Ghost

Judgement

What it is

Complete system

What it does

A publishing platform for blogs and newsletters with built-in memberships, paid subscriptions through Stripe, email sending and themes.

Adopt it when

You publish content and want to run paid memberships or newsletters without taking a platform cut.

Watch out

Self-hosting requires Node.js and MySQL plus Mailgun for newsletters; Ghost(Pro) is the easier route.

Ready for

Production-ready

Runs as

Self-hosted server and cloud service

Built with

JavaScript, TypeScript, Node.js and MySQL

How established

Established: started 13 years ago, latest release v6.73.0.

What the license allows

You can build it into a product you sell, as long as you keep its copyright notice.

Judged on 2026-11-03 from the project's README and GitHub data. The license and age lines are worked out directly.

Compare Ghost

Built from

Follow it down: Ghost → TypeScript → Go → runs on a microchip

How compilers were built, back to punched paper tape

Open-source alternatives to Ghost

1. 1
   Payload payloadcms

   Payload is the open-source, fullstack Next.js framework, giving you instant backend superpowers. Get a full TypeScript backend and admin panel instantly. Use Payload as a headless CMS or for building powerful applications.

   Framework or platform Production-ready Your team builds in Next.js and wants the CMS and backend in the same codebase, on Postgres, SQLite or MongoDB.

   ★ 46k MIT TypeScript Active, pushed today
2. 2
   Halo halo-dev

   Halo 是一款强大易用的开源建站工具，从个人博客、知识库，到企业官网、在线商城，Halo 都能助您轻松实现，一站式满足您的多样化建站需求。

   Complete system Production-ready You want a WordPress-style site builder with a strong Chinese community and plugin market.

   ★ 40k GPL-3.0 Java Active, pushed today
3. 3
   Wagtail wagtail

   A Django content management system focused on flexibility and user experience

   Framework or platform Production-ready You build content sites with Django developers and want editors to have a pleasant interface.

   ★ 21k BSD-3-Clause Python Active, pushed today
4. 4
   Decap CMS decaporg

   A Git-based CMS for Static Site Generators

   Building block Production-ready You have a Hugo, Jekyll, Eleventy or similar site and want a free editing UI with content kept in Git.

   ★ 19k MIT JavaScript Active, pushed 2 days ago
5. 5
   Grav getgrav

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

   Complete system Production-ready You need a small to medium website without a database and like content in files.

   ★ 16k MIT PHP Active, pushed today
6. 6
   TinaCMS tinacms

   TinaCMS is the leading open-source headless CMS that supports Markdown and Visual Editing. Your content is stored in your own GitHub repo 🦙 ❤️

   Building block Production-ready A Next.js or Astro site keeps content in Git and non-technical editors need visual editing.

   ★ 14k Apache-2.0 TypeScript Active, pushed yesterday
7. 7
   Keystone keystonejs

   The superpowered headless CMS for Node.js — built with GraphQL and React

   Framework or platform Production-ready You want a code-first CMS with GraphQL and Prisma for a custom app.

   ★ 10k MIT TypeScript Active, pushed today
8. 8
   Builder BuilderIO

   Visual Development for React, Vue, Svelte, Qwik, and more

   Integration Production-ready A marketing team needs to build landing pages from developer components without code changes, and you accept a paid hosted editor.

   ★ 8.9k MIT TypeScript Active, pushed 3 days ago

Commercial content management systems

1. 1
   Webflow Webflow

   Design, build, optimize, and rank in AI search — all in Webflow. Enterprise-grade security, CMS, hosting, and AEO built in. Trusted by over 300k teams.

   Complete system Production-ready A marketing team or designer wants pixel-level control of a site without developers, and the site fits Webflow's CMS limits.

   460 readers a month Since 2013 Commercial
2. 2
   WordPress VIP Automattic

   WordPress VIP is the enterprise content platform trusted by over 700+ enterprises including NASA, Salesforce, and Meta. Up to 99.99% uptime SLA. FedRAMP authorized and SOC 2 Type 2 certified.

   Complete system Production-ready A large publisher or enterprise wants to run WordPress at high traffic with strict security and support guarantees.

   Commercial
3. 3
   Contentful Contentful

   Headless CMS

   Complete system Production-ready A company with developers needs one content source feeding several websites and apps.

   181 readers a month Commercial
4. 4
   Adobe Experience Manager Adobe Inc.

   Complete system Production-ready A large enterprise runs many brands and sites, already uses Adobe Experience Cloud, and has a budget for implementation partners.

   Commercial
5. 5
   Sanity Sanity

   Sanity is the back-end built for AI content operations. Power web, mobile, and agentic applications at scale.

   Complete system Production-ready Developers want full control over the editing interface and content model, and real-time collaborative editing.

   Commercial
6. 6
   Storyblok Storyblok

   Storyblok is an intuitive content management system that helps your developer and marketing teams get value from your content faster and create innovative digital experiences.

   Complete system Production-ready You want headless flexibility for developers but marketers still need to edit pages visually.

   Commercial