# Starter vs Publisher: Do I really need custom themes for this visitor experience? **URL:** \ **Category:** Themes\ **Created:** [July 25, 2026, 7:22am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/starter-vs-publisher-do-i-really-need-custom-themes-for-this-visitor-experience/63436 "2026-07-25T07:22:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dragon](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Dragon)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 7:22am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/starter-vs-publisher-do-i-really-need-custom-themes-for-this-visitor-experience/63436/1 "2026-07-25T07:22:32Z")
## **Starter vs Publisher: Do I really need custom themes for this visitor experience?** Hi everyone, I’m currently evaluating **Ghost(Pro) Starter vs Publisher** before upgrading from my trial. I’m trying to understand whether my project actually requires **custom themes** , or whether it can be built using the official Ghost theme together with `routes.yaml`, Code Injection and page settings. The visitor experience I want is intentionally very simple: - a fullscreen landing page - no visible header or navigation on the landing page - one clickable element (“ENTER”) - clicking ENTER opens a second page (the foyer) - from the foyer, visitors continue exploring different pages (“rooms”) I’m **not** trying to build a custom application. I’m also **happy to use the official Ghost theme** if this architecture is possible without editing Handlebars templates. My question is: **Can this be achieved on the Starter plan, or does this kind of visitor flow inevitably require custom theme templates (`home.hbs`, `default.hbs`, etc.), making Publisher the right choice?** I’m asking before purchasing because I don’t want to pay for Publisher if Starter is technically sufficient, but I also don’t want to discover later that I’ve hit a limitation. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![jannis](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/jannis/32/39718_2.png) [@jannis](https://forum.ghost.org/u/jannis)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 8:34am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/starter-vs-publisher-do-i-really-need-custom-themes-for-this-visitor-experience/63436/2 "2026-07-25T08:34:56Z")
You can probably make it work with code injection – but `routes.yaml` will only route to existing templates in your theme. You’ll likely have a better experience with the ability to use custom themes. Code injection is meant for small adjustment − not for big structural changes. ---
**Author:** ![Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dragon](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Dragon)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 3:58pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/starter-vs-publisher-do-i-really-need-custom-themes-for-this-visitor-experience/63436/3 "2026-07-25T15:58:00Z")
Thanks, that’s very helpful. One follow-up question: If the landing page is simply a **Page set as the homepage** (rather than a custom homepage template), and the visitor then clicks through to another Page (our foyer), would that still fit within the intended capabilities of the Starter plan? Or would you still consider this the kind of structural change better suited to custom themes? Thanks in advance ---
**Author:** ![jannis](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/jannis/32/39718_2.png) [@jannis](https://forum.ghost.org/u/jannis)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 4:14pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/starter-vs-publisher-do-i-really-need-custom-themes-for-this-visitor-experience/63436/4 "2026-07-25T16:14:21Z")
That should be doable, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Cathy\_Sarisky](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/cathy_sarisky/32/25750_2.png) [@Cathy\_Sarisky](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Cathy_Sarisky)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/starter-vs-publisher-do-i-really-need-custom-themes-for-this-visitor-experience/63436/5 "2026-07-25T16:27:59Z")
I’ve worked with lots of Ghost users, across multiple Ghost hosting platforms. Many folks end up finding the Starter tier on Ghost Pro to be pretty limited. (No payments, few integrations, no theme tweaks that can’t be accomplished with code injection, limited member numbers.) At that price point, you might want to take a good look at Magic Pages or Synaps media. Both good community members offering Ghost hosting. Unless you are going to send a newsletter every day, you may find that you can get a fuller feature set for the same price as Starter. TL;DR if Publisher is too expensive, you should shop the other Ghost hosts (well, MP and SM anyway) before deciding. (edit: fix a typo) ---
**Author:** ![Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dragon](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Dragon)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 10:49am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/starter-vs-publisher-do-i-really-need-custom-themes-for-this-visitor-experience/63436/6 "2026-07-27T10:49:21Z")
Hi Jannis, Thanks again for your help the other day. I think we’ve narrowed the problem down and wanted to ask whether this behavior is expected. **What worked during the Ghost trial:** - We customized `page.hbs` and `routes.yaml`. - `/` correctly rendered our custom full-screen landing page (“Enter”) with the page’s feature image. - Everything worked exactly as expected. _(attach screenshot #1)_ **What happened after upgrading to Starter:** - Ghost required us to switch to the official Source theme before we could complete the upgrade. - Starter now won’t let us upload our custom theme. - The same homepage is now rendered with the default Source page layout instead of our custom template. _(attach screenshot #2)_ Our current `routes.yaml` is: ```auto ``` ```auto routes: /: template: page data: page.enter ``` So the routing still seems correct. The question is: **Is there any supported way to continue using an existing custom theme on the Starter plan, or is Publisher now required for all custom themes?** If custom themes are completely unavailable on Starter, we’ll adapt, but we’d like to confirm that we’re not missing something obvious. Thanks! **What happened after upgrading to Starter:** - Ghost required us to switch to the official Source theme before we could complete the upgrade. - Starter now won’t let us upload our custom theme. - The same homepage is now rendered with the default Source page layout instead of our custom template. Our current `routes.yaml` is: ```auto ``` ```auto routes: /: template: page data: page.enter ``` So the routing still seems correct. The question is: **Is there any supported way to continue using an existing custom theme on the Starter plan, or is Publisher now required for all custom themes?** If custom themes are completely unavailable on Starter, we’ll adapt, but we’d like to confirm that we’re not missing something obvious. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Cathy\_Sarisky](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/cathy_sarisky/32/25750_2.png) [@Cathy\_Sarisky](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Cathy_Sarisky)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 11:11am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/starter-vs-publisher-do-i-really-need-custom-themes-for-this-visitor-experience/63436/7 "2026-07-27T11:11:18Z")
Jannis doesn’t work for Ghost Pro. You can contact them via email - they’re [support@ghost.org](mailto:support@ghost.org) - the forum is not a support channel. but… the pricing page seems pretty clear you can’t use a custom theme, and editing page.hbs would seem to make it a custom theme.