Ghost

Ghost is a publishing platform built for professional creators who want to run a content business without depending on third-party algorithms or platforms. It combines a website builder, email newsletter delivery, and membership management into one tool. Independent journalists, newsletters, and media companies use it to own their audience directly.

The editor is designed to stay out of the way. It supports rich media through embeds and content blocks: image galleries, video, audio, downloadable files, bookmarks, accordion toggles, and more. Posts can be published to the web and delivered by email simultaneously, with audience segmentation so you can send different newsletters to different subscriber groups.

Memberships are built in from the start:

• Free signups turn anonymous visitors into logged-in members via native signup forms
• Paid subscriptions support monthly and yearly tiers, processed through Stripe with no platform fees taken by Ghost
• Offers and promotions let you run discounts to grow your subscriber base
• Analytics show engagement data, content performance, and who your most active readers are

For site design, Ghost supports custom themes and a marketplace with hundreds of options. Your branding stays front and center. It integrates with tools like Zapier, Slack, Discord, Google Analytics, Plausible, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, and many others.

Ghost is self-hostable or available as a managed service. It's structured as an independent nonprofit funded entirely by its users, with no outside investors. Publications on Ghost collectively generate over $100 million in revenue annually. If you're moving away from WordPress or looking for a Beehiiv alternative, Ghost covers both the website and newsletter sides without needing separate tools.