canned pumpkin or pipe dream?

[Quinn]

I always use butternut squash.

If you look at the ingredients on the canned pumpkin, you'll see it's mostly butternut squash

That is true, but only depending on the quality/brand of the canned pumpkin you are using. I for one have never bought a brand that wasn't pumpkin. In fact, the more popular and reputable brands only use pumpkin.

Squash is an alternative though, as others have suggested. But be warned, it's not entirely the same. It's not as distinguishable difference as say someone giving you a pizza with cheddar cheese instead of mozzerella and calling it "pizza". When using squash for "pumpkin pie" as a substitution, a more precise comparison might be ordering yam fries and expecting that flavor but instead getting sweet potato fries.