Ghost

Ghost is an open-source content management system focused on modern publishing. It supports websites, blogs, newsletters, memberships, paid subscriptions, and headless content delivery.

The Ghost Foundation founded the project in April 2013. John O’Nolan and Hannah Wolfe are identified as its founders. Ghost is distributed under the MIT license and can run through Ghost(Pro) managed hosting or a self-hosted installation.

Ghost uses a web-based administration interface and provides a theme system based on Handlebars. Developers can replace the theme layer entirely and use Ghost as a headless CMS through its APIs.

Ghost provides an editor for publishing posts and pages, custom themes, tags, authors, navigation, RSS feeds, and built-in SEO features. Its SEO tools include metadata, structured data, XML sitemaps, and canonical URLs.

Audience features include member registration, member tagging, CSV import and export, comments, premium tiers, paid subscriptions, tips, donations, offers, and referral support. Paid subscriptions use Stripe, while Ghost does not add transaction fees.

Newsletter tools support multiple publications, custom templates, managed email delivery, engagement metrics, open and click reporting, signup attribution, and unlimited email sends on Ghost(Pro) plans.

Ghost supports embedded media, image editing, Slack notifications, Zapier, n8n, custom integrations, webhooks, and integrations with services such as Unsplash, Giphy, YouTube, Google Analytics, Plausible, and Fathom.

The Content API provides read-only access to published content. The Admin API supports authenticated content management, including posts, pages, tags, members, newsletters, images, themes, and webhooks.

Ghost’s core software is free and open source under the MIT license. Users can self-host it, although they must provide and maintain the required infrastructure.

Ghost(Pro) is the official managed hosting service. The Starter plan costs $18 per month when billed yearly. Publisher costs $29 per month when billed yearly, and Business costs $199 per month when billed yearly. A Custom plan is available with negotiated pricing.

The Starter plan includes a website, email newsletter, design settings, and up to 1,000 members. Publisher adds custom themes, paid subscriptions, advanced analytics, and three staff users. Business adds higher usage limits, priority support, and 15 staff users.

Ghost(Pro) offers a free trial through its signup flow. The official pricing page does not state the trial duration.

Pros:

• Open-source core with an MIT license.
• Focused publishing workflow with built-in newsletter features.
• Memberships and paid subscriptions are integrated into the platform.
• Content and Admin APIs support headless and automated workflows.
• Self-hosting and managed hosting provide deployment flexibility.
• Ghost(Pro) does not charge an additional transaction fee for subscriptions.

Cons:

• Self-hosting requires Linux, database, web server, domain, and maintenance knowledge.
• Advanced features and integrations require higher Ghost(Pro) plans.
• Ghost has a narrower general-purpose plugin ecosystem than WordPress.
• Paid subscriptions require Stripe, which may limit payment-provider choice.
• The Starter plan excludes custom themes and paid subscriptions.

WordPress is a broader CMS with a larger plugin and theme ecosystem. Substack and beehiiv are newsletter-first alternatives with simpler managed publishing workflows. Webflow is a visual website builder suited to design-led marketing sites. Craft CMS is a flexible commercial CMS for teams needing structured content and custom development.

Is Ghost free?
Yes. Ghost’s core software is open source and available for self-hosting under the MIT license. Ghost(Pro) is the paid managed-hosting option.

Does Ghost support newsletters?
Yes. Ghost can publish posts as email newsletters and supports multiple newsletters on higher Ghost(Pro) plans.

Can Ghost handle paid memberships?
Yes. Ghost supports paid subscriptions, premium tiers, tips, donations, offers, and member access controls. Paid subscriptions use Stripe.

Does Ghost have an API?
Yes. Ghost provides a read-only Content API and an authenticated Admin API for programmatic content management.

What platforms support self-hosting?
Official installation documentation covers Ubuntu-based servers, local installation on macOS, Windows, and Linux, and Docker-based deployment on Linux servers.

Does Ghost offer a free trial?
Yes. Ghost(Pro) provides a free trial through its signup flow. The official pricing page does not specify the trial length.