Ghost
Memberships, subscriptions and gated posts without a plugin pile; the whole site becomes a Ghost site.
Technical Profile & Specs
verified 2026-08-10
- Cost
- $0 / forever (Open Source)
- License
- MIT
- Hosting Model
- Local or hosted (your machine or their cloud)
- Platforms
- webself-hostedself-host, real ops
- Installation
- Run Ghost-CLI on supported Ubuntu/MySQL hosting; the official Docker path is available but still documented as preview
- Operational Setup
- Self-hosting needs a server, domain, DNS, TLS and transactional/newsletter mail, plus Ghost upgrades
- Where Your Data Lives
- Posts, members and settings in MySQL; images under Ghost's content directory by default or through a configured storage adapter
- The Catch / Trade-off
- Ghost replaces the whole publication rather than acting as a neutral membership layer on an existing WordPress site.
Replaces 3 paid apps
up to $78/mo ($936/yr) in subscriptions
Ghost FAQ
Common questions
Is Ghost free and open source?+
Ghost is an open-source tool licensed under MIT that runs on local or hosted. Memberships, subscriptions and gated posts without a plugin pile; the whole site becomes a Ghost site.
What paid software does Ghost replace?+
Ghost serves as a free replacement for 3 paid SaaS applications: Memberful, Memberstack, Patreon, saving up to $78/month ($936/year) in subscription bills.
How do you install and set up Ghost?+
Installation: Run Ghost-CLI on supported Ubuntu/MySQL hosting; the official Docker path is available but still documented as preview. Setup notes: Self-hosting needs a server, domain, DNS, TLS and transactional/newsletter mail, plus Ghost upgrades
What is the catch or trade-off with Ghost?+
Ghost replaces the whole publication rather than acting as a neutral membership layer on an existing WordPress site.