OSS Alts.

Search alternatives
Blog Platform 3 alternatives tracked

Open-source alternatives to Ghost

Ghost is a Node.js-based publishing platform for blogs, membership sites, and newsletters, used by independent writers and media brands. It combines content management, subscription management, and email newsletters in one tool. Ghost Pro (the managed SaaS) handles hosting and updates, while the OSS Ghost code is self-hostable under MIT license.

Last reviewed

Share: X Reddit HN LinkedIn

The alternatives

Ghost

★ 52,741 JavaScript MIT

Independent technology for modern publishing, memberships, subscriptions and newsletters.

TryGhost/Ghost Updated 2026-05-06

grav

★ 15,476 PHP MIT

Modern, Crazy Fast, Ridiculously Easy and Amazingly Powerful Flat-File CMS powered by PHP, Markdown, Twig, and Symfony

getgrav/grav Updated 2026-05-05

writefreely

★ 5,146 Go AGPL-3.0

A clean, Markdown-based publishing platform made for writers. Write together and build a community.

WriteFreely/writefreely Updated 2026-05-02

Comparison notes

Ghost itself is open source (MIT) — the OSS alternative IS Ghost self-hosted. Migrating from Ghost Pro to self-hosted Ghost gives full control over data and reduces monthly costs. For different platforms: WriteFreely (Go, AGPL) targets federated Fediverse-connected publishing. Grav is a flat-file CMS in PHP for simpler blogs without membership features. The main gap when self-hosting Ghost vs. Ghost Pro: Ghost Pro handles email deliverability (via Mailgun integration), CDN, and automatic updates — self-hosted requires configuring email providers and managing updates manually.

Migration tips

  • Export your Ghost Pro content as a JSON export from Settings → Labs → Export — this includes all posts, tags, and settings
  • Set up a self-hosted Ghost instance and import the JSON via the Admin API or the Labs import tool
  • Configure Mailgun (or another SMTP provider) for email newsletter delivery — this is not automatic in self-hosted Ghost
  • Recreate your custom theme in the self-hosted instance — themes transfer as ZIP files
  • Update your DNS to point to the self-hosted server and configure SSL before communicating the change to subscribers

FAQ

Can I fully replace Ghost with an OSS tool?

Feature parity varies. Most OSS alternatives cover 70-90% of core workflows, but may lack polish, integrations, or specialized features. Pilot the alternative with a subset of your team before fully committing.

What's the cost of self-hosting?

Plan for ~$5-50/month in VPS costs (DigitalOcean, Hetzner, etc.) plus 2-8 hours/month in maintenance. For a team of 20+, self-hosting usually breaks even against SaaS pricing within 6-12 months.

Which alternative should I pick?

Sort by GitHub stars (a proxy for community health), check the last-pushed date (avoid unmaintained projects), and read recent issues to gauge responsiveness.