Ghost vs Substack: Publishing Platform vs Newsletter Platform

Overview

Ghost and Substack both combine publishing with email newsletters, but with fundamental differences. Ghost is a full publishing platform you own. Substack is a hosted platform where content lives within their ecosystem.

Key Differences

Ownership vs Platform

Ghost is open-source publishing software. Self-host for free or use managed hosting. You own your content, your design, your data. No platform can change the rules on you.

Substack is a platform. Your content lives on their servers, readers find you through their app, and they take 10% of paid revenue. Convenient, but you are building on rented land.

Discovery vs Independence

Substack has powerful network effects. Readers discover newsletters through recommendations, the Substack app, and cross-promotion. This discovery can accelerate growth.

Ghost has no built-in discovery. You drive all traffic yourself through SEO, social, and word-of-mouth. More work, but also more independence.

Who Should Choose What

Choose Ghost if:

• Full ownership and control matter to you
• You want custom design and branding
• You prefer flat fees over revenue share
• You value open-source principles
• You want both a website and newsletter unified

Choose Substack if:

• You want zero upfront costs
• Built-in discovery appeals to you
• You prefer simplicity over customization
• The Substack brand and community resonate
• You are starting from zero audience

The Bottom Line

For publishers who want full control and independence, Ghost is the mature choice. Beautiful themes, member support built-in, and no platform dependency.

For writers who want zero-friction starting and value Substack's discovery network, the platform trade-offs may be acceptable. Just understand the 10% cut and platform dependency.

For businesses where email drives product or service revenue beyond subscriptions, consider Sequenzy. Neither Ghost nor Substack offers the billing integration and revenue attribution that SaaS businesses need.