Ghost
Open-source publishing platform with built-in memberships and payments
Overview
Ghost is what you get when developers build a publishing platform: fast, clean, open-source, and completely under your control. Unlike platform-dependent solutions like Substack, Ghost can be self-hosted, giving you full ownership of your content, data, and subscriber relationships.
The membership system is native and flexible. Create free, paid, and complimentary tiers with different content access levels. Ghost handles Stripe integration for payments, subscriber management, and content gating - all without third-party plugins or tools.
For technically minded creators and media companies, Ghost's headless CMS mode opens powerful possibilities. Use Ghost as the content engine behind a custom frontend built with any framework - React, Next.js, Astro - while keeping the excellent editor and membership features.
Key Features
Open Source
Full source code access with self-hosting option for complete control
Native Memberships
Free and paid tiers with Stripe integration and content gating
Beautiful Editor
Clean, distraction-free writing experience with rich media support
Headless CMS
Use Ghost as a content API behind any custom frontend
Newsletter Built-in
Send posts as emails to subscribers without a separate tool
Custom Themes
Full design control with Handlebars templates and custom themes
Why We Recommend Ghost
Ghost gives creators the independence and data ownership that platform-dependent solutions cannot. If you are building a media business, owning your stack matters - and Ghost lets you do that without sacrificing ease of use.