A detailed comparison of Ghost Pro and Substack to help you choose the right tool for your needs.
Platform for independent writers to publish and monetize newsletters.
| Plan | Ghost Pro | Substack |
|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | ✗ No | ✓ Free (10% of paid subs) |
| Lowest Paid | $9/mo | Free (10% cut) |
| Enterprise | $199/mo | N/A |
| Feature | Ghost Pro | Substack |
|---|---|---|
| Managed hosting | ✓ | — |
| Newsletter | ✓ | — |
| Memberships | ✓ | — |
| Payments | ✓ | — |
| Analytics | ✓ | ✓ |
| SEO optimization | ✓ | — |
| Themes | ✓ | — |
| Custom domains | ✓ | ✓ |
| CDN | ✓ | — |
| Automatic backups | ✓ | — |
| Newsletter publishing | — | ✓ |
| Paid subscriptions | — | ✓ |
| Podcast hosting | — | ✓ |
| Community features | — | ✓ |
| Recommendations | — | ✓ |
| Notes | — | ✓ |
| Mobile app | — | ✓ |
| Archive | — | ✓ |
| Open Source | ✗ | ✗ |
| Rating | ⭐ 4.4 | ⭐ 4.3 |
Choose Ghost Pro if: You need professional publishers and writers. Ghost Pro excels with its no maintenance needed and great for publishers.
Choose Substack if: You need writers wanting to monetize a newsletter. Substack stands out with its free to start and built-in monetization.
Best free option: Substack offers a free tier (Free (10% of paid subs)).
It depends on your needs. Ghost Pro is better for professional publishers and writers, while Substack is better for writers wanting to monetize a newsletter. Both are excellent tools rated 4.4 and 4.3 respectively.
Ghost Pro starts at $9/mo while Substack starts at Free (10% cut). Substack also has a free tier.
Most tools offer import/export features to help you migrate. We recommend trying Substack's free tier before fully committing to a switch.
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