Hygraph vs Statamic

Hygraph is a hosted, GraphQL-native headless CMS built for enterprises that need content federation across multiple sources, SOC 2/ISO 27001-grade security,…

Best for Hygraph: Enterprise and multi-brand teams that need GraphQL content federation, SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 certification, and granular RBAC/SSO across up to 200 seats and 80 locales fit Hygraph's hosted platform best.
Best for Statamic: PHP/Laravel developers and agencies building a self-hosted, flat-file or database-backed website who want a permanently free Core edition and only need to pay $349/site (then $99/year) once they require multi-user accounts or headless API access fit Statamic best.

At a Glance

 HygraphStatamic
Primary categoryCMSCMS
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFreemiumfreemium (free Core tier, paid Pro licenses)
Starting priceFree (Hobby plan); Growth from $199/monthFree (Core); Pro from $349 per site first year, $99/year renewal
Free planYesYes
Free trialNot documentedNot documented
PlatformsWebWeb
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresYesNot documented
Public APIYesYes

Key Differences

Pricing Model

Hygraph: Hygraph is a SaaS subscription: a free Hobby tier, then Growth at $199/month, then custom Enterprise pricing.

Statamic: Statamic is licensed per self-hosted site: Core is free forever, Pro costs $349/site for the first year (including updates) then $99/year to keep updating.

Recurring monthly SaaS cost behaves very differently in a budget than a one-time-per-site license with a low annual renewal.

Hosting & Architecture

Hygraph: Hygraph is a fully hosted, GraphQL-native content-as-a-service platform with content federation across multiple data sources.

Statamic: Statamic is a self-hosted PHP application built on Laravel, and can run in flat-file mode (no database required) or database-backed mode.

Self-hosting requires PHP/Laravel server management skills, while a hosted CMS removes infrastructure work but adds usage-based limits.

API Access by Tier

Hygraph: Hygraph includes GraphQL API access on every tier, including the free Hobby plan (500,000 API calls/month, 1,000 entries).

Statamic: Statamic's REST API and GraphQL endpoint are gated behind the paid Pro license — the free Core edition does not include headless/API access.

If a team needs headless delivery to a separate frontend or app, this determines whether that capability is free or requires payment.

Security & Compliance Certifications

Hygraph: Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 certified (since August 2022) and ISO 27001 certified, with GDPR and German BDSG/TMG compliance, plus RBAC with OIDC/LDAP/SAML SSO.

Statamic: Statamic's Enterprise tier adds SSO, 2FA, and Audit Logging, but no third-party security certifications (SOC 2, ISO 27001) are documented.

Regulated enterprises often require documented third-party security certifications before approving a vendor.

Multi-Locale & Multi-Site Scale

Hygraph: Hygraph Enterprise supports up to 80 locales and 200 seats, with multitenancy and dedicated infrastructure.

Statamic: Statamic Pro includes multi-site support for managing multiple languages, domains, or sub-brands from a single install, but specific locale or seat limits are not documented.

Large, multi-market organizations need to know concrete scale limits before committing to a platform.

Feature-by-Feature

Content Modeling & Delivery

FeatureHygraphStatamic
GraphQL APIAvailableLimited
REST APINot documentedLimited
Content federation across sourcesAvailableNot documented
Rich block/field editorNot documentedAvailable
Flat-file storage modeUnavailableAvailable

Pricing & Licensing

FeatureHygraphStatamic
Free tierAvailableAvailable
Entry paid tier priceAvailableAvailable
Enterprise custom pricingAvailableAvailable

Access, Security & Scale

FeatureHygraphStatamic
SSOAvailableLimited
SOC 2 / ISO 27001 certificationAvailableNot documented
Audit logsAvailableLimited
Multi-locale/multi-site supportAvailableAvailable

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Hygraph

Hobby — Free N/A
Growth — $199/month Monthly
Enterprise — Custom pricing Custom

Statamic

Core — Free N/A
Pro — $349 per site (first year), $99/year renewal annual
Enterprise — Custom custom

Pros & Cons

Hygraph

Pros

  • True GraphQL-native API design reduces overfetching compared to REST-based CMS platforms
  • Unique Content Federation feature unifies multiple backend services into one content graph
  • Genuinely usable free Hobby tier for small production projects
  • MACH-certified composable architecture appeals to enterprise engineering teams
  • Strong multi-locale and localization support for global content teams

Cons

  • Steep price jump from the free Hobby tier to the $199/month Growth plan
  • GraphQL learning curve for teams and developers used to REST-based CMS platforms
  • Advanced federation and enterprise features are gated behind custom Enterprise pricing
  • Fewer pre-built page templates than page-builder-style CMS competitors
  • Smaller third-party plugin ecosystem than more established platforms like Contentful

Statamic

Pros

  • Free Core tier with no cost for single-admin, single-site use
  • Flat-file storage enables true Git-based content version control
  • Built on Laravel, appealing to PHP and Laravel developers
  • Polished, modern control panel that non-technical editors can use comfortably
  • Flexible headless API options for decoupled front-end architectures

Cons

  • Pro tier requires a per-site license fee, which can add up for agencies managing many sites
  • Smaller plugin and theme ecosystem compared to WordPress
  • Requires PHP and Laravel familiarity to extend or customize deeply
  • Flat-file storage can become harder to manage at very large content scale

Use Cases

Choose Hygraph: Enterprise and multi-brand teams that need GraphQL content federation, SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 certification, and granular RBAC/SSO across up to 200 seats and 80 locales fit Hygraph's hosted platform best.
Choose Statamic: PHP/Laravel developers and agencies building a self-hosted, flat-file or database-backed website who want a permanently free Core edition and only need to pay $349/site (then $99/year) once they require multi-user accounts or headless API access fit Statamic best.
Need both: There is no realistic scenario for using both together — each is a primary CMS for building and serving a site's content, and a team would choose one as the system of record rather than run both in the same content pipeline.

Hygraph

  • Composable Commerce Content Backend — Federate product, pricing, and inventory data from commerce platforms alongside editorial content.
  • Multi-Brand and Multi-Locale Content Management — Manage localized content across many brands, regions, and languages from a single content model.
  • Federating Multiple APIs Into One Content Graph — Unify data from several backend services into a single GraphQL API for frontend teams to query.

Statamic

  • Agency client websites — Web agencies use Statamic's white-label Pro tier and Git-based workflows to build and maintain marketing sites for multiple clients.
  • Developer-controlled content sites — Laravel developers use Statamic's flat-file storage to keep content under version control alongside application code.
  • Headless content delivery — Teams building decoupled front ends use Statamic Pro's REST and GraphQL APIs to serve content to custom applications.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hygraph free?

Yes, the Hobby plan is free forever with 3 seats, unlimited asset storage, 1,000 entries, and 500,000 API calls/month, though the next tier jumps to $199/month with no documented mid-tier option.

Is Statamic free?

The Core edition is free forever with no per-site licensing fee. The Pro tier, required for multi-user accounts, revisions, and REST/GraphQL API access, costs $349/site the first year and $99/year to renew.

Which one is self-hosted?

Statamic is self-hosted, built on Laravel, and can run in flat-file mode without a database. Hygraph is a hosted SaaS platform; no self-hosting option is documented.

Does Statamic support headless or API-based delivery?

Yes, but only with a Pro license — REST API and GraphQL access are Pro features, not included in the free Core edition.

Is Hygraph SOC 2 certified?

Yes, Hygraph has been SOC 2 Type 2 certified since August 2022 and is also ISO 27001 certified. No equivalent certification is documented for Statamic.

Which tool requires PHP/Laravel development skills?

Statamic requires PHP/Laravel hosting and development knowledge to self-host and customize. Hygraph is a hosted content-as-a-service platform that doesn't require managing that infrastructure.

Read the full Hygraph review · Read the full Statamic review