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site.ghost.org pricing: Ghost(Pro) from $18 a month, and 0% on paid newsletters

Ghost(Pro)'s hosted plans as its pricing page lists them, which ones sell paid subscriptions, and how Ghost compares with Substack, beehiiv and MarkRelay.

Published by
MarkRelay Research
Updated
Sources
4 primary sources, linked below

Summary

Ghost(Pro) costs $18 a month on Starter, $29 on Publisher and $199 on Business, billed yearly at 1,000 members, with a custom domain on every plan. Starter cannot sell paid subscriptions; Publisher and Business can, with 0% taken by Ghost and only the payment processor's fees. Ghost's code is open source on GitHub, so you can also run it yourself. Against Substack's 10%, Publisher pays for itself from about $290 a month of paid revenue. MarkRelay only sends: from your own domain and Cloudflare account, for $99 a year plus Cloudflare's per-email price.

Key findings

  1. 1Per month billed yearly, at 1,000 members: Starter $18 (1 staff user), Publisher $29 (3), Business $199 (15).
  2. 2Paid subscriptions: not on Starter; 0% Ghost fee on Publisher and Business, payment processor fees still apply.
  3. 3Every plan supports a custom domain through a CNAME record.
  4. 4Ghost's source code is on GitHub for anyone who wants to host it themselves.

Questions this report answers

Asked by real people, quoted as they wrote them.

“Game dev newsletter platform: Substack, Beehiiv, Ghost, or something else?”

r/Newsletters

Ghost suits a newsletter that is also a website on your own domain: from $18 a month hosted, 0% on paid subscriptions from Publisher ($29). Substack and beehiiv start free; Substack keeps 10% of paid revenue.

“substack vs ghost”

Google and Bing search suggestion

Substack is free to start and keeps 10% of paid revenue. Ghost(Pro) costs from $18 a month billed yearly and keeps 0% on Publisher and Business. Ghost runs your site on your own domain on every plan.

“ghost alternative to substack”

Google search suggestion

Ghost Publisher at $29 a month (billed yearly) sells paid subscriptions with 0% to Ghost, so it costs less than Substack's 10% once paid revenue passes about $290 a month.

“Beehiiv or Ghost Publishing for an email newsletter & blog?”

r/Newsletters

Both host a site and a newsletter. beehiiv is free to 2,500 subscribers and Lite is $59 a month at 1,000; Ghost has no free hosted plan and starts at $18. Both take 0% of paid subscriptions on their paid plans.

Ghost(Pro) plans (USD a month, billed yearly)

Price

Starter
$18
Publisher
$29
Business
$199

Staff users

Starter
1
Publisher
3
Business
15

Paid subscriptions

Starter
No
Publisher
0% Ghost fee
Business
0% Ghost fee

Custom domain

Starter
Yes
Publisher
Yes
Business
Yes

Prices at 1,000 members; Ghost's page shows yearly billing. Payment processor fees apply to paid subscriptions. Source: Ghost pricing, Ghost on GitHub.

Which Ghost(Pro) plan a team needs

1 writer, free newsletter

Ghost(Pro) plan
Starter
Per month, billed yearly
$18
MarkRelay
$13.60, no per-seat fee

Up to 3 staff, paid subscriptions

Ghost(Pro) plan
Publisher
Per month, billed yearly
$29
MarkRelay
Same; does not take payments

Up to 15 staff

Ghost(Pro) plan
Business
Per month, billed yearly
$199
MarkRelay
Same

Ghost prices at 1,000 members. MarkRelay is the $99 license spread over twelve months plus Cloudflare, sending a weekly issue to 1,000 subscribers; it sends but has no website or paid memberships. Source: Ghost pricing.

Hosted or your own server

Ghost(Pro) runs Ghost for you, and Ghost's source code is on GitHub for anyone who would rather host it. Every hosted plan supports a custom domain through a CNAME record; paid subscriptions start on Publisher.

Where MarkRelay fits

A good fit when

  • A newsletter or announcements to a list you already have, sent from your own domain at Cloudflare's per-email price.
  • Lists that grow faster than you mail them, where contact tiers keep raising the bill.

Look elsewhere when

  • Automation flows, landing pages, sign-up forms and e-commerce integrations: MarkRelay does not have them.
  • Selling paid subscriptions: MarkRelay sends, but does not take payments.

Common questions

How much is Ghost(Pro)?

$18, $29 or $199 a month billed yearly for Starter, Publisher and Business at 1,000 members.

Does Ghost take a cut of paid subscriptions?

No. Publisher and Business charge 0%; only the payment processor's fees apply. Starter cannot sell subscriptions.

Sources and method

  1. Ghost pricing (ghost.org/pricing/)
  2. Ghost on GitHub (github.com/TryGhost/Ghost)
  3. Substack: going paid (substack.com/going-paid)
  4. beehiiv pricing (www.beehiiv.com/pricing)

Facts are taken from each vendor's own pricing pages, documentation or terms as of the updated date above; prices are in US dollars per month unless stated. Cost comparisons apply each vendor's published rates to the same volume. MarkRelay is not affiliated with Ghost;"site.ghost.org" in the title names the site these facts come from. MarkRelay sells a self-hosted email app, which this page mentions where it fits. Spotted something outdated? Tell us.

Revisions

  • : First published; every fact checked on the vendor's own pages.

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