Hello, Hygraph.

Feeling stumped at the fact that you’ve perhaps never heard of the company called Hygraph before?

Not to worry, it could have to do with the fact that they’ve only recently changed their name (publicly announced in July 2022) from GraphCMS to Hygraph. Ah, now that you hear the name GraphCMS something is starting to ring a bell right? Yes, great!

Founded in 2017 and with countless awards to boot – like being one of the Top 10 fastest growing software headless CMS companies in Q3 of 2021 or the Top 10 most popular of that same period – means that this company knows how to make some serious waves. With their headquarters based in Berlin, Germany, they are at the epicenter of Europe’s tech world.

They’re a real force to be reckoned with, some would say, with many capabilities that are sure to add additional value to your business. But how come? What is it that makes Hygraph so popular, and what exactly does this company offer?

What is Hygraph?

Hygraph is a company that offers headless CMS for users who want to create / build a digital content infrastructure using GraphQL APIs.

What did any of the above sentence mean? Let’s break it down.

Hygraph is both the company and service provider, as well as, the name of their product.

Headless is the act of decoupling the front-end of a website with its back-end. i.e. These two are no longer bound by marriage but can be happily divorced, making for smoother and more flexible operations on both ends. Read more about what headless means on a previous blog of ours 'Headless CMS – What is it? A short and sweet explanation'.

CMS stands for ‘Content Management System’ and is a computer software that uses a database to manage content. A CMS also offers options to add, edit and manage content, which are all useful benefits and allow businesses to distribute content easier.

Users in this case would most likely be content producers, developers, and generally people working in digital marketing.

A digital content infrastructure is essentially what happens on the "backend side of operations" in a headless build and provides the groundwork for the frontend components, which is then some form of digital- or online presence. Take a look at the image below for a great representation of this:

GraphQL is a query language for APIs.

Wait a minute, now we have two more things we need to understand.

A query language is a computer programming language that is used to get information out of a database.

APIs (Application Programming Interface) are like the middle man between two applications that allow two applications to talk to each other.

That was a bucket load, but now we hope that you understand what Hygraph is all about.

Why is Hygraph so popular? – Let’s talk business value

Hygraph is both extremely popular as well as extremely important. Hygraph boasts high capability that adds incredible business value. Aspects like flexibility and simplicity are to name a few, let’s expand on them below:

As Hygraph is a headless CMS built with laser sharp API focus, flexibility is at the very root of this company. With this set-up, developers and creators are able to define API parameters themselves. This means that they can define exactly how they want their API to be shaped.

With Hygraph, content management becomes a breeze as users make use of the same text editors and asset workflows without needing to make any pull requests.

It is also a very simple procedure to connect any other platform to the CMS as the query language, GraphQL is API-driven, any APIs basically make things talk to each other so anything that is driven by something that likes to connect two otherwise separate things –  sounds like time saving to me.

Hygraph offers some useful tech software that makes the lives of developers much easier than before. In making the lives of developers easier, they have inadvertently made the lives of those developers' clients, so oftentimes website / online store owners' lives, easier too.

It really is not just one thing that makes Hygraph as great as it is. It is a variety of things that come into play as to why Hygraph is so popular. The combination of advanced tech and the idea of simplifying complex tech instructions to make for an easily built foundation for website owners, is at the core of what makes Hygraph so popular and useful.

What does Hygraph offer?

Everything.

No, we’re only kidding, but close.

They essentially simplify the entire online process, both in the front-end and the back-end. Hypgraph has dubbed themselves as a ‘front-end and back-end agnostic API-first solution’ and the way that they achieve success is through offering the following:

• Extensibility – you are able to better the content that you are on offer with remote data fetching, UI extensions and integrations.
• Developer Operations – we’ve explained this fully above but it’s essentially through the API-first approach that gives developers freedom and flexibility.
• Security & Governance – backups, regular updates and advanced technologies all enhance the security for users.
• Internationalization – makes selling in various countries and in various languages easy.
• Multi-Tenant Content – all through one single GraphQL endpoint.

How much does Hygraph cost?

Hypgraph is divided into different price brackets to suit the needs of a variety of businesses and budgets. They offer a 14 day free trial which allows you to have free access to their offering. This free plan is helpful for you to work on before choosing one of the below plans. The starting price ranges from free (their free version) to the most expensive on the scale which is for their enterprise users.

Hygraph essentially has four pricing structures:

• Free Forever – free versionThis is ideal for personal use or for small scale projects.
• Self Service ProfessionalThis comes to $299 (per project per month) which is perfect for smaller teams who are starting to grow.
• Self Service ScaleThis comes to $799 (per project per month) which works for teams who are looking to scale their products and applications.
• EnterpriseThis is a custom amount that is dependent on the needs of their clients so you would need to get in touch with the Hygraph Sales Team for more precise information.

Additionally, Hygraph offers phenomenal support to its users. They have an FAQ section on their website which is especially useful. Hygraph also has a chatbot on their site for any queries users or a potential user might have. With this amount of customer support, Hypgraph users will feel less blocked in their operation process as answers will be ready at every turn.

Hygraph is there to enrich the lives of business owners and possesses features that are paramount to any website page.

Conclusion

For the fact that Hygraph has only been around for a mere 5 years, they have brought so much development and ingenuity to the world of technology in that short amount of time. They have made building and creating with tech, a fun and flexible experience for developers. It is no longer an arduous exercise for developers, with the great features of Hygraph, this platform is actually something that they can actually enjoy.

Hygraph is a company with serious skill, high levels of knowledge, an actual interest in bettering/helping the tech community, a desire to simplify things and generally a great service to make use of.

If you would like to know more about Hygraph or if you need a tech agency to build something for you using Hygraph then please get in touch with us by email on hello@especial.digital or contact us on our website.