--- title: "Ghost Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra" description: "With the help of Capterra, learn about Ghost Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Web Content Management products and more." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/151947/Ghost/" page_type: "product" language: "en" publication_date: "2026-10-15" --- # Ghost Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on October 15, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) Ghost ## What is Ghost? Write and publish your own blog using this open source publishing system. ## What is Ghost used for? [Blog](https://www.capterra.com/blog-software/)[Headless CMS](https://www.capterra.com/headless-cms-platform-software/)[Web Content Management](https://www.capterra.com/web-content-management-software/) Top alternative Featured Overall rating Based on 53 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive 96% Neutral 2% Negative 2% ### Starting price Free trial available Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for Ghost?[Manage this product listing](https://www.g2.com/products/ghost/claim_requests/new?auto=true) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### Ghost 4.7 (53) VS. [4.5 (6,261)](https://www.capterra.com/p/171840/HubSpot-Marketing/reviews/) Starting Price Contact vendor Starting Price $15 Per User, Per Month Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 4.5 (53) Ease Of Use 4.3 (14,937) Value For Money 4.5 (37) Value For Money 4.2 (11,181) Customer Service 4.3 (39) Customer Service 4.4 (9,956) ## Ghost alternatives [WordPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/131687/WordPress/) [4.6 (15,002)](https://www.capterra.com/p/131687/WordPress/reviews/) Starting price $9.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 93% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/131687/WordPress/) Highest Rated [Jasper](https://www.capterra.com/p/217242/Jasper/) [4.8 (1,855)](https://www.capterra.com/p/217242/Jasper/reviews/) Starting price $29.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 98% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/217242/Jasper/) [Wix](https://www.capterra.com/p/169007/Wix/) [4.4 (10,818)](https://www.capterra.com/p/169007/Wix/reviews/) Starting price $17.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 88% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/169007/Wix/) [Squarespace](https://www.capterra.com/p/143461/Squarespace/) [4.6 (3,435)](https://www.capterra.com/p/143461/Squarespace/reviews/) Starting price $19.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 93% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/143461/Squarespace/) [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/151947/Ghost/alternatives/) ## Features AI summary Based on 3,587 Web Content Management reviews Capterra data shows that buyers of blog software rank the following features as their top priorities: - **Website Management** (**55%** of reviewers rated this feature as critical) - **Customizable Templates** (**41%**) - **Content Management** (**40%**) Ghost includes **Content Management**, making it easier to create, organize, and publish blog content efficiently. However, it does not offer **Website Management** or **Customizable Templates**. Instead, it provides **SEO Management** (**42%**), which can help businesses improve search visibility and attract more readers. Together, these capabilities help teams maintain a consistent publishing process while increasing discoverability for their content. Content Management 4.4 (7) 85.71% of 7 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Handles digital content throughout its lifecycle, from creation and storage to distribution and archiving SEO Management 4.6 (5) 40.00% of 5 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Optimize and manage the search engine optimization efforts for a website or digital content Collaboration Tools 3.5 (6) 33.33% of 6 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Provides a channel for team members to share AI models, media files, communicate, and work together Reporting/Analytics 4.2 (5) 80.00% of 5 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important View and track pertinent metrics to find patterns and gain insights from data Ghost 4 features ### All Features - Collaboration Tools: Provides a channel for team members to share AI models, media files, communicate, and work together - Content Management: Handles digital content throughout its lifecycle, from creation and storage to distribution and archiving - Reporting/Analytics: View and track pertinent metrics to find patterns and gain insights from data - SEO Management: Optimize and manage the search engine optimization efforts for a website or digital content --- Get Advice We can help you find the software with the features you need. Features 4.3 (53) 4.3 Based on 53 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.5 (37) ### Starting price Free trial available Value for money 4.5 (37) 4.5 Based on 37 reviews Connect with a Capterra advisor for a free 15-minute consultation Get a personalized software list aligned to your business needs with guidance from our expert advisors. Our team has helped 1 million+ businesses like yours find options that fit their needs. ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 4.3 (39) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 4.3 (39) 4.3 Based on 39 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 4.7 Based on 53 reviews Filter by rating Counts reflect reviews available in this feed. 5(43) 4(8) 3(1) 2(0) 1(1) Mentioned topic Recent reviews first, then most helpful RE Reviewer Founder Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Simplifies website and newsletter creation" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 April 13, 2026 I’ve had a very positive experience with Ghost overall. It is a clean, fast platform that makes writing, publishing, and managing a newsletter much simpler than more complicated website builders. I especially like that it combines blogging, email newsletters, memberships, and SEO tools in one place, without needing lots of plugins. The editor is minimal and distraction-free, which makes it easier to focus on creating content. Overall, I would recommend Ghost to anyone who wants a streamlined platform for publishing content and building a newsletter or membership business. It is especially good if your main goal is writing and growing an audience, rather than building a very complex website. Pros Pros: Very clean and easy-to-use writing interface Fast-loading websites with strong built-in SEO features Includes memberships, paid subscriptions, and email newsletters Fewer plugins and technical issues compared to other platforms Great option for bloggers, writers, and content-focused businesses who want a simple, modern publishing platform Cons Cons: Fewer themes, plugins, and design options than platforms like WordPress More advanced customization may require coding knowledge Self-hosting can be more technical and requires extra setup and maintenance Not the best choice if you need a full e-commerce site or a highly customized website Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Alaister L. System Administrator Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Best open-source blogging software" 5.0 July 27, 2022 After switching from WordPress to Ghost, we have gained more visitors and readers of our blog posts, mainly due to better SEO, page loading time, and website theme design. Ghost also reduces our server load and so the cost. Pros The admin interface is very simple and user friendly. It has built-in membership system, SEO, signup/subscription forms, and newsletter features. The visual editor is clean and provides many cards and snippets we need. We can add custom integrations through Zapier such as PayPal (for subscription), SendInBlue (for newsletter), and Discord (for our community server). Cons To create multiple membership tiers, a Stripe account is required, even though we only use other payment methods like PayPal. The newsletter feature, again, limits to a specific provider: Mailgun, which is no longer free. Ghost should remove the Stripe and Mailgun requirements to make third-party integrations much easier. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Editor Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Ghost managed hosting combined with Ghost 4.0 is a towering achievement" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 April 1, 2021 Ghost gives me the tools to present our content and brand to viewers with confidence. They look at our site and know that quality content will be presented. This allows us to stand out from the crowd. Pros Ghost managed hosting is more than just a blogging platform following the release of 4.0 in March 2021. It is a membership site that helps our websites and blogs gain memberships that fund important projects for our journalists. The best thing about Ghost is that they do not take a portion of your income. Other popular options both take a percentage of revenue but Ghost managed hosting only charges a low monthly fee. The unique thing about managed hosting with Ghost is that Worldwide CDN is included, unlimited emails to members are included, managed updates of Ghost are included. Tons of additional features are available as well. The editor in Ghost is so conducive to producing great content. For many months, users have been offering opinions on things that should happen in the new update. Ghost took so many of these ideas and combined them to create something great. Ghost also has a unique look. The product and themes are very current, and it elevates the content because the website looks so good. Finally, I have to mention money. Ghost allows journalists to be independent. I cannot tell you how exciting it is to know that we have monthly revenue that comes in other than advertisers. Multiple streams of revenue is very important. Cons Of course, I would like another 500 memberships added to each tier. But the price is very fair. With Ghost 4.0, a new $9 a month tier was added. Previously a $29 a month tier was the lowest price. So I don't have much to complain about. But we are on a high tier. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Dennis B. Software Engineer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Much promised ghost features remain spectres." 3.0 Overall Rating 3.0 3.0 Ease of Use 3.0 3.0 Features 2.0 2.0 Customer Service 3.0 3.0 Likelihood to Recommend 3/10 September 19, 2024 I am still using ghost after 4 years. But by now I feel more like a hostage without the benefits of Stockholm Syndrom. Moving away would entail more hustle than I willing to invest. I am not aware of any great alternatives anyways without doing some serious research. Pros When I started using Ghost in 2019 the technology was quite innovative. I really like the clean layout and accessible interface. Many features were promised. Cons Many features promised where not delivered. Most of all the admin interface lags in functionality. Upgrading a major ghost version is too difficult. There really ought to be an admin interface to remove cached image resources in order to comply with licencing. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. JJ G. CTO Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Ghost is the new best CMS your website needs. " 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 October 27, 2022 I'm creating blogs and websites with paid plans using Ghost. So far Ghost has been a great CMS. Also, me and my team migrated some WordPress sites with amazing results and boosted the SEO. Pros Ghost has a simplistic approach to create beautiful and functional websites. That simplicity is what I like the most about Ghost. Cons Ghost has a community version that is free, however, doesn't include the latest features of the current Ghost paid version or Ghost Pro. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer IT Service Engineer Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Ghost best CMS on the market, Ghost Pro, best platform for bloggers" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 October 12, 2020 Ghost is currently the best alternative for bloggers. It's good for personal websites or news magazines. There's built in integration with Stripe to charge monthly fees, It's very clean and easy of use both for the owner as for the guest of the blog. There are two ways of using Ghost: you can selfhost your own instance in some machine or use the "Ghost Pro" Service, a Platform as a Service. Pros Clean interface for administrator of the Content Management System. Good usability. Beautiful for guests. Not bloated with lots of tools, icons, and other stuff like Wordpress. Ghost Pro service is fast, reliable, and have good customer support. Cons Currently I'm using "Ghost Pro" since FEB 2020, and I'm very happy. The only issue is the cost, which is way higher than competitors. But because It's the best, I decided that for me it worth it. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Founder Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "I trust Ghost, and love it's values" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 February 16, 2023 Fantastic, and the support are world class. They're helpful, friendly and get back to you so quickly. Pros Ghost has been super easy to use. I joined before some of the features I needed were ready because I knew the roadmap. It's become the revenue driver of our membership and publishing business, with it's all in one website, newsletter and membership solution. Cons The analytics Ghost provides has been upped in recent months, but it is basic and only shows the last 90 days on your dashboard. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Timo U. CEO Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "iOS of making websites - nice UI and it just works" 5.0 August 2, 2021 I used WordPress when they launched years ago, because it was best then. But now came Ghost. I feel like WordPress has transformed themselves into Microsoft - it's great thing if you like to use various plugins and whatever not. Ghost is as elegant as iPhone. All what's needed is there. Great UI, no extra fuss. While WordPress needs extra consulting to get it running, should you start anew. Pros I've been using it for a few years now and the latest version brings everything together you'd need for running a website: nice clean editor, member management, collecting payments (via Stripe), SEO customisation, newsletters. If you would like to do a similar thing on WordPress you'd need to patch it up with several 3rd party plugins. Ghost is easy-breezy. Cons Backing up the content itself is easy, but in-post images/media is still not supported. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Rob H. Owner Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Ghost Pro" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 October 30, 2023 I really like using it, it fits like a glove. Pros If you want to stay independent as a creator claiming your online spot is crucial. With Ghost you are in a good position to build, grow and nurture this spot. It is easy to use, delivers clean code and looks awesome. Cons Minor things. Most annoying is no option to find links to other posts. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Systems Engineer Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Great publishing platform but there are a few hiccups" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 3.0 3.0 Likelihood to Recommend 7/10 February 17, 2020 Pros Ghost’s editor and theming systems are awesome! And it’s also blazing fast since it uses node.js and not PHP. Apart from that, the plugin ecosystem is very robust now and includes all sorts of things. Cons The native hosting options are useless and detracts beginners like me from using it. There are third party hosts like DigitalOcean but with just 1 GB of RAM, upgradation and maintenance is a headache. Also, it’s been years and still Ghost doesn’t have any native search functionality which is the most basic of things. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/151947/Ghost/reviews/) ## Top-rated software of 2026 ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox. 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