Ghost vs Mailchimp
Ghost and Mailchimp are both email marketing tools. Ghost is aimed at creators and small businesses, while Mailchimp is aimed at small businesses and creators. Mailchimp costs less, from $13/mo versus $18/mo for Ghost. Both have a free plan.
| Pricing | Open source · $18 | Freemium · $13 |
| Starting price | $18/mo | $13/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days |
| Built for | Creators, Small businesses | Small businesses, Creators |
| Platforms | web | web, ios, android |
| Country | SG · 2013 | US · 2001 |
| Rating | — | — |
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.
Choose Mailchimp if
Small businesses and e-commerce stores that want an easy, well-integrated email tool and send a few campaigns a month.
- Familiar, polished editor and huge template library
- Deep e-commerce integrations and revenue reporting
- Mature deliverability infrastructure
Look elsewhere if: Newsletter creators (Kit, beehiiv), high-volume senders on a budget (Brevo), or SaaS lifecycle messaging (Customer.io, Loops).
Ghost vs Mailchimp pricing
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
Mailchimp
- Free$0Up to 250 contacts, 1 audience
- Essentials$13/moStarting price; 14-day free trial, 3 audiences
- Standard$20/mo6,000 emails/mo; 14-day free trial, 5 audiences
- Premium$350/mo150,000 emails/mo, advanced tools, priority support
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
Mailchimp · Key features
- Drag-and-drop email builder with templates and brand kit
- Customer journeys (automation) with branching and triggers
- Audience segmentation, tags and predictive demographics
- Landing pages, signup forms, pop-ups and SMS marketing (US)
- Reporting with revenue attribution for connected stores
- Creative Assistant and generative AI for copy and images
Cons
- Contact-based pricing gets expensive fast; unsubscribed contacts can still count
- Free plan is now very limited
- Automation builder lags Klaviyo and ActiveCampaign
Ghost vs Mailchimp: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Ghost or Mailchimp?
Mailchimp starts at $13/mo and Ghost at $18/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Ghost and Mailchimp have a free plan?
Yes, both Ghost and Mailchimp have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.