Ghost vs WordPress.com
Ghost and WordPress.com are both website builders tools aimed at creators and small businesses. WordPress.com costs less, from $9/mo versus $18/mo for Ghost. Both have a free plan.
Open-source publishing with memberships
Hosted WordPress by Automattic
| Pricing | Open source · $18 | Freemium · $9 |
| Starting price | $18/mo | $9/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days | — |
| Built for | Creators, Small businesses | Creators, Small businesses |
| Platforms | web | web |
| Country | SG · 2013 | US · 2005 |
| 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 WordPress.com if
Users who want WordPress without managing servers.
- Full WordPress power on Business
- Managed security and updates
- Affordable entry plans
Look elsewhere if: Developers who prefer full control (self-hosted WordPress).
Ghost vs WordPress.com 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
WordPress.com
- Free$0wordpress.com subdomain
- Personal$9/mo$4/mo billed yearly; custom domain
- Premium$18/mo$8/mo billed yearly
- Business$40/mo$25/mo billed yearly; plugins
- Commerce$70/mo$45/mo billed yearly; WooCommerce
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
WordPress.com · Key features
- Managed WordPress hosting
- Themes and block editor
- Plugins and SFTP on Business
- Jetpack security and backups
- WooCommerce on Commerce plan
- Newsletter and monetization tools
Cons
- Confusing plan structure
- Plugins only on higher tiers
- Performance varies
Ghost vs WordPress.com: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Ghost or WordPress.com?
WordPress.com starts at $9/mo and Ghost at $18/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Ghost and WordPress.com have a free plan?
Yes, both Ghost and WordPress.com have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.