Ghost review

Ghost suits publishers who want a real website first and a newsletter attached to it. Ghost(Pro) Starter costs $18 per month billed yearly for up to 1,000 members and includes your own site, a custom domain, the email newsletter and design settings, with unlimited email sends. Paid memberships need Publisher at $29 per month billed yearly, which adds Stripe subscriptions, tips, up to 3 premium tiers, 15 special offers, custom themes, 8,000+ integrations and 3 staff users. Ghost takes 0% of subscription revenue, so a growing paid newsletter keeps more than it would on Substack. Built-in SEO tools, ActivityPub distribution to the social web and whitelabel branding make it the most publisher-like option here. The downsides: there is no free plan, Starter cannot charge readers, and pricing climbs with member count. Ghost also has less growth help than beehiiv, which has an ad network and recommendations built for newsletters.

Who it is for

Publishers who want a branded website and paid memberships without a revenue cut

Price

Starter from $18 per month billed yearly for 1,000 members; paid subscriptions from Publisher at $29.

Starter For solo blogs & newsletters $ 18 USD / mo Billed yearly
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 12, 2026.

Key features

• Unlimited email sends on every Ghost(Pro) plan
• 0% transaction fees from Ghost on paid subscriptions; payment processor fees still apply
• Publisher plan adds paid subscriptions, tips, 3 premium tiers, custom themes and 3 staff users
• ActivityPub social web distribution and a member referral program
• Built-in SEO features including structured data, XML sitemaps and canonical URLs

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: No Ghost fee on subscription revenue
• Strength: Whitelabel branding on every plan, so readers see only your brand
• Strength: Every plan includes a free one-year .link domain registration
• Weakness: The Starter plan cannot sell paid subscriptions or use custom themes
• Weakness: There is no permanent free Ghost(Pro) plan
• Weakness: Prices rise with member count, and Starter and Publisher cover 1,000 members

Key facts

• Free plan: No, free trial available
• Paid plans: Starter, Publisher, Business, Custom
• Transaction fees from Ghost: 0%
• Email sends: Unlimited on all plans

Where it ranks

Ghost is No. 4 in our Best Newsletter Platforms verdict.