sitealternatives
Website builders · 12 alternatives

Instead of Ghost, try one of these 12.

Every alternative is lined up against Ghost on what people actually switch for: price, open source, self-hosting, offline use and platforms. Ghost sits in the first row, so you can see what you give up.

Show onlySorted by likes · 12 of 12
Alternative
Price
Open source
Self-host
Offline
Platforms
GhostWhat you have now
Open-source publishing platform for newsletters and blogs.
PriceFreemium
from $11/mo
Open sourceYes
Self-hostYes
OfflineNo
Platforms
Web
WordPress#1
Open-source CMS that powers a huge share of the web.
PriceFree
hosting extra
Open sourceYes
Self-hostYes
OfflineNo
Platforms
Web
Drupal#2
Enterprise-grade open-source CMS with huge flexibility.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostYes
OfflineNo
Platforms
Web
Joomla#3
Open-source CMS between WordPress and Drupal in complexity.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostYes
OfflineNo
Platforms
Web
Blogger#4
Free Google-hosted blogging service with templates and monetization.
PriceFree
Open sourceNo
Self-hostNo
OfflinePartial
Platforms
Web · Android
Medium#5
Online publishing platform for sharing stories and ideas.
PriceFreemium
Open sourceNo
Self-hostNo
OfflinePartial
Platforms
Web · Android · iOS
Grav#6
Lightweight flat-file CMS that runs without a database.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostYes
OfflinePartial
Platforms
Jekyll#7
Blog-aware static site generator that turns plain text into sites.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostYes
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Hugo#8
Fast static site generator that builds websites from Markdown files.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostYes
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Publii#9
Desktop app for building static blogs without a database.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Bear Blog#10
Minimal, privacy-first blogging platform with no trackers or clutter.
PriceFreemium
Open sourceNo
Self-hostNo
OfflineNo
Platforms
Web
Substack#11
Newsletter-first publishing with built-in paid subscriptions for writers.
PriceFreemium
Open sourceNo
Self-hostNo
OfflinePartial
Platforms
Web · Android · iOS
Gatsby#12
React framework for building fast, data-driven static websites.
PriceFreemium
Open sourceYes
Self-hostYes
OfflineNo
Platforms
Web

How to read this. “Yes” means fully supported by the maker. “Partial” means it works with caveats. Likes reflect community popularity; vendors can’t pay for them or for placement. How we compare.

Ghost alternatives at a glance

Ghost is a freemium website builders app (from $11/mo). We compared 12 alternatives: 8 are open source, 8 are completely free, 7 can be self-hosted and 3 work fully offline. The most popular is WordPress, with 2.1k likes.

Most liked overallWordPress

Open-source CMS that powers a huge share of the web.

Free · Open source · Self‑hostable
Best free optionDrupal

Enterprise-grade open-source CMS with huge flexibility.

Free · Open source · Self‑hostable
Best open-source optionJoomla

Open-source CMS between WordPress and Drupal in complexity.

Free · Open source · Self‑hostable
Best to self-hostGrav

Lightweight flat-file CMS that runs without a database.

Free · Open source · Self‑hostable

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