Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover memberships & subscriptions and newsletter & email. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Ghost | Substack | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $15 | Free |
| Pricing model | Paid subscription | Free |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Usage-based |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | None | 10% of what you earn |
| Runs on | Web | Not stated |
| Covers | Website Builders, Memberships & Subscriptions, Newsletter & Email | Newsletter & Email, Memberships & Subscriptions |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Substack |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
Publishing and paid subscriptions, open source
Ghost is what a writer picks who wants Substack's economics without Substack's cut, and it takes nothing from subscription revenue beyond the hosting fee. The editor is quiet and fast, and the whole thing is open source, so a technical creator can host it themselves for the cost of a server. Doing that means you are the support team.
Our note
Against Substack the maths is simple: Ghost costs a fixed fee and Substack costs 10 percent of everything, so Ghost wins above roughly $300 a month in subscriptions and loses below it. What Substack sells that Ghost cannot is the network that finds you readers.
Only on this side
Paid subscriptions with a reader network attached
Substack takes 10 percent of subscription revenue and gives you distribution in return, through Notes and recommendations from other writers. That trade is good early and expensive later. Exporting your list is easy, which makes it a reasonable place to start.
Our note
Start here if you have no list and no evidence anybody will pay for your writing. Move the year that 10 percent passes what beehiiv or Kit would charge you flat, and take the list with you, because that crossover arrives sooner than most writers plan for.
Only on this side
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.