{
  "$schema": "https://tiergauge.com/api/tools.schema.json",
  "feed_version": "1",
  "generated_at": "2026-05-01T03:49:43.065Z",
  "site": "https://tiergauge.com",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0 with attribution to TierGauge.",
  "tool": {
    "slug": "ghost",
    "name": "Ghost",
    "vendor": "Ghost Foundation",
    "homepage_url": "https://ghost.org",
    "pricing_url": "https://ghost.org/pricing/",
    "tagline": "Hosted Ghost(Pro) for the open-source publishing platform; paid memberships native, no revenue share.",
    "description": "Ghost(Pro) is the official managed hosting for the open-source Ghost CMS, run by the nonprofit Ghost Foundation. It ships paid memberships natively, with Stripe for billing and zero platform revenue share, positioning it as the publisher-owned alternative to Substack. Pricing is per active member, with four tiers from Starter to a custom enterprise plan, and the same software is freely self-hostable if you ever want to leave.",
    "primary_category": "content-marketing",
    "secondary_categories": [
      "email-marketing"
    ],
    "plans": [
      {
        "name": "Starter",
        "slug": "starter",
        "tagline": "Personal publishing on Ghost(Pro), billed yearly",
        "prices": [
          {
            "cycle": "annual",
            "price": {
              "amount_cents": 21600,
              "currency": "USD"
            },
            "notes": "$18/month equivalent, billed as $216/year. Page advertises the $18 figure as the headline; monthly-billing rate is higher but is not shown on the public pricing page."
          }
        ],
        "anchor_monthly_usd_cents": 1800,
        "limits": {
          "contacts": {
            "kind": "number",
            "value": 1000,
            "unit": "members"
          },
          "emails_per_month": {
            "kind": "unlimited"
          },
          "seats": {
            "kind": "number",
            "value": 1
          }
        },
        "features_included": [
          "Personal website with email newsletter",
          "Up to 1,000 members",
          "Free custom domain",
          "Simple built-in design",
          "Unlimited email sends",
          "Automated backups, SSL, worldwide CDN",
          "Try-for-free trial"
        ],
        "features_missing": [
          "Custom themes",
          "Multiple staff users (1 only)",
          "8,000+ Zapier-style integrations",
          "Paid subscriptions / paid memberships",
          "Advanced analytics",
          "Priority support",
          "Higher member tiers, dedicated IP, SLA"
        ],
        "is_free": false,
        "has_free_trial": true,
        "contact_sales": false,
        "source_url": "https://ghost.org/pricing/",
        "captured_at": "2026-04-30T21:00:00.000Z",
        "capture_method": "manual",
        "notes": "Trial length not explicitly published; 14 days assumed as a safe default and reflected in the tool-level free_trial_days field."
      },
      {
        "name": "Publisher",
        "slug": "publisher",
        "tagline": "Paid subscriptions, custom themes, integrations",
        "prices": [
          {
            "cycle": "annual",
            "price": {
              "amount_cents": 34800,
              "currency": "USD"
            },
            "notes": "$29/month equivalent, billed as $348/year. Monthly-billing rate is higher but not shown on the public pricing page."
          }
        ],
        "anchor_monthly_usd_cents": 2900,
        "limits": {
          "contacts": {
            "kind": "number",
            "value": 1000,
            "unit": "members"
          },
          "emails_per_month": {
            "kind": "unlimited"
          },
          "seats": {
            "kind": "number",
            "value": 3
          }
        },
        "features_included": [
          "Up to 1,000 members",
          "3 staff users",
          "Custom themes",
          "8,000+ integrations",
          "Paid subscriptions / paid memberships",
          "Advanced analytics",
          "Unlimited email sends",
          "Automated backups, SSL, worldwide CDN",
          "Try-for-free trial"
        ],
        "features_missing": [
          "Higher member capacity (10,000+)",
          "15 staff users",
          "Priority support",
          "Early feature access",
          "Dedicated IP, 99.9% uptime SLA"
        ],
        "is_free": false,
        "has_free_trial": true,
        "contact_sales": false,
        "source_url": "https://ghost.org/pricing/",
        "captured_at": "2026-04-30T21:00:00.000Z",
        "capture_method": "manual",
        "notes": "Most-recommended tier for independent paid newsletter operators; this is where paid memberships unlock."
      },
      {
        "name": "Business",
        "slug": "business",
        "tagline": "Higher limits, priority support, early access",
        "prices": [
          {
            "cycle": "annual",
            "price": {
              "amount_cents": 238800,
              "currency": "USD"
            },
            "notes": "$199/month equivalent, billed as $2,388/year. Monthly-billing rate is higher but not shown on the public pricing page."
          }
        ],
        "anchor_monthly_usd_cents": 19900,
        "limits": {
          "contacts": {
            "kind": "number",
            "value": 10000,
            "unit": "members"
          },
          "emails_per_month": {
            "kind": "unlimited"
          },
          "seats": {
            "kind": "number",
            "value": 15
          }
        },
        "features_included": [
          "Up to 10,000 members",
          "15 staff users",
          "Custom themes",
          "8,000+ integrations",
          "Paid subscriptions / paid memberships",
          "Advanced analytics",
          "Priority support",
          "Higher usage limits",
          "Early feature access",
          "Unlimited email sends",
          "Automated backups, SSL, worldwide CDN",
          "Try-for-free trial"
        ],
        "features_missing": [
          "Unlimited members",
          "Unlimited staff users",
          "Advanced configurations",
          "Dedicated IP",
          "99.9% uptime SLA"
        ],
        "is_free": false,
        "has_free_trial": true,
        "contact_sales": false,
        "source_url": "https://ghost.org/pricing/",
        "captured_at": "2026-04-30T21:00:00.000Z",
        "capture_method": "manual"
      },
      {
        "name": "Custom",
        "slug": "custom",
        "tagline": "Enterprise: unlimited members, dedicated IP, SLA",
        "prices": [
          {
            "cycle": "custom",
            "notes": "Contact sales for pricing. Designed for large publications with advanced configurations."
          }
        ],
        "anchor_monthly_usd_cents": null,
        "limits": {
          "contacts": {
            "kind": "unlimited"
          },
          "emails_per_month": {
            "kind": "unlimited"
          },
          "seats": {
            "kind": "unlimited"
          }
        },
        "features_included": [
          "Unlimited members",
          "Unlimited staff users",
          "Advanced configurations",
          "Dedicated IP",
          "99.9% uptime SLA",
          "Priority support",
          "Custom themes",
          "8,000+ integrations",
          "Paid subscriptions / paid memberships",
          "Advanced analytics",
          "Unlimited email sends",
          "Automated backups, SSL, worldwide CDN"
        ],
        "features_missing": [],
        "is_free": false,
        "has_free_trial": false,
        "contact_sales": true,
        "source_url": "https://ghost.org/pricing/",
        "captured_at": "2026-04-30T21:00:00.000Z",
        "capture_method": "manual"
      }
    ],
    "free_plan_available": false,
    "free_trial_days": 14,
    "starting_price_usd_cents": 1800,
    "has_custom_enterprise": true,
    "alternatives": [
      "substack",
      "kit",
      "beehiiv",
      "buttondown",
      "mailerlite"
    ],
    "pros": [
      "Open-source roots; the same software is freely self-hostable if you ever want to leave Ghost(Pro)",
      "No revenue share on paid memberships; you keep 100% net of Stripe processing fees",
      "Modern editor and a real publishing toolset: themes, custom domains, SEO basics, RSS, members area",
      "Generous integrations on Publisher and above (8,000+ via Zapier-style connectors)",
      "Run by a nonprofit (Ghost Foundation), so platform incentives lean toward publishers, not advertisers"
    ],
    "cons": [
      "Pricing per 1,000 members ratchets up the way Mailchimp's contact tiers do; growth gets expensive fast",
      "Custom themes are gated to Publisher and above; the Starter plan is design-locked",
      "Smaller built-in social discovery network than Substack; you bring your own audience",
      "No permanent free plan; even hobby publishers pay from day one (Substack stays free indefinitely if you never charge)"
    ],
    "best_for": [
      "Independent publishers who want to own their stack and keep migration optionality",
      "Paid-newsletter operators trying to avoid Substack's 10% revenue share at scale",
      "Publications that need staff seats, custom themes, and a real CMS rather than just an email tool"
    ],
    "not_for": [
      "Hobbyists who refuse to pay anything ever; Substack or Buttondown's free tiers fit better",
      "Podcast-first creators; Ghost is text and email native, not an audio platform",
      "Teams that need deep CRM, lead scoring, or marketing automation; this is a publishing tool, not a marketing-automation suite"
    ],
    "last_verified": "2026-04-30T21:00:00.000Z",
    "scraper_status": "manual-only"
  }
}