ActiveCampaign vs Ghost
ActiveCampaign and Ghost are both email marketing tools. ActiveCampaign is aimed at small businesses and E-commerce, while Ghost is aimed at creators and small businesses. Ghost costs less, from $18/mo versus $19/mo for ActiveCampaign. Only Ghost has a free plan.
Email marketing and automation platform for SMBs and ecommerce
Open-source publishing with memberships
| Pricing | Paid · $19 | Open source · $18 |
| Starting price | $19/mo | $18/mo |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days |
| Built for | Small businesses, E-commerce, Agencies | Creators, Small businesses |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web |
| Country | US · 2003 | SG · 2013 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose ActiveCampaign if
Small and mid-sized businesses and ecommerce brands that want sophisticated, behaviour-based email and SMS automation at a mid-range price.
- One of the most powerful automation builders in its price range
- Strong ecommerce triggers and deep integrations
- AI agents included on every plan
Look elsewhere if: Teams sending simple newsletters to large lists on a tight budget, or wanting a full CRM suite (MailerLite, Brevo, HubSpot).
Choose Ghost if
Writers, publishers and companies who want an owned, SEO-strong publication with memberships and no revenue share.
- No revenue share on memberships
- Open source and self-hostable
- Fast, SEO-friendly and focused on publishing
Look elsewhere if: Marketing sites with many page types or people wanting Substack's built-in discovery network.
ActiveCampaign vs Ghost pricing
ActiveCampaign
- Starter$19/mo$15/mo billed annually; 1,000 contacts, 1 seat
- Plus$59/mo$49/mo annually; landing pages, SMS add-on, 1 seat
- Pro$99/mo$79/mo annually; predictive sending, attribution, 3 seats
- Enterprise$179/mo$145/mo annually; SSO, HIPAA support, 5 seats
Ghost
- Self-hosted$0MIT license; you run the server and email
- Starter$18/mo$15/mo billed yearly; 1,000 members, 1 staff user
- Publisher$35/mo$29/mo billed yearly; 1,000 members, 3 staff users
- Business$239/mo$199/mo billed yearly; 15 staff users
- CustomCustomUnlimited members and staff
ActiveCampaign · Key features
- Visual automation builder with branching, goals and split tests
- Triggers from site visits, purchases, forms, tags and CRM events
- Email, SMS and WhatsApp messaging from one platform
- Active Intelligence AI agents for segments, automations and brand kits
- Predictive sending and conditional content on Pro
- Landing pages and site messages from the Plus plan
Cons
- Costs climb quickly as contact lists grow
- CRM pipelines and transactional email are extra
- Starter and Plus include only one seat
Ghost · Key features
- Modern editor with cards, embeds and SEO settings
- Built-in newsletters with Mailgun delivery
- Paid memberships and tiers via Stripe, 0% fees
- Themes (Handlebars) and custom domains
- Native analytics, comments, recommendations and ActivityPub
- REST and Content APIs; self-hostable under MIT
Cons
- Not a general-purpose site builder
- Theme customization requires Handlebars and code
- Self-hosting needs server skills
ActiveCampaign vs Ghost: FAQ
Which is cheaper, ActiveCampaign or Ghost?
Ghost starts at $18/mo and ActiveCampaign at $19/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do ActiveCampaign and Ghost have a free plan?
ActiveCampaign has no free plan, a 14-day free trial. Ghost has a free plan.