#TL;DR

Multi-tenancy in the context of content management can have several meanings including a CMS with shared hosting, multi-channel content delivery, multi-language content management. 

The most broadly used and widely accepted meaning, however, refers to using the same CMS instance by multiple separate teams to power multiple separate frontends (e.g. different brands) and we will use this definition in the rest of the guide. 

What do IT and content professionals mean when using the term “multi-tenant CMS”, who is it for, and how to benefit from its upsides?

#Original Meaning of Multi-Tenancy

In its original definition, multi-tenancy refers to the use of the same computing resources by multiple applications or customers in a cloud-based solution or hosting provider. While resources are shared, data is logically separated in a secure and consistent manner. Multi-tenancy enables cost-effective hosting and efficient utilization of cloud resources, which has contributed to the growth of public cloud hosting (e.g., AWS) and container architecture (e.g., via Kubernetes).

Multi-tenancy is also often used in the context of content management. What do IT and content professionals mean when using the term “multi-tenant CMS”? How is it for and how to benefit from its upsides?

#The Meanings of a Multi-Tenant CMS

Multi-tenancy in the context of content management can have several meanings including a CMS with shared hosting, multi-channel content delivery, multi-language content management. 

The most broadly used and widely accepted meaning refers to using the same CMS instance by multiple separate teams to power multiple separate frontends (e.g. different brands). This definition will be used in the rest of the guide.

Meaning 1

Cloud-based SaaS CMSs rely on hosting providers like AWS and Google Cloud to ultimately host the data of their customers and the actual CMS applications. 

The first meaning of a multi-tenant CMS is identical to the original meaning of the term: multiple (small) CMS customers would be hosted on the same physical or virtual host machine. Costs are kept much lower and the possible performance downsides are usually irrelevant for customers with moderate traffic. For customers in regulated sectors or with very high traffic, companies like Hygraph also offer dedicated infrastructure - at every location in the world.

Meaning 2

Multi-tenant is sometimes used as a synonym of “multi-channel”. 

Multi-channel content delivery is a key advantage of API-first or “headless” CMSs. One data repository or CMS instance provides an API that can serve content to multiple frontend channels incl. mobiles apps and websites. Read more about headless CMS.

Meaning 3

Multi-tenant is sometimes used as a synonym of “multi-language” or “multi-region”.  

A CMS provides localization and internationalization capabilities to its customers; content can be stored in the same CMS instance in multiple languages and be targeted towards different geographies. Content is usually translated within the CMS or via an integration with a third-party-translation service like Smartling, Localize, Crowdin or EasyTranslate. Using “multi-tenant” to describe “multi-language” is rarely used.

Meaning 4

Multi-tenant sometimes describes organizational structures and even business models and how they relate to the content of an organization. 

For example, a company can operate several brands with their separate teams, separate web presence, separate content, separate customer base. The websites of these brands may, however, be using an identical content structure (schema) and have the same engineering team. 

Another example would be a company with hundreds of external contributors (ex. customers, partners) who create and manage content in the CMS without being able to see or edit each other’s content. 

#Who should consider moving to a multi-tenant CMS?

Multi-Frontend Multiple Brand Businesses

A multi-tenant CMS is a scalable option for some multi-brand enterprise companies. It allows multiple instances to share the same core codebase (including the content schema) and even configurations. Developers save time and effort both when they implement the CMS for the first time, and when they update and maintain it. 

Using a multi-tenant CMS solution requires a lower investment as resources are shared among tenants. There is no need to hire a dedicated resource for maintaining each instance. While end-customer facing frontends can have their separate designs, the content backend benefits from economies-of-scale. This does not mean that content teams can negatively impact each other.

Case Study: Multi-Brand and Multi-Frontend

Content Distribution in Healthcare ECommerce

Vision Healthcare is a digital-first platform that empowers consumers to improve their personal health and well-being. As an ecommerce company, it owns over 15 health and nutrition brands.

Vision Healthcare provides a robust e-commerce stack to all of its sub-brands, utilizing API-first solutions such as Commercetools and Hygraph.

Each webshop, including VitaminExpress, Lectinect, and Vitamaze, has a unique and separate frontend optimized for a specific customer segment. All marketing content is hosted in a single Hygraph instance, referred to as a "Project". Using Hygraph's permission system, different content manager groups can only view, edit, and publish content related to their respective brands.

Different business units, responsible for various brands and frontends, deliver content to different customer groups from the same Hygraph project. At the same time, Global Content is available across all digital properties and brand websites.

Single Frontend Application with Multiple External Contributors

There are businesses and applications relying on 3rd-party content creators incl. marketplaces, online conferences with virtual exhibitors, franchise businesses relying on shared tech resources.

The technical choice these organizations face is build versus customize (and, rarely, buy). For some, the technical platform is a core capability (e.g. Airbnb) that relying on external vendors for this is unthinkable. For others, where technology only supports the core business, a multi-tenant CMS is the right balance between customizability, functionality and costs.

Case Study: Hygraph Powers the Gamescom Conference Platform - One Backend, One Frontend, Multiple Content Manager Groups 

The world's largest event for gamers, gamescom, went completely online in 2021 in response to COVID-19.

To provide the best possible digital experience for all fans and partners, the organizers revamped the gamescom now content hub. They relied on Hygraph to power the content created by over 200 external contributors from leading gaming companies such as Microsoft Xbox, Ubisoft, and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment.

Given that gaming companies were planning to launch brand new games at gamescom, it was crucial to ensure that one contributor had no access to the content from another. To address this, gamescom implemented a multi-tenant setup with custom permissions specifically created for the 200+ external contributors. This ensured that no information was leaked or accessed incorrectly, preventing any interference with the big announcements.

We wanted a modular system that's both modern, and innovative. Further, Hygraph allowed us to scale access to content management, while at the same time, keeping the highest level of confidentiality between content creators with different permissions.

The setup sustains over 60M API operations for 3.5M simultaneous sessions from across the world without any interruptions within the 3 days of the conference annually since 2021. 

#Why should your company consider using a multi-tenant CMS?

• Content can be reused across multiple brands. The same Impressum, Terms, About Us content but also domain-specific content can be used across all brands. This content is managed by content managers usually working at a company’s HQ and cannot be modified by content managers at a subsidiary.


• Content structures and templates can be reused across different teams and brands.


• Compliance Settings and Configurations (e.g. SSO, Audit Logs) are stored in the same place. 


• One unified set of developer tools work with


• Devops efforts related to caching and infrastructure optimization can be centralized.


• There is only one API Endpoint to use across all frontend teams which facilitates collaboration and makes onboarding of new engineers much faster. This also leads to a much smaller attack surface making the approach more secure.


• Engineers have to be onboarded only on system or one code base to make development changes to.


• Commercial complexity is also reduced by having only one trusted vendor to communicate with.


• Licensing costs are generally lower because CMS vendors’ pricing models usually charge for multiple instances.

Several factors should guide you how to structure your content incl.

• the number of teams, their workflows, the level of independence they have from each other
• the number of brands and how unique their schemas are
• the amount of reusable content and reusable templates (content models)

Single Hygraph Instance

Companies with fewer brands, identical schemas, smaller teams, and moderate architectural complexity can often manage their schema and all of their content in a single Hygraph instance. This also applies to applications with external contributors with limited editorial capabilities only working with a few content templates.

With the help of Advanced Roles and Permissions and content categorization your teams and content manager groups can be fully separated.

The same exact schema is used, all schema changes are propagated across all digital properties using a specific model. Licensing Costs are generally lower with this approach.

Multiple Synchronized Hygraph Instances and Global Content via Content Federation

Content for web properties and brands that have less in common (e.g. different schema, content teams with very different workflows) is usually best managed in several synchronized Hygraph instances (Hygraph projects).

The content schemas can be modified to a bigger degree without negatively impacting other properties. The entire schemas or shared parts of the schemas can easily be cloned and later on kept in sync with each other with the help of a custom script and Hygraph’s SDK.

The instances can be hosted in different locations in the world. If required for compliance reasons, one instance could be stored in the EU, another in the USA. 

Workflows that are completely different across teams can be customized. For example, a smaller subsidiary may require fewer stages of content reviews and quality assurance before publication.

With the help of Content Federation global content can be reused across the different projects.  Benefit of keeping global content at sync with remote sources:

• More consistent content, better data Integrity amid several subprojects
• Reduced risk of serving outdated content that does not comply with the global brand guidelines anymore
• Less repetitive work for both devs and editors
• Less prone to error
• No need to develop a custom middleware: massive reduction in development time and costs

#About Hygraph

Hygraph is the first GraphQL-native Headless Content Platform, enabling teams across the world to rapidly build and deliver tomorrow’s multi-channel digital experiences at scale.

It was designed for removing traditional content management pain points by using the power of GraphQL, and take the idea of a Headless CMS to the next level. Hygraph integrates with any frontend technology, such as React, Vue and Svelte.

Get started with Hygraph by creating a free account, learn how our customers are solving real-world problems, gather information about next-generation CMS from our resources or academy, or learn more about the applications of Hygraph.