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Ghost

An open-source publishing platform for websites, newsletters and paid memberships, hosted or self-hosted.

Open sourceSelf-hostableNewsletter and creator publishing platforms
Visit GhostSee 6 alternatives
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About Ghost

Ghost is a non-profit-backed, open-source publishing platform that combines a fast website, an email newsletter and a membership system with free and paid tiers. Publishers connect their own Stripe account, and Ghost takes no cut of subscription revenue on either self-hosted installs or its managed Ghost(Pro) service. Themes are fully customisable, there is a large marketplace of designs and integrations, and the editor handles long-form writing well. Many independent media outlets run on it. Compared with Substack, you get your own brand, domain and data, but no built-in discovery network, so growth is up to you. Self-hosting is free and needs a Linux server; Ghost(Pro) is priced by audience size, with a cheaper Starter plan that lacks custom themes and paid subscriptions. It runs in the browser and on your own server. It suits publishers who want an independent, brandable site with memberships.

Best for: Independent publishers who want their own branded site, newsletter and memberships.

Pros and cons

What works

  • No transaction fees from Ghost on paid memberships
  • Open source and self-hostable for full control
  • Custom themes and a large integration marketplace
  • Fast sites with strong SEO defaults

Why people leave

  • No discovery network to bring in readers
  • Starter plan lacks custom themes and paid subscriptions
  • Self-hosting needs a server and some sysadmin work

Top Ghost alternatives

See all 6
  1. 1Substack logo
    Substack

    Zero setup and a built-in reader network, if you can accept less control and a revenue cut.

    66.5
  2. 2beehiiv logo
    beehiiv

    More growth tooling, like referrals and an ad network, on a hosted newsletter platform.

    62.6
  3. 3Buttondown logo
    Buttondown

    Simpler, cheaper newsletter-first tool if you don't need a full website.

    59.6
  4. 4Memberful logo
    Memberful

    Adds paid memberships to a site you already run, such as WordPress.

    57.2
  5. 5WriteFreely logo
    WriteFreely

    A much lighter open-source blog engine for writers who don't need memberships.

    55.3

Why people left Ghost

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

No switching stories yet. If you moved away from Ghost, review the app you switched to and tell us why.

Reviews

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Ghost: common questions

Is Ghost free?

Yes. Ghost is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.

Is Ghost open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at TryGhost/Ghost. You can also run it on your own server.

What platforms does Ghost run on?

Ghost is available for Web and Self-hosted.

What are the best alternatives to Ghost?

The highest-ranked Ghost alternatives right now are Substack, beehiiv and Buttondown. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 6 Ghost alternatives