Hygraph vs Sanity

GROQ and Portable Text enable union types, nested arrays, and custom input components, all first-class.

GraphQL-native schema with union types and polymorphic relations. Content Federation adds external data sources.

Objects and Portable Text blocks are shared across document types and map directly to your design system.

Component models embed across content types. Schema-first reuse is straightforward for GraphQL-experienced developers.

Custom validators work in schema definitions but require developer-written JavaScript, not a no-code option.

Basic required, unique, and regex validators. Advanced custom validation is limited compared to alternatives.

Studio is highly customizable but needs developer configuration before non-technical editors are comfortable.

The editor is functional but complex. Editors need to understand GraphQL-style relationships before working efficiently.

The Presentation tool offers click-to-edit live previews but requires developer config to connect your frontend.

Preview via configurable URLs. No live preview panel, editors see changes after saving. Developer setup required.

Content Releases and versioning built in. Custom workflow states need Studio customization or third-party plugins.

Custom content stages are configurable. Approval workflows with notifications are available on paid plans.

Imgix-powered CDN with hotspot and crop built in. Asset manager handles images, files, and custom sources.

Handles uploads and basic transforms via the built-in API. Less capable than alternatives.

Presence indicators, cursor tracking, and simultaneous editing are core to Sanity Studio, not a bolt-on.

Presence indicators show concurrent editors. Live sync available but less polished.

Role-based access per content type on paid plans. Field-level permissions need custom Studio configuration.

The most granular here, field, locale, content stage, and model-level access designed for complex enterprise orgs.

Field-level localization via @sanity/language-filter, well maintained but requires schema wiring by a developer.

Multi-locale is first-class with field-level variants, locale-specific publishing, and multi-region API delivery.

Fallback logic must be implemented in GROQ queries or the frontend, no native CMS fallback configuration.

Native fallback configured in project settings with API-level enforcement. GraphQL returns fallback values automatically.

GROQ docs, REST reference, GraphQL playground, and schema-generated TypeScript types are all excellent.

Excellent GraphQL docs with a live playground, schema introspection, and generated TypeScript types.

Starters for Next.js, Astro, Nuxt, and SvelteKit. next-sanity is the most polished CMS integration in Next.js.

Good framework examples. GraphQL-first means any client works easily, less framework tooling than alternatives.

Mutations API, Assets API, and GROQ support any programmatic workflow. Sanity CLI handles migrations and dataset ops.

Full schema management via GraphQL mutations, types, relations, and fields all programmatically creatable.

Multiple datasets provide isolation but promotion needs manual scripting. Enterprise adds dataset aliases for hot-swap.

Branch schema and content for testing, then promote. Less polished than DatoCMS's one-click sandbox workflow.

Edge CDN with Imgix image transforms. Fast globally but slightly behind Fastly-backed competitors on cold-start latency.

Global CDN with multi-region data residency on Enterprise. API performance is strong globally, especially for GraphQL.

Fully managed cloud with zero server config. Studio can be hosted anywhere or embedded in your app.

Fully managed SaaS with zero infrastructure to configure or maintain.

Sanity Exchange has plugins for forms, SEO, and AI. Core integrations are solid but third-party quality varies.

Focused on e-commerce, frameworks, and enterprise tools.

One of the most active CMS communities, Slack is genuinely helpful, docs are thorough, and release cadence is high.

Enterprise-niche community. Active Discord with responsive support but fewer tutorials and third-party resources.