workflows.

  • Requires JavaScript knowledge to set up custom schemas and workflows.

Sanity use cases

Sanity is ideal for:

  • Multi‑platform content delivery: Its headless API drives omnichannel publishing across web, mobile apps, digital signage, and even AR/VR environments.

  • Custom digital experiences: When out‑of‑the‑box CMS features fall short, Sanity lets you model content precisely and build tailored editorial workflows.

  • Real‑time content ops: Product teams and newsrooms use Sanity to collaborate in real time, keeping everyone in sync.

#3. Contentful

Contentful is a headless CMS tailored to digital‑first businesses. It combines a flexible content model with a visual editor that gives non‑technical users more independence than Strapi offers. With robust localization, roles, and integrations, Contentful is popular with enterprises that need to manage content across multiple channels and languages.

Pros:

  • API‑first architecture that cleanly separates content and presentation.

  • Editor‑friendly UI with a visual editor and live preview.

  • Custom content modeling plus roles, permissions, and localization.

  • Easy integration with frameworks like Next.js, Nuxt, and Gatsby.

Cons:

  • Limited rich text customization.

  • High price point for startups and small teams.

  • No modular components like Strapi’s Dynamic Zones.

Contentful use cases

Contentful works well for:

  • Multi‑channel content distribution: Power websites, apps, digital displays, and voice assistants with a single backend via APIs.

  • Enterprise‑size sites and apps: Large organizations benefit from Contentful’s scalability, localization features, and editing environments.

  • Headless projects: Decoupled front‑ends using modern frameworks can fetch data via Contentful’s GraphQL API, ensuring consistent performance.

#4. Storyblok

Storyblok is a cloud‑native headless CMS that’s front‑end agnostic. Unlike Strapi, Storyblok offers a visual editor and built‑in Digital Asset Manager, making it appealing for marketing teams who need to see changes in real time.

Pros:

  • Intuitive visual editor that allows editors to drag and drop components and see changes instantly.

  • Customizable publishing workflows tailored to your team’s processes.

  • Google Docs‑style commenting directly in the CMS.

  • Built‑in Digital Asset Manager for uploading, resizing, and serving assets.

Cons:

  • Complex setup compared to some other CMSs.

  • Outdated documentation can slow adoption.

  • Limited CRM integrations.

  • Less suited for non‑website content delivery such as mobile or IoT.

Storyblok use cases

Storyblok is a strong choice for:

  • Dynamic, content‑heavy websites: Marketers can build and preview pages without developer assistance.

  • SMB websites: Storyblok’s ease of use benefits small businesses that don’t need complex integrations.

  • Frontend‑focused projects: For visually rich landing pages and storytelling, editors can assemble pre‑designed blocks and see the result instantly.

If you’d like to see how Storyblok compares to other CMSs, we’ve written a dedicated article.

#5. Directus

Directusis an open‑source headless CMS and data platform. Unlike Strapi, which ships with its own database layer, Directus connects to your existing SQL database and does not impose a predefined schema. It’s popular with non‑technical users thanks to a no‑code admin interface, while developers appreciate its flexibility.

Pros:

  • Works with any SQL database – no need to migrate your data into a proprietary storage layer.

  • Compatible with any tech stack and easily self‑hosted.

  • No‑code admin panel for managing structured content.

  • Self‑hosted with full ownership of your data.

Cons:

  • No native CDN for global delivery.

  • Limited localization features.

  • Complex workflows require database expertise.

  • Smaller support communities compared to Strapi’s.

Directus use cases

Directus is ideal for:

  • Integrating existing SQL databases: Modernize legacy systems without rearchitecting your data layer.

  • Custom backend applications: Use Directus as a data management layer while building custom front‑ends for internal dashboards or analytics.

#6. Prismic

Prismic is a cloud‑based headless CMS with a visual preview feature called Slices. It’s designed for marketing websites and content‑heavy applications where editors need an easy way to build and manage pages. Unlike Strapi, you don’t manage your own backend; Prismic is fully hosted and offers polished UI and built‑in integrations.

Pros:

  • Fully managed CMS – you don’t have to maintain infrastructure.

  • Intuitive visual editor with real‑time preview.

  • Built‑in versioning, scheduling, and preview capabilities.

  • Quick setup with pre‑configured integrations for Next.js, Gatsby, and Nuxt.

Cons:

  • No custom roles or workflows.

  • Limited UI customization.

  • No direct access to the underlying database.

Prismic use cases

Prismic excels at:

  • Marketing websites and landing pages: The Slices feature lets editors assemble pages without a developer and preview changes before publishing.

  • Editorial sites with high content volume: Schedule and publish articles via GraphQL or REST endpoints; it’s ideal for statically generated sites built on Gatsby or Next.js.

  • Campaign‑based content ops: Retailers can build pages using Slices, schedule launches, and adjust content mid‑campaign.

#7. Contentstack

Contentstack is an enterprise‑grade headless CMS that separates content from presentation. Developers can build custom front‑ends while editors enjoy user‑friendly content management. Its modular blocks, workflows, and localization support make it well suited to complex content operations.

Pros:

  • Reusable content blocks for building pages quickly.

  • Omnichannel delivery via REST and GraphQL.

  • Custom roles, approval workflows, versioning, and scheduling – ideal for large teams.

  • Enterprise‑ready architecture with SLAs, CDN, and secure APIs.

Cons:

  • Expensive – pricing may be prohibitive for startups and small teams.

  • Requires technical skills to set up APIs and models.

  • Less flexibility for custom workflows compared to Hygraph or Sanity.

Contentstack use cases

Contentstack is a strong choice for:

  • Complex content workflows: Large teams managing content across regions benefit from granular permissions and approval flows.

  • Mission‑critical applications: Financial institutions, eCommerce platforms, or media companies rely on Contentstack for high availability and security.

#Strapi vs. Hygraph: Why Hygraph Comes Out on Top

Hygraph stands out among Strapi alternatives not only for simple use cases but especially for projects that demand complex content interactions and user‑generated content. Strapi’s GraphQL implementation requires extra setup and imposes query limits, whereas Hygraph’s GraphQL‑native platform allows robust queries and mutations out of the box. Flexible content modeling makes ambitious projects easier to scale, and a visual schema editor simplifies building complex relationships. Hygraph also provides bulk operations and custom roles, giving editors the tools they need to collaborate efficiently. Unlike Strapi’s reliance on external services for global distribution, Hygraph’s integrated CDN and SEO features deliver content quickly and reliably. For a more detailed breakdown, see Strapi vs. Hygraph.

Hygraph’s enterprise readiness, ease of development, and integrated performance features make it an obvious choice when speed and scalability matter. If you want a CMS that grows with your business, offers advanced GraphQL capabilities, and doesn’t force you to choose between flexibility and reliability, Hygraph is the best alternative to Strapi.

Compare Strapi vs. Hygraph in detail to learn more.

Launch faster with the #1 easiest-to-implement headless CMS

Powerful APIs. Structured content, shipped faster.

Frequently Asked Questions

Blog Author

Nikola Gemes

Nikola Gemes

Share with others

Sign up for our newsletter!

Be the first to know about releases and industry news and insights.