Ghost
Ghost is an open-source publishing platform purpose-built for professional bloggers, journalists, and creators who want to run membership-based content businesses.
Our verdict
Who it's for
Ghost is purpose-built for content monetization, offering native newsletter delivery, member signup functionality with free and paid tiers, and Stripe-powered payment…
Who should look elsewhere
Managed Ghost(Pro) pricing scales with member count, which gets expensive at scale
Pros
- +Zero platform transaction fees on paid memberships, only standard Stripe fees apply
- +Purpose-built for content monetization with native newsletters and subscriptions
- +Open source and fully self-hostable with no vendor lock-in
- +Clean, fast editor that stays out of the way for long-form writing
- +Strong SEO defaults including structured data, canonical URLs, and sitemaps
Cons
- −Managed Ghost(Pro) pricing scales with member count, which gets expensive at scale
- −Theme customization requires Handlebars knowledge, no drag-and-drop page builder
- −Plugin ecosystem is limited compared to WordPress
- −Self-hosting requires Node.js server management and manual updates
- −No built-in commenting system, requires third-party integration
Key features
- ✓Rich editor with dynamic content cards for media
- ✓embeds
- ✓and interactive elements
- ✓Built-in email newsletter delivery with custom sending domains
- ✓Native membership and subscription management with free and paid tiers
- ✓Stripe-powered payments with 0% platform transaction fees
- ✓Custom themes via Handlebars engine with hundreds of marketplace options
- ✓Headless CMS mode with Content and Admin REST APIs
- ✓Detailed audience and engagement analytics dashboard
- ✓SEO controls with meta titles
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Billing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-Hosted | — | month | Full Ghost platform via GitHub; Unlimited members and content; All core publishing and newsletter features |
| Starter | $18 | month | 1 staff user; 1,000 members; Free custom domain |
| Publisher | $29 | month | 3 staff users; 1,000 members; Custom themes |
| Business | $199 | month | 15 staff users; 10,000 members; Priority support |
| Custom | — | month | Unlimited staff users; Unlimited members; Dedicated IP |
Integrations
SlackZapierStripeDiscordMailchimpIntercomAirtableGitHub