Frequently Asked Questions

Competition & Comparison

How does Hygraph compare to DatoCMS?

Hygraph and DatoCMS are both popular headless CMS platforms, but they differ in several key areas. Hygraph offers a GraphQL API for both content delivery and management (including mutations), while DatoCMS only provides a GraphQL API for content delivery. Hygraph enables integration with third-party APIs (REST and GraphQL), supports advanced caching solutions, and allows users to choose their data center location for compliance and performance. Hygraph also provides granular user permissions, collaborative features, batch editing, and custom roles, which are essential for large-scale teams and complex workflows. In contrast, DatoCMS lacks these advanced capabilities, making Hygraph a more flexible choice for innovative use cases and enterprise requirements. For a detailed comparison, visit Hygraph vs. DatoCMS.

Why choose Hygraph over DatoCMS?

Hygraph is designed for flexibility, scalability, and modern digital experiences. It solves common challenges faced with DatoCMS, such as limited API capabilities, lack of advanced caching, restricted permissions, and absence of collaborative features. Hygraph supports GraphQL mutations, third-party API integrations, batch editing, custom roles, and allows enterprises to select their data center location. These features make Hygraph ideal for businesses needing robust content management, compliance, and performance. For more details, see Why Hygraph is a better alternative to DatoCMS?.

Pricing & Plans

What is Hygraph's pricing model?

Hygraph offers a range of pricing options to suit different needs. There is a Free Forever Developer Account for developers to start building at no cost. The Growth Plan is available at $299 per month or $199 per month when billed annually. Custom Enterprise Pricing starts at $900 per month for tailored solutions. Plans include 1,000 entries, with add-ons available for $25 per 5,000 additional entries and extra locales for $150 each. Customers can further customize their plans with billable add-ons like API calls, asset traffic, and content stages. For full details, visit the Hygraph Pricing Page.

Features & Capabilities

What are the key features of Hygraph?

Hygraph provides a comprehensive set of features, including: GraphQL Content and Management APIs (with mutations), advanced caching (Smart Edge Cache), granular user permissions, batch editing, custom roles, content federation, rich text editing, project backups, and integration with third-party APIs. It supports flexible content modeling, localization, asset management, and offers a global CDN for fast content delivery. For a full list, see Hygraph Features.

Does Hygraph support integration with third-party APIs?

Yes, Hygraph supports integration with both REST and GraphQL third-party APIs, enabling content federation and eliminating data silos. This allows businesses to connect multiple data sources without duplication and streamline their workflows. Source: API and Core Features.

What performance benefits does Hygraph offer?

Hygraph delivers exceptional performance through its Smart Edge Cache, high-performance endpoints, and optimized GraphQL API. These features ensure fast, reliable content delivery for high-traffic and global audiences. For more details, see Improvements to High-Performance Endpoint.

Security & Compliance

What security and compliance certifications does Hygraph have?

Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant (achieved August 3rd, 2022), ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR compliant. These certifications ensure robust security and adherence to international standards for information security management and data protection. For more details, visit the Hygraph Security Features Page.

What security features does Hygraph offer?

Hygraph provides granular permissions, SSO integrations, audit logs, encryption at rest and in transit, regular backups, and enterprise-grade compliance features such as dedicated hosting and custom SLAs. Customers can also access a security and compliance report for certified infrastructure. Source: Hygraph Security Features.

Use Cases & Benefits

Who can benefit from using Hygraph?

Hygraph is ideal for developers, product managers, and marketing teams in industries such as ecommerce, automotive, technology, food and beverage, manufacturing, transportation, and science. It is especially suited for organizations seeking to modernize legacy tech stacks, scale globally, and streamline content operations. For industry-specific examples, see Hygraph Case Studies.

What business impact can customers expect from using Hygraph?

Customers can expect improved speed-to-market, enhanced customer engagement, increased revenue, cost efficiency, and scalability. For example, Komax achieved a 3X faster time-to-market, Samsung saw a 15% increase in customer engagement, and Stobag increased online revenue share from 15% to 70%. For more success stories, visit Hygraph Case Studies.

What problems does Hygraph solve?

Hygraph addresses operational inefficiencies (such as developer dependency and legacy tech stack modernization), financial challenges (high costs, slow speed-to-market), and technical issues (schema evolution, integration difficulties, cache and localization challenges). It provides a user-friendly interface, GraphQL-native architecture, content federation, and advanced caching to solve these problems. Source: Hygraph Case Studies.

Product Information & Implementation

How easy is it to get started with Hygraph?

Hygraph offers a Free API Playground and Free Forever Developer Account, allowing teams to start immediately. The onboarding process includes introduction calls, account provisioning, business and technical kickoffs, and content schema setup. Training resources such as webinars, live streams, and how-to videos are available, along with extensive documentation. For more, see Hygraph Documentation.

How long does it take to implement Hygraph?

Implementation timelines vary by project scope. For example, Top Villas launched a new project within 2 months, and Si Vale met aggressive deadlines during their initial implementation. Hygraph's structured onboarding and training resources help accelerate adoption. Source: Top Villas Case Study.

What training and support does Hygraph offer?

Hygraph provides a structured onboarding process, training resources (webinars, live streams, how-to videos), extensive documentation, 24/7 support via chat, email, and phone, Intercom chat for real-time troubleshooting, a community Slack channel, and a dedicated Customer Success Manager for enterprise customers. Source: Hygraph Documentation.

How does Hygraph handle maintenance, upgrades, and troubleshooting?

Hygraph is a cloud-based platform that manages all deployment, updates, security, and infrastructure maintenance. Upgrades are seamlessly integrated, and troubleshooting is supported by 24/7 support, Intercom chat, extensive documentation, and an API Playground. Enterprise customers receive a dedicated Customer Success Manager. Source: Hygraph Documentation.

Customer Proof & Success Stories

Can you share specific case studies or success stories of customers using Hygraph?

Yes. Komax achieved a 3x faster time to market by managing over 20,000 product variations across 40+ markets via a single CMS (case study). AutoWeb saw a 20% increase in website monetization (case study). Dr. Oetker adopted MACH architecture for global consistency (case study). Samsung improved customer engagement by 15% (case study). Stobag increased online revenue share from 15% to 70% (case study). Burrow uses Hygraph for product inventory management (case study). For more, visit the Hygraph Case Studies Page.

Ease of Use & Customer Feedback

What do customers say about the ease of use of Hygraph?

Customers consistently praise Hygraph's intuitive editor UI, which is easy for both technical and non-technical users. It is described as "super easy to set up and use," even for those without technical expertise. Hygraph was recognized for "Best Usability" in Summer 2023, and users appreciate features like custom app integration for content quality checks and instant feedback. Source: Try Hygraph.

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When was this page last updated?

This page wast last updated on 12/12/2025 .

Introducing Click to Edit

Hygraph Vs. DatoCMS

Explore Hygraph as a DatoCMS alternative

#Why Hygraph is a better alternative to DatoCMS?

DatoCMS is a popular choice serving typical legacy cases quite well – ex. marketing pages. It is not flexible for more innovative cases – especially end-user facing tools requiring user-generated content.

For starters, it offers a GraphQL API for content delivery only, and no GraphQL API for mutations. It doesn’t allow you to connect to any third-party API to source content.

In terms of content management, DatoCMS lacks a detailed user permissions system, which is required by large-scale teams. It does not offer collaborative features, and does not offer batch editing of content through the UI.

Lastly, DatoCMS does not allow you to choose your datacenter location; an important capability needed by enterprises for compliance or performance purposes.

#Challenges you are likely to face with DatoCMS

You are likely to face these challenges when using DatoCMS:

  • It only offers a GraphQL API for content delivery, and no GraphQL API for, content management or mutations.
  • It does not offer advanced caching solutions.
  • There are no other options to choose from and this is a challenge if you are looking to host in your own region.
  • It does not allow you to connect to any third-party API.
  • It only offers conditions for models, but you can't define detailed permissions. For instance, you can allow a user to access “blogs”, but can’t add a condition (e.g., { "author": "John" }), or define stages or locales.
  • It does not allow content editors to add comments to content entries.
  • It lacks depth when it comes to certain content management capabilities. For instance, DatoCMS doesn’t offer batch editing, in-line or block embedding of content, the ability to add fields to default asset model and more.

On the other hand, Hygraph offers the capabilities to solve all of these challenges. Sign up for a free developer account to experience the difference.

#API and Core Features

HygraphDatoCMS
Cloud Hosted (SaaS)
Custom Regions
GraphQL Content API
GraphQL Management API
GraphQL Mutations
Public API
Public API Permissions
API Playground
Front-End Agnostic
Image Delivery and Transformation API
Migration Tools
Simple User Permissions
Granular User Permissions
On premises hosting / Self
Open Source
Webhooks
Global CDN
Advanced Cache Invalidation
Environment Management (Master, Sandbox, etc.)
Connect to a Third-Party REST API
Connect to a Third-Party GraphQL API

Learn more about Hygraph's core features.

#Content Modelling

HygraphDatoCMS
Schema Builder
Field Validations
Components
Nested Components
Filters
Flexible Content Modelling
Localisation (i18n)
Pagination
Required Fields
Saved Queries
Searchable Content
Sortable Relations
Sorting
Unique Fields
Versioning

#Editorial Features and Content Management

HygraphDatoCMS
Batch Overwrites
Batch Operations (Editing)
Batch Operations (Publish/Unpublish)
Batch Operations (Delete)
Content Type: Asset Picker
Content Type: Booleans (Checkbox)
Content Type: Color
Content Type: Date and Time
Content Type: Enumeration (Dropdown)
Content Type: Float (Decimals)
Content Type: Integers (Numbers)
Content Type: JSON Editor
Content Type: Map
Content Type: Markdown
Content Type: Multiline Text
Content Type: References
Content Type: Rich Text Editor (WYSIWYG)
Content Type: Single Line Text
Custom Metadata
Custom Roles
Custom Stages
Custom Workflows
Global Content CDN
GraphQL Unions (Polymorphic Relations)
Image Editor
Project Cloning
Rich Editing Interface
SEO Friendly
Static Site Generator Friendly

Explore all of Hygraph's capabilities on our features page and docs.

#Digital Asset Management

HygraphDatoCMS
Asset Transformations
Assets from Facebook
Assets from Google Drive
Assets from Instagram
Assets from Search
Assets from System
Assets from URL
Digital Asset Management (DAM)
Add Fields to the Default Asset Model
Global Asset CDN
SEO Optimized Asset Management

#Community and Resources

HygraphDatoCMS
Examples : Blog
Examples : Gatsby
Examples : Gridsome
Examples : NextJS
Examples : NuxtJS
Examples : ReactJS
Examples : Sapper
Examples : Svelte
Examples : Union TypesModular Blocks
Examples : VueJS
Reference App : eCommerce
Reference App : Events and Conferences
Reference App : Marketing Website
Reference App : Podcasts
Reference App : Travel & Hospitality

Explore more references on our GitHub profile, or view examples created with Hygraph and popular frameworks like Gatsby, NextJS, Svelte, Gridsome, and Vue, amongst others.

HygraphDatoCMS
Additional API Operations1,000,000/month 10c/10,000 On topUnknown
Additional Asset Traffic500GB/month 10c/1GB On top
Content Entries10,000 - unlimited30 - custom models
Custom Pricing
Enterprise Plans
Free forever community plan
Free trial for Premium features
Monthly and Annual Plans
Plans in EUR
Plans in USDUnknown
Pricing ByProjectProject
Self Service PlansOne self service

Get started with a free forever developer plan or explore our other pricing options to accommodate your scaling needs.

#Security, Compliance, and Support

HygraphDatoCMS
24/7 Infrastructure Monitoring
Advanced Firewall RulesUnknown
Audit Logs
Authentication
Backups
Choice of data center
Community Support
Customer Success
Dedicated InfrastructureDedicated S3 buckets
Email Support
Encryption at rest
Encryption in transit
GDPR Compliant Infrastructure
Hosted in Europe
Implementation Partner Network
Login with Github
Login with Socials
Onboarding and Architecture Support
Onsite Chat
Project Backups
Public Slack Channel
SLA Performance
SLA Support
Solution Architects
SSO Support
User Management

Get started for free, or request a demo
to discuss larger projects