ToolShift

Ghost vs Substack

A side-by-side comparison to help you pick between Ghost and Substack.

Ghost

Freemium

Publishing platform

Email Marketing

Ghost is an open-source publishing platform for memberships and newsletters.

Substack

Free

Newsletter and subscription platform

Email Marketing

Substack lets writers publish newsletters and earn from subscriptions.

Ghost or Substack: how to choose

Both Ghost and Substack compete in similar territory. Ghost sits in the Email Marketing category, covering similar use cases.The right choice usually comes down to pricing model, integrations, and how the tool fits the rest of your stack.

If pricing is the main concern, Ghost is freemium and Substack is free. For deeper comparisons, check the dedicated alternatives page for each tool above.