# dotCMS vs Hygraph

> Hygraph scores 67.4 (B) to dotCMS's 57.7 (C) for content management. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dotcms-vs-hygraph
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dotcms-vs-hygraph.md (~3,950 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

Hygraph scores 67.4 (B) on agent readiness against dotCMS's 57.7 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. dotCMS leads on maintenance & community. Both do content management.

- dotCMS: grade C, 57.7/100, rank #780 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/dotcms.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/dotcms.json
- Hygraph: grade B, 67.4/100, rank #323 of 1486. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hygraph.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hygraph.json
- Best headless CMS and website publishing for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/cms/index.md
- All 136 cms comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cms/index.md

## Which one, for what

### dotCMS (C)

Good for: Enterprises already on dotCMS who want an agent to manage content and pages.

Ahead on:
- Maintenance & community, 75 against 64

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine

Watch for: Pre-1.0 package, with the dev docs still pointing at the beta tag

### Hygraph (B)

Good for: Teams on Hygraph who want an agent to create, localise and publish entries, upload assets or change schema, with delete and unpublish kept out of reach on MCP.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 83 against 47
- Schema & documentation, 78 against 65
- Transparency & trust, 62 against 54

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: GraphQL error bodies carry a message and a `requestId` with no machine-readable code, and only asset transformation 429 responses are documented with `Retry-After`


## Why the edge

### Reliability: Hygraph +36

- dotCMS (47): Read with the local-software lines, since the MCP server is a stdio package the owner runs against their own instance. Official npm package with Node 20 or later and Bun stated (20). The monorepo has CI and the MCP app has vitest tests and smoke tests; whether they pass on main wasn't read (12 of 25). Open issues weren't read because the GitHub API refused us for its rate limit (10 of 25). 0.1.0 and 0.1.1 without release notes for the package (5 of 15). Pre-1.0, and the dev docs still call it beta (0). 20+12+10+5+0 = 47.
- Hygraph (83): Graded on the GraphQL Content and Management APIs, with the hosted MCP server noted. Public status page at status.hygraph.com, now on incident.io, with the API, the Content API cache and the asset CDN for 11 regions (20). In the 90 days to 1 November 2026 its feed lists two incidents, both partial outages. On 7 August new sign-ups were unavailable for 36 minutes (11:38 to 12:14 UTC) with existing users unaffected, and on 16 October cache invalidation for the Content API in the AP South 1 shared region was delayed for 1 hour 47 minutes (09:13 to 11:01 UTC). Each hit one function or one region, so both read as minor (20 of 30). Rate limits published by plan as uncached requests a second (5, 25, up to 500) and concurrent operations (15). The docs give exponential backoff guidance with sample code. `Retry-After` is documented only for asset transformation limits, and there are no idempotency keys (10). The pricing page lists an Enterprise uptime SLA of up to 99.95%. The SLA document was not found (8). The APIs and the MCP server carry no beta label (10).

### Schema & documentation: Hygraph +13

- dotCMS (65): The search tool exposes the instance's own OpenAPI spec, so the contract is machine-readable, though the tools themselves take JavaScript code (20 of 25). llms.txt and Markdown pages on dev.dotcms.com (10). The README says what each tool is for and gives examples; when not to use them isn't stated (12 of 20). Code strings rather than typed parameters for search and execute (4 of 15). Examples for both tools; error behaviour of the sandbox isn't documented (9 of 15). dotCMS changelogs are dated; the MCP package has no changelog (10 of 15). 20+10+12+4+9+10 = 65.
- Hygraph (78): GraphQL introspection is on by default for each project's Content API, so the contract is machine-readable and specific to the project. The Management API answered 401 to an introspection query without a token, and no static schema file was found (20 of 25). A root `llms.txt` with a Markdown copy of every docs section under `/llms-full/` (10). The Management SDK page states when to use it and when not to, and the MCP tools reference gives each of 19 tools one line with a warning on `execute_graphql` (15). Inputs are typed per model with enums and required fields. Rich Text takes an AST and JSON fields are free-form (13). Request and response examples throughout, and an errors page for nine HTTP statuses. Error bodies carry a message only, with no code list (10). The endpoint path carries `/v2/` and the changelog is public and dated. No API versioning policy was found (10).

### Maintenance & community: dotCMS +11

- dotCMS (75): dotCMS core tagged v26.11.06-03 on 6 November 2026; the MCP package's last release was 0.1.1 on 2 September (30). Core tags several times a week (20). GitHub issues and a community forum; response times weren't read because the GitHub API refused us for its rate limit (10 of 25). Not in the official MCP registry; official JavaScript client libraries (8 of 15). The MCP package's dependencies and CI state weren't read (7 of 10). 30+20+10+8+7 = 75.
- Hygraph (64): The changelog's newest entry is still 30 September 2026, 32 days before 1 November, and no newer dated change was found (20). In the 90 days from 3 August, entries on 31 August and 30 September and `@hygraph/management-sdk` 1.6.1 on 19 August, per the 8 October check of npm, not re-read on 1 November (20). Public changelog, a community Slack, in-app chat and email support on Growth. The SDK's GitHub repository shows no commit since 13 September 2024 (9 of 15). The Management SDK was current on npm on 8 October. The official MCP registry still returns no Hygraph entry (11). The public repository does not carry the 2026 npm releases, so CI could not be seen (4).

### Transparency & trust: Hygraph +8

- dotCMS (54): dotCMS core is under the Business Source License 1.1, source-available rather than OSI, with an additional use grant under $5 million; the MCP package is GPL-3.0 on npm (20 of 30). The privacy policy of 8 September 2026 covers website visitors only; no cloud data-handling terms were found (10 of 30). A deprecations page, an LTS lifecycle and dated changelogs (16 of 20). Telemetry and sub-processors weren't established (5 of 20). 20+10+16+5 = 51.
- Hygraph (62): Closed service under published Terms of Service from Hygraph GmbH, with the Management SDK under MIT (15 of 30). The privacy policy, last updated 19 March 2025, covers the service and lists six categories of service provider without naming them. Retention is stated only as the legal period, the terms disclaim liability for deleted content, and no data processing agreement was found (12). Dated notices for the 2025 move off the legacy asset system and a statement that the old `@graphcms/management` SDK is deprecated. The terms allow the service to change without prior notice (10). The status page and pricing page name 11 hosting regions. Sub-processors are not named (8).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | dotCMS | Hygraph | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 47 | 83 | Hygraph +36 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 65 | 78 | Hygraph +13 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 68 | 72 | Hygraph +4 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 63 | 63 | even |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 35 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 64 | dotCMS +11 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 54 | 62 | Hygraph +8 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **57.7 · C** | **67.4 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | dotCMS | Hygraph |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | HTTP API |
| Vendor | dotCMS LLC | Hygraph GmbH |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://mcp.hygraph.com/mcp` |
| Transports | stdio | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | BUSL-1.1 | Proprietary service under Hygraph GmbH's Terms of Service. The `@hygraph/management-sdk` package is MIT |
| Tools exposed | 7 | 17 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-02 | 2026-09-30 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-08 | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 43 npm/wk | 52 stars, 8.6k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (4) |

## How the scores have moved

### dotCMS

No score change since it was listed.

### Hygraph

- -2.1 on 1 November 2026: reliability, time
- +0.2 on 27 October 2026: checklist

## Verdicts

**dotCMS.** dotCMS's MCP server keeps the tool list to seven by letting the agent search the instance's OpenAPI spec and run API calls in a sandbox that never sees the token. It is a pre-1.0 package that needs a write token, and cloud prices are on request.

**Hygraph.** Tokens are limited by model, stage, locale and action, the GraphQL schema is typed and introspectable, and a hosted MCP server rejects delete and unpublish operations. Error bodies carry a message without a machine code, there are no idempotency keys, audit logs are Enterprise only, and no data processing agreement, sub-processor list or security.txt was found.

## Before you call either

### dotCMS

1. Search the spec with `search` before writing an `execute` call, and return only the fields you need
2. Use a token for a dedicated user and role, not an administrator's
3. Confirm with the user before execute calls that publish, archive or delete content
4. Keep results small with pick and first, since output is capped at about 25,000 characters
5. Use download_assets for theme folders so files land on disk instead of in context

### Hygraph

1. Send the Permanent Auth Token as `Authorization: Bearer <token>` to `https://<region>.hygraph.com/v2/<projectId>/<environment>`. Read the schema by introspection first, because every type is generated from the project's models
2. Mutations write to DRAFT. Call `publish<Model>` with `to: [PUBLISHED]` as a separate mutation, and pass `locales` to write or publish a localisation
3. Stay under the plan's limit for uncached requests (5 a second on Hobby, 25 on Growth) and its concurrent mutations (5 and 10). Back off exponentially on 429
4. Upload an asset with `createAsset`, then POST the file to the returned pre-signed URL, or pass `uploadUrl` for a remote file. The asset stays `ASSET_CREATE_PENDING` until processed
5. Schema changes go to the Management API through `@hygraph/management-sdk` or the MCP tool `submit_batch_migration`. Version restore has no documented mutation, so read `<model>Version` and write the old values back

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, dotCMS or Hygraph?

Hygraph scores 67.4 (B) on agent readiness against dotCMS's 57.7 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. dotCMS leads on maintenance & community.

### Do dotCMS and Hygraph need an API key?

dotCMS needs an API key. Hygraph takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call dotCMS and Hygraph without installing anything?

dotCMS runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. Hygraph has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.hygraph.com/mcp.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dotcms-vs-hygraph.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dotcms-vs-hygraph.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "dotcms", "b": "hygraph"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare dotcms hygraph`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/dotcms.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hygraph.json

## Other comparisons with dotCMS or Hygraph

- [BCMS vs dotCMS](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bcms-vs-dotcms.md)
- [BCMS vs Hygraph](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bcms-vs-hygraph.md)
- [ButterCMS vs dotCMS](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-dotcms.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Hygraph](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-hygraph.md)
- [Contentstack vs dotCMS](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/contentstack-vs-dotcms.md)
- [Contentstack vs Hygraph](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/contentstack-vs-hygraph.md)
- [Cosmic vs dotCMS](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cosmic-vs-dotcms.md)
- [Cosmic vs Hygraph](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cosmic-vs-hygraph.md)
- [DatoCMS vs dotCMS](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/datocms-vs-dotcms.md)
- [DatoCMS vs Hygraph](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/datocms-vs-hygraph.md)
- [Directus vs dotCMS](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-dotcms.md)
- [Directus vs Hygraph](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-hygraph.md)
- [dotCMS vs Ghost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dotcms-vs-ghost.md)
- [dotCMS vs Kontent.ai](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dotcms-vs-kontent-ai.md)
- [dotCMS vs Payload](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dotcms-vs-payload.md)
- [dotCMS vs Prismic](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dotcms-vs-prismic.md)
- [dotCMS vs Sanity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dotcms-vs-sanity.md)
- [dotCMS vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dotcms-vs-storyblok.md)
- [dotCMS vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dotcms-vs-strapi.md)
- [dotCMS vs Webflow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dotcms-vs-webflow.md)
- [dotCMS vs WordPress](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dotcms-vs-wordpress.md)
- [Ghost vs Hygraph](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-hygraph.md)
- [Hygraph vs Kontent.ai](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hygraph-vs-kontent-ai.md)
- [Hygraph vs Payload](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hygraph-vs-payload.md)
- [Hygraph vs Prismic](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hygraph-vs-prismic.md)
- [Hygraph vs Sanity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hygraph-vs-sanity.md)
- [Hygraph vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hygraph-vs-storyblok.md)
- [Hygraph vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hygraph-vs-strapi.md)
- [Hygraph vs Webflow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hygraph-vs-webflow.md)
- [Hygraph vs WordPress](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hygraph-vs-wordpress.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp