Ghost — An open-source publishing and newsletter platform for independent creators, free to self-host or $18/month billed yearly on the managed Ghost(Pro) Starter plan.
By Noahlast updated pricing verified
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Best for: independent writers, podcasters, and businesses who want to run a paid newsletter or membership site without giving up a revenue cut
Pricing: Free to self-host; Ghost(Pro) managed hosting from $18/month billed yearly (Starter), up to $199/month (Business, 10,000 members).
- Ghost is open source under the MIT license and free to self-host on a Node.js server.
- Ghost(Pro) managed hosting starts at $18/month billed yearly for the Starter plan, up to 1,000 members.
- Ghost(Pro) Business costs $199/month billed yearly, supporting up to 10,000 members with a dedicated IP and 99.9% uptime SLA.
- Ghost holds a 4.4/5 rating from 21 reviews on Product Hunt.
- Ghost(Pro) takes no cut of subscription or membership revenue beyond its flat monthly fee.
Limitations: Self-hosting requires real server administration skills (Node.js, MySQL).; No permanent free tier on the managed Ghost(Pro) service.; Business tier pricing jumps sharply to $199/month for larger member counts.; Smaller theme and plugin ecosystem than general-purpose CMSs like WordPress.
Top alternatives: Substack, beehiiv, Kit, WordPress.com — full list
What is Ghost?
Ghost is an open-source content management system purpose-built for publishing: a post editor, a native email newsletter sender, and membership/subscription billing (via Stripe) are built into the core product rather than bolted on as plugins. Unlike WordPress, which is a general-purpose CMS with publishing as one use case among many, Ghost is scoped specifically to writers, podcasters, and businesses running content-driven audiences. The source code is fully open under the MIT license and maintained by the nonprofit Ghost Foundation, which is funded entirely by paying Ghost(Pro) customers rather than by outside investment. Anyone can self-host Ghost for free on their own server, or pay for Ghost(Pro), the managed hosting service that adds priority support, higher usage limits, and (on the Business tier) a dedicated IP and 99.9% uptime SLA.
Ghost is an open-source publishing platform for creators, journalists, and businesses who write newsletters and run paid memberships, built and maintained as a nonprofit-funded project on GitHub under the MIT license. It can be self-hosted at no cost on a Node.js server, or run as the managed Ghost(Pro) service starting at $18/month billed yearly for the Starter plan (up to 1,000 members), scaling to $29/month for Publisher and $199/month for Business (up to 10,000 members), with custom pricing above that; every Ghost(Pro) plan includes a free custom domain and built-in newsletter delivery with no payment processing fees taken by Ghost itself. It competes most directly with Substack and beehiiv for newsletter monetization, differentiating on being self-hostable and avoiding a revenue cut on subscriptions.
Standout feature: Native email newsletter delivery and Stripe-based paid memberships are built into the core product, and Ghost is fully self-hostable under an MIT license with no forced revenue share on subscriptions.
Biggest weakness: Self-hosting requires real server administration (Node.js, MySQL, and updates), and the managed Ghost(Pro) service has no permanent free tier; the Business plan jumps to $199/month once a publication passes 1,000-10,000 members, a steep step for growing creators.
Pros
- Fully open source under the MIT license, with the option to self-host at no cost.
- Native newsletter delivery and paid membership billing are built in, not third-party plugins.
- Ghost(Pro) takes no cut of subscription revenue beyond the flat monthly hosting fee.
- Custom domain and themes are included on Ghost(Pro) plans without extra add-on charges.
Cons
- Self-hosting requires managing a Node.js server and MySQL database, a real barrier for non-technical creators.
- No permanent free tier on the managed Ghost(Pro) service; pricing starts at $18/month billed yearly.
- Business tier jumps to $199/month, a large step up from Publisher's $29/month once member counts grow.
- Smaller theme and plugin ecosystem than WordPress, since Ghost is scoped specifically to publishing rather than general-purpose site building.
Ghost pricing
Free tier · paid from $18/mo · verified from the vendor's pricing page
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted | Free | Free, MIT-licensed; requires your own server, Node.js, and MySQL. Full feature set, no usage caps beyond your own infrastructure. |
| Starter (Ghost Pro) | $18/mo | Billed yearly; up to 1,000 members, free custom domain, built-in email newsletter delivery with no Ghost processing fees. |
| Publisher (Ghost Pro) | $29/mo | Billed yearly; adds custom themes, paid subscriptions, and advanced analytics on top of Starter. |
| Business (Ghost Pro) | $199/mo | Billed yearly; up to 10,000 members, priority support, dedicated IP, 99.9% uptime SLA. |
| Custom (Ghost Pro) | Custom | Contact sales; unlimited members and staff users for large publications. |
What reviewers say
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