What is Ghost used for?

Ghost is an open-source publishing platform for blogs, newsletters, memberships and paid subscriptions, available as the Ghost(Pro) managed service or self-hosted on Node.js. It is a good fit for independent publications with paid memberships, creators running a newsletter and blog together, and self-hosted blogs on a private server.

Is Ghost open source?

Yes. Ghost is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at TryGhost/Ghost and is written mainly in TypeScript.

Yes. Ghost is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available, with paid plans from $18 per month.

Can I self-host Ghost?

Yes. Ghost can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Ghost an alternative to?

Ghost is an open-source alternative to Substack, Medium, beehiiv and WordPress.com. Other open-source alternatives to Substack include Markdown Ninja and WriteFreely.

Is Ghost actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Ghost was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v6.67.0, published on 29 September 2026. The project has 55k stars on GitHub.

Ghost: open-source alternative to Substack, Medium, beehiiv

About Ghost

Ghost is a publishing platform for independent writers and media businesses. It handles blogging, newsletters, memberships and subscriptions in one product, so a creator can publish articles, email them to subscribers and charge for access without stitching several tools together.

The project is written in JavaScript and TypeScript on Node.js. The official way to get a production site running is the Ghost(Pro) managed service, which launches a site with a worldwide CDN, backups, security and maintenance handled for you, and the maintainers state that all revenue from it funds the nonprofit Ghost Foundation. If you prefer to run your own instance, a CLI tool installs Ghost locally in about a minute or on a server with automatic SSL through Let's Encrypt.

Ghost is MIT licensed and comes with official documentation, a forum and an active contributor community. It suits journalists, bloggers and publishers who want a focused publishing and membership tool rather than a general-purpose CMS.

Key features

Publishing editor for blogs and articles
Built-in newsletters sent to subscribers
Memberships and paid subscriptions
CLI installer with automatic SSL
Managed hosting with CDN and backups
Extensible through documented APIs and themes

Good fit for

→Independent publications with paid memberships
→Creators running a newsletter and blog together
→Self-hosted blogs on a private server

Built with: TypeScript; JavaScript; Node.js
Tags: cms; blogging; newsletter; membership; publishing; nodejs; self-hosted; subscriptions

Ghost: questions and answers

What is Ghost used for?: Ghost is an open-source publishing platform for blogs, newsletters, memberships and paid subscriptions, available as the Ghost(Pro) managed service or self-hosted on Node.js. It is a good fit for independent publications with paid memberships, creators running a newsletter and blog together, and self-hosted blogs on a private server.
Is Ghost open source?: Yes. Ghost is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at TryGhost/Ghost and is written mainly in TypeScript.
Is Ghost free?: Yes. Ghost is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available, with paid plans from $18 per month.
Can I self-host Ghost?: Yes. Ghost can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Ghost an alternative to?: Ghost is an open-source alternative to Substack, Medium, beehiiv and WordPress.com. Other open-source alternatives to Substack include Markdown Ninja and WriteFreely.
Is Ghost actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Ghost was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v6.67.0, published on 29 September 2026. The project has 55k stars on GitHub.