CMS comparison Hygraph vs Liferay DXP

Hygraph vs Liferay DXP

Hygraph is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. Liferay DXP is a closed-source enterprise DXP that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 13.

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Hygraph Headless · Closed source · 13 of 28 built in
Liferay DXP Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 26 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Hygraph on 29 Sept 2026, Liferay DXP 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

Hygraph vs Liferay DXP feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Hygraph Headless	Liferay DXP Enterprise DXP
Overview
What it is	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.	Java platform for websites, portals and commerce, with a new object-based CMS. Self-hosted or run by Liferay as PaaS or SaaS.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Hygraph SaaS, Hobby, Growth and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated	Liferay DXP 2026.Q3, Enterprise Subscription. The Free Tier replaced Liferay Portal CE from 2026.Q1. Version 2026.q3.5, released 25 Sept 2026
Vendor	Hygraph (formerly GraphCMS) hygraph.com	Liferay, Inc. liferay.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary, under the Liferay EULA. Free Tier activation key at no cost
Hosting	No self-hosting Vendor cloud Shared regions on every plan. Dedicated clusters on Enterprise.	Self-hosting Vendor cloud Free Tier suits smaller-scale use and gets no security patches, SAML or AI Hub.
Built with	Hosted SaaS with a GraphQL Content API	Java, OSGi, React
Database	Managed by Hygraph	MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, IBM Db2
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	Free to start Hobby free. Growth from $199 per month. Enterprise on request.	Free to start Free Tier at no cost for smaller-scale use. Enterprise Subscription per server instance, price 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.	Limited Management SDK applies schema changes from code. No declarative schema files. 2	Built in Definitions export to JSON and deploy from the repo as batch client extensions. 7
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Built in 1	Built in Objects and web content structures. 6
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in Components in modular fields: 10 on Hobby, 20 on Growth. 1	Built in Fragments on content pages. 11
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language.	Built in Field-level locales: 2 on Hobby, 3 on Growth, up to 80 on Enterprise. 1	Built in
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service.	Built in Resize, crop and format conversion by URL or GraphQL argument. 4	Built in Adaptive Media generates set image resolutions. 8
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Not available Content API is GraphQL only. 3	Built in Headless REST APIs. 9
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in 3	Built in 9
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in 5 on Hobby, 10 on Growth. 1 5	Built in Object actions call a webhook on add, update or delete. 10
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no.	Not available	Built in
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then.	Built in DRAFT and PUBLISHED stages on every plan. 1	Built in
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Paid tier Scheduled publishing on Enterprise. 1 7	Built in Display and expiration dates.
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Paid tier 14 days on Growth, up to 365 on Enterprise. None on Hobby. 1	Built in
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in 1	Built in
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it.	Built in Click to Edit via the Hygraph Preview SDK opens the field in Studio. 6	Built in Inline editing in the content page editor. 11
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Paid tier Custom Workflows, up to 10, on Enterprise. 1 13	Built in Kaleo workflow, also included in the Free Tier. 3
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Paid tier Releases on Enterprise. 7	Built in Publications group changes and publish them together. 12
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 Collaborator View shows who else is in an entry. 9	Not available A page locks while one editor has it open. 13
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Paid tier Up to 30 custom roles on Enterprise. Hobby has 2 standard roles, Growth 4. 1	Built in
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Not available Permissions scope by model, locale, stage, environment and condition. 8	Not available Permissions apply per object, entry or asset. 14
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Paid tier Enterprise. 1	Built in SAML and OpenID Connect. The Free Tier lacks SAML. 3 15
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log.	Paid tier Enterprise, 90-day retention. 1	Built in Audit framework with search and export of events. 16
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Paid tier Multitenancy on Enterprise. 1	Built in
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface.	Built in App Framework for custom fields, sidebars and pages. 12	Built in Client extensions. 7
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Hygraph Marketplace. 12	Built in Liferay Marketplace. 17
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Not available	Built in Liferay Forms.
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Not available	Built in
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content.	Built in AI Assist on every plan, with a monthly AI token allowance. 1 10	Built in AI Hub writing tools in the new CMS. Not in the Free Tier. 4 18
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Built in Global endpoint at mcp.hygraph.com and per-project endpoints. Also a Claude connector. 11 14 15	Built in Built-in MCP server released in 2026.Q3, switched on by feature flag. 19

Hygraph sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Hygraph SaaS, Hobby, Growth and Enterprise plans.

Liferay DXP sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Liferay DXP 2026.Q3, Enterprise Subscription. The Free Tier replaced Liferay Portal CE from 2026.Q1..

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

Where they differ

Hygraph and Liferay DXP get a different status on 13 of the 28 features and the same status on 15. Hygraph has 13 built in on its baseline edition, Liferay DXP has 26. 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: Hygraph cannot be self-hosted. Liferay DXP can be self-hosted.

Built in on Liferay DXP, a different answer on Hygraph 13

Content model in code Hygraph: Limited. Liferay DXP: Built in.
REST API Hygraph: Not available. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Renders the website Hygraph: Not available. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Scheduled publishing Hygraph: Paid tier. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Version history Hygraph: Paid tier. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Approval workflows Hygraph: Paid tier. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Content releases Hygraph: Paid tier. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Custom roles Hygraph: Paid tier. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Single sign-on Hygraph: Paid tier. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Audit log Hygraph: Paid tier. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Multiple sites Hygraph: Paid tier. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Form builder Hygraph: Not available. Liferay DXP: Built in.
Site member accounts Hygraph: Not available. Liferay DXP: Built in.

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