CMS comparison Hygraph vs Squarespace

Hygraph vs Squarespace

Hygraph is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. Squarespace is a closed-source site builder that runs on the vendor's cloud. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 18.

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Hygraph Headless · Closed source · 13 of 28 built in
Squarespace Site builder · Closed source · 9 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Hygraph on 29 Sept 2026, Squarespace 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 Squarespace feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Hygraph Headless	Squarespace Site builder
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.	Hosted website builder with templates, a visual editor, blogging and commerce. Squarespace runs the hosting.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Hygraph SaaS, Hobby, Growth and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated	Squarespace website plans on version 7.1 SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor	Hygraph (formerly GraphCMS) hygraph.com	Squarespace, Inc. squarespace.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	No self-hosting Vendor cloud Shared regions on every plan. Dedicated clusters on Enterprise.	No self-hosting Vendor cloud
Built with	Hosted SaaS with a GraphQL Content API	Hosted SaaS, custom CSS and JavaScript on Core and higher plans
Database	Managed by Hygraph	Managed by Squarespace
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	Free to start Hobby free. Growth from $199 per month. Enterprise on request.	No free option Basic $19, Core $29, Plus $49, Advanced $99 per month billed annually in the US. 14-day free trial.
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	Limited Custom post types in template.conf, only with Developer Mode on version 7.0. 2 3
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Built in 1	Not available Fixed page and collection types. No custom fields in the editor. 2
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 Editors add and reorder sections and blocks.
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	Plugin or add-on Weglot extension. Without it, editors duplicate pages per language. 4 5
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 Squarespace serves uploaded images in generated sizes.
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Not available Content API is GraphQL only. 3	Limited Commerce APIs for products, orders and inventory on Core and up. No API for pages. 1 6
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in 3	Not available
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	Limited Commerce events only, through the Webhook Subscriptions API. 7
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	Paid tier Page drafts need a Premium or Enterprise plan. Blog posts can be drafts on any plan. 8
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	Limited Blog posts only. 9
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	Not available Undo and redo within an editing session only. 10
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in 1	Built in Editing happens on the rendered page.
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
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	Limited Enterprise Draft editor role drafts pages for an admin to publish. No custom stages. 8 11
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Paid tier Releases on Enterprise. 7	Not available
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
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	Not available Fixed contributor permission types. 11
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
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Paid tier Enterprise. 1	Paid tier Premium and Enterprise plans. OpenID Connect through Entra ID, SAML through Google. 17 18
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	Not available
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	Limited Each site needs its own plan. Enterprise teams manage several sites from one account. 11
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	Not available
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Hygraph Marketplace. 12	Built in Squarespace Extensions, a directory of third-party tools. 12
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Not available	Built in Form blocks store submissions. 13
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Not available	Built in Customer accounts on all plans. Member sites for gated content. 1 14
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 Squarespace AI writer. Monthly AI credits vary by plan. 1 15
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	Not available The official MCP server covers domain search only. It can't reach site content. 16

Hygraph sources

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

Squarespace sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Squarespace website plans on version 7.1.

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

Where they differ

Hygraph and Squarespace get a different status on 18 of the 28 features and the same status on 10. Hygraph has 13 built in on its baseline edition, Squarespace has 9. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Free option: Hygraph has a free option. Squarespace has no free option.

Built in on Hygraph, a different answer on Squarespace 7

Content model in the UI Hygraph: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Localization Hygraph: Built in. Squarespace: Plugin or add-on.
GraphQL API Hygraph: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Webhooks Hygraph: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
Drafts Hygraph: Built in. Squarespace: Paid tier.
Extensible admin UI Hygraph: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Official MCP server Hygraph: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.

Built in on Squarespace, a different answer on Hygraph 3

Renders the website Hygraph: Not available. Squarespace: Built in.
Form builder Hygraph: Not available. Squarespace: Built in.
Site member accounts Hygraph: Not available. Squarespace: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 8

REST API Hygraph: Not available. Squarespace: Limited.
Scheduled publishing Hygraph: Paid tier. Squarespace: Limited.
Version history Hygraph: Paid tier. Squarespace: Not available.
Approval workflows Hygraph: Paid tier. Squarespace: Limited.
Content releases Hygraph: Paid tier. Squarespace: Not available.
Custom roles Hygraph: Paid tier. Squarespace: Not available.
Audit log Hygraph: Paid tier. Squarespace: Not available.
Multiple sites Hygraph: Paid tier. Squarespace: Limited.

More comparisons

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

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