Overview
Ghost is an open-source publishing platform for professional publishers. It gives you a website with themes, a writing editor with rich media cards, email newsletters that deliver posts to members, native signup forms, member tagging, comments and paid subscriptions through Stripe.
You can self-host the open-source app, or pay for Ghost(Pro), the official managed hosting. Ghost(Pro) plans are priced by features and registered members: Starter ($18 a month billed yearly) is for solo blogs and newsletters without paid subscriptions; Publisher ($29) adds custom themes, paid subscriptions and three staff users; Business ($199) raises members to 10,000 and staff to 15.
Ghost does not take a percentage of subscription revenue, and all plans are white-labelled. It is a publishing tool first: it lacks the automation builders and ecommerce flows of marketing platforms, so it fits content newsletters rather than lifecycle email.
Pricing and plans
Free tier · no card
The open-source software is free to self-host; Ghost(Pro) has no free plan
At the limit Not stated The vendor does not say what happens at the limit, or we have not found it yet.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted | Free | Open source; you run the server and email delivery |
| Starter | $18/mo billed yearly | 1,000 members, 1 staff user, built-in theme, no paid subscriptions |
| Publisher | $29/mo billed yearly | 1,000 members, 3 staff users, custom themes, paid subscriptions, advanced analytics |
| Business | $199/mo billed yearly | 10,000 members, 15 staff users, priority support |
| Custom | Custom | Unlimited members and staff, dedicated IP, 99.9% uptime SLA |
What it does
- Newsletters built in
- Send posts as email newsletters, with multiple newsletters and segmentation by preference.
- Memberships and paid subscriptions
- Free and paid members via Stripe with no Ghost payment fees (Publisher and up on Ghost(Pro)).
- Website and themes
- Custom site with marketplace or custom themes on Publisher and up.
- Member tagging
- Tag members manually, by behaviour or through automation.
- Open source
- Self-host the same software that runs Ghost(Pro).
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Website, blog and newsletter in one product
- No platform fee on paid subscriptions
- Open source and self-hostable
- White-label on every plan
Limitations
- No automation builder or drip sequences described
- Ghost(Pro) Starter lacks paid subscriptions and custom themes
- Business plan jumps to $199 a month
- Self-hosting requires your own email delivery setup
Who it suits
Good for
- Independent publishers and paid newsletters
- Developer blogs that want posts emailed to readers
- Media sites wanting to own their platform
Look elsewhere if
- SaaS lifecycle or transactional email
- Ecommerce marketing automation
Alternatives to Ghost
| Tool | From | Free option | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| GetResponse Email marketing and automation | $19/mo | Free tier | |
| Notifuse Open-source email platform | $19/mo | ||
| Resend Email API for developers | $20/mo | Free tier | |
| Mailchimp Email marketing platform | $13/mo | Free tier | |
| Mailjet Email API, SMTP relay and campaign editor | $9/mo | Free tier | |
| Brevo Email marketing and transactional platform | $9/mo | Free tier |
Questions
Is Ghost free?
The software is open source and free to self-host; Ghost(Pro) managed hosting starts at $18 a month billed yearly.
Does Ghost take a cut of paid subscriptions?
No, Ghost charges no payment fees; Stripe's processing fees still apply.
How many members does Ghost(Pro) Starter include?
1,000 members at the entry price, with one staff user.
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