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CMS comparison Craft CMS vs Hygraph

Craft CMS vs Hygraph

Craft CMS is a closed-source traditional CMS that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. Hygraph is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 16.

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  • Craft CMS Traditional · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
  • Hygraph Headless · Closed source · 13 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Craft CMS on 29 Sept 2026, Hygraph on 29 Sept 2026. Plans and releases can change after those dates.

WAYF is an official Payload partner and top contributor. Every platform in the table is classified by the same published definitions, and each answer lists the vendor page it came from.

Feature comparison

Built inPaid tierPlugin or add-onLimitedNot available
Craft CMS vs Hygraph feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform
Craft CMS Traditional
Hygraph Headless
Overview
What it is Self-hosted PHP CMS with custom fields and Twig templates. Pixel & Tonic sells licences per project and runs Craft Cloud hosting.Hosted headless CMS run by Hygraph, formerly GraphCMS. Serves content over a GraphQL API and can pull in data from remote REST and GraphQL sources.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes. Craft CMS 5 in Solo, Team and Pro editions. Craft 6 is in alpha. Version 5.11.3, released 18 Sept 2026 Hygraph SaaS, Hobby, Growth and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor Pixel & Tonic craftcms.com Hygraph (formerly GraphCMS) hygraph.com
Licence Closed source Proprietary Craft License, source available Closed source Proprietary
Hosting Self-hosting Vendor cloud Craft Cloud starts at $120 per month per project and includes a Team licence. No self-hosting Vendor cloud Shared regions on every plan. Dedicated clusters on Enterprise.
Built with PHP, Yii 2, TwigHosted SaaS with a GraphQL Content API
Database MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQLManaged by Hygraph
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. Free to start Solo free for one user. Team $279, Pro $399 per project, then $99 per year for updates. Enterprise on request. Free to start Hobby free. Growth from $199 per month. Enterprise on request.
Content modelling
Content model in code You define content types in files in your repository, review them like any other code and apply them from there. Imperative migration scripts alone count as limited. Built in Project config YAML records sections, entry types and fields for Git. 7 Limited Management SDK applies schema changes from code. No declarative schema files. 2
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code. Built in 6 Built in 1
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them. Built in Matrix fields with nested entry types. 8 Built in Components in modular fields: 10 on Hobby, 20 on Growth. 1
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language. Built in Per-site and per-language field translation on every edition. 61 Built in Field-level locales: 2 on Hobby, 3 on Growth, up to 80 on Enterprise. 1
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service. Built in 10 Built in Resize, crop and format conversion by URL or GraphQL argument. 4
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. Plugin or add-on Free first-party Element API plugin. 12 Not available Content API is GraphQL only. 3
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. Built in 111 Built in 3
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. Plugin or add-on Free first-party Webhooks plugin. 13 Built in 5 on Hobby, 10 on Growth. 15
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no. Built in Twig templates. Not available
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. Built in 14 Built in DRAFT and PUBLISHED stages on every plan. 1
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. Built in Post date and expiry date on entries. 15 Paid tier Scheduled publishing on Enterprise. 17
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. Built in Editors can view and restore revisions. 14 Paid tier 14 days on Growth, up to 365 on Enterprise. None on Hobby. 1
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. Built in 1 Built in 1
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it. Limited Live Preview shows the edit form beside the page. No click-to-edit. 14 Built in Click to Edit via the Hygraph Preview SDK opens the field in Studio. 6
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage. Plugin or add-on Workflow plugin by Verbb, $49. 16 Paid tier Custom Workflows, up to 10, on Enterprise. 113
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release. Not available Paid tier Releases on Enterprise. 7
Real-time co-editing Two or more editors can work on the same entry at once and see each other's changes live. Not available Not available Collaborator View shows who else is in an entry. 9
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set. Paid tier Pro. Team allows one user group. Solo has one user. 51 Paid tier Up to 30 custom roles on Enterprise. Hobby has 2 standard roles, Growth 4. 1
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries. Paid tier Per-field Current User Condition. Rules by user group need Pro. 65 Not available Permissions scope by model, locale, stage, environment and condition. 8
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider. Paid tier First-party SAML SSO on Enterprise. 13 Paid tier Enterprise. 1
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log. Not available No core log. Craft 5 audit plugins exist but are niche. 20 Paid tier Enterprise, 90-day retention. 1
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users. Built in Included on every edition. 19 Paid tier Multitenancy on Enterprise. 1
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface. Built in 18 Built in App Framework for custom fields, sidebars and pages. 12
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. Built in Craft Plugin Store. 1 Built in Hygraph Marketplace. 12
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. Plugin or add-on Formie by Verbb, $99. Pricing page lists forms as plugin-only. 171 Not available
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. Paid tier Public registration needs Pro. 5 Not available
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content. Not available No first-party AI feature. Built in AI Assist on every plan, with a monthly AI token allowance. 110
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content. Not available Third-party Craft CMS MCP plugin by Stimmt Digital. 19 Built in Global endpoint at mcp.hygraph.com and per-project endpoints. Also a Claude connector. 111415

Considering more platforms? Compare Craft CMS and Hygraph with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Craft CMS and Hygraph get a different status on 16 of the 28 features and the same status on 12. Craft CMS has 14 built in on its baseline edition, Hygraph has 13. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Self-hosting
Craft CMS can be self-hosted. Hygraph cannot be self-hosted.

Built in on Craft CMS, a different answer on Hygraph 5

  • Content model in code Craft CMS: Built in. Hygraph: Limited.
  • Renders the website Craft CMS: Built in. Hygraph: Not available.
  • Scheduled publishing Craft CMS: Built in. Hygraph: Paid tier.
  • Version history Craft CMS: Built in. Hygraph: Paid tier.
  • Multiple sites Craft CMS: Built in. Hygraph: Paid tier.

Built in on Hygraph, a different answer on Craft CMS 4

  • Webhooks Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Hygraph: Built in.
  • Visual editing Craft CMS: Limited. Hygraph: Built in.
  • AI writing assistant Craft CMS: Not available. Hygraph: Built in.
  • Official MCP server Craft CMS: Not available. Hygraph: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 7

  • REST API Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Hygraph: Not available.
  • Approval workflows Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Hygraph: Paid tier.
  • Content releases Craft CMS: Not available. Hygraph: Paid tier.
  • Field-level permissions Craft CMS: Paid tier. Hygraph: Not available.
  • Audit log Craft CMS: Not available. Hygraph: Paid tier.
  • Form builder Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Hygraph: Not available.
  • Site member accounts Craft CMS: Paid tier. Hygraph: Not available.

More comparisons

Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: Craft CMS vs Payload and Hygraph vs Payload.

Craft CMS against other platforms

Hygraph against other platforms

Open the CMS comparison tool to put up to six platforms in one table.

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