Ghost
Open-source publishing platform with a great Content API. Used as a headless CMS for blogs.
VISIT GHOSTQuick facts
- CategorySelf-hosted
- LanguageJavaScript
- PricingOpen source
- LicenseMIT
- Created2013
- GitHub stars49.2k
- Statusactive
What it is
Ghost is a publishing platform first and a headless CMS second. Members and subscriptions baked in. The Content API is genuinely good and increasing numbers of teams use Ghost as the back-end with a custom front-end (Next.js, Astro, Eleventy). Hosted Ghost(Pro) or self-hosted.
Best for
- Newsletter + blog combinations where members and subscriptions matter
- Publishing-first projects where editorial workflow is the priority
- Substack alternatives where you want to own the back-end
When not to pick it
Skip Ghost for non-publishing use cases — the schema is opinionated for blogs. For e-commerce or general content, look elsewhere.
My take
Ghost is the right pick when the brief is a newsletter / publication. For general headless CMS, the schema opinions get in the way.
Links
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If Ghost is your pick — the next conversation is short
The 30-min call is where your CMS choice becomes a real architecture, an editorial workflow your team can adopt, and a price range you can take to your stakeholders. Describe your content estate, your team\'s muscle memory, your timeline. I tell you whether Ghost is genuinely your fit.