Paying 9 euro for a Ghost pro hosting and if you need custom theme installation jumps to 25 euro tier. ALMOST 3X. Maybe a 12 euro tier would be a better tier for a open source blog platform with custom theme installation allowed.
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Some other options reviewed here:
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I somehow agree here.
Creating a blog with a custom theme and custom sending domain is basic for anyone starting.
So this automatically forces you to go with the 25€ tier, although you might not have subscribers nor traffic yet.
IMHO, a tier like Starter, for 9€ should already include the mentioned features (custom theme and custom sending domain). As for members, this could be reduced to 250 to compensate.
Luckily, there are alternatives to ghost pro like magicpages (among others), like @Cathy_Sarisky mentioned (faster than me).
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For some history, Ghost didn’t have the $10 tier for several years (archive from a random time a few years ago). The $10 tier was added around the time they created several new “built-in” themes with varying layouts, and when memberships was starting to become more stable.
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I have found ghost pro to be the best for reliability and performance, but midnight is a very close second
After that, it’s mostly small operators, not reliable
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For a small blog i think magicpages is the BEST option. For a business i think GHOST PRO is the securest option, afterall to manage all the updates could be risky…
But 25 euros for someone people can be too expensive…
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i host ghost myself on my own hardware. i feel the cost they charge is justified if you want someone to manage your server. you could go set up a vps or get hardware to keep running all the time, then manage your own domain name through a registrar and mailgun, then keeping track of your security, update maintenance on the software and server… seems a small price to pay for all that unless you do it yourself.
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I have Midnight and Magicpages. Both are good and fast.
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I run my own Raspberry pi cluster powered by Sun. But for many people, 25 € it,s not affordable.
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if you run and host your own then what are you complaining about?
Dude…its about people. Not myself. People from poor countries…
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I mean, people from those countries can create their own topic if it bothers them so much. Or start smaller with Patreon or Wordpress before switching with their subscribers to Ghost :)
A €12 tier for custom theme installation on Ghost Pro would indeed bridge the gap nicely, offering better value without the steep jump to €25. It could attract more users seeking flexibility at a reasonable cost.
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I recently started using Ghost(Pro) because, after adding up the cost of a cheap web hosting plan for WordPress, email list manager, and a few other plugins to get the theme setup right, it was pretty much the same cost as getting Ghost(Pro), except for less work and hassle to get setup. Plus, I like that it’s all integrated natively with each other and I don’t have to maintain it.
Now, I can see how the cost might not be worth it anymore when your email list gets above 1,000, especially if you want automated welcome email sequences for new subscribers and such, but I figured I’ll figure that part out when I get there.
I ran the numbers to see how much it would cost me to offer managed hosting of Ghost using Hetzner, Mailgun, CDN, WAF, support and additional security & monitoring software. The cost for small actors add up quickly and it’s not a feasible business idea unless one gets 1000 paying customers. Given the price point of 9 USD per month and enough profit to pay for salary.
The Code Injection functionality in Ghost is awesome. By using that and webhooks it’s very manageble to tweak look & feel while also getting things automated. And unlimited emails. Don’t forget that part. For publishers and affiliate marketing businesses, Ghost (Pro) and the starter plan is a steal.
I am the first to admit I struggle to pay for the second tier of Ghost Pro. Which I would want just to be able to host multiple newsletters.
But the things you do get using the lowest tier of Ghost Pro is way and beyond what you get using i.e. Substack or a self hosted WordPress site.
I’ve been off and on Ghost [Pro] with my projects and am now seriously considering to move my most functional site over to Ghost which even on the lowest tier would triumph my current Substack set up BIG TIME.
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Maybe try looking at Magic Pages as an alternative to Ghost(Pro).
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This. Pricing wise Magic Pages beats Ghost (Pro)
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