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Ghost alternatives: cheaper options at 1k–25k subscribers (2026)

Last verified 20 Oct 2026 against official pricing pages · USD, monthly billing, excluding tax

Prices change often. Every price here was checked against the platform's official pricing page on the date shown, but plans, promos and taxes vary. Always confirm on the official site before you buy or switch. Not financial advice.

Ghost's hosted service has no free plan. Starter costs $18/mo for up to 1,000 members without paid subscriptions, Publisher starts at $35/mo, and Ghost's pricing page lists no drip-automation builder.

Short answer

Paid newsletter (5% pay $8/mo, fees included), 5,000 subscribers: Ghost Publisher costs $222/mo. Cheapest alternative: Kit Free at $145/mo (saves $77/mo, $924/yr).
Basic newsletter, 5,000 subscribers: Ghost Publisher costs $75/mo. Cheapest alternative: Kit Free at $0/mo (saves $75/mo, $900/yr).
With automations, 5,000 subscribers: Ghost has no option in our verified data. Cheapest alternative: Buttondown Paid (usage-based) at $29/mo.

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Recently flagged: Kit: 25% off the first year of Pro on annual billing (limited-time offer) (20 Oct 2026) · beehiiv renames plans and raises prices (Scale → Lite, Max → Pro) (1 Oct 2026)

All alternatives at 5,000 subscribers (paid newsletter)

Ghost Publisher: $222/mo. Cheapest fitting plan on each platform, monthly billing. Diff = monthly cost compared with Ghost (− = cheaper).

#	Alternative and plan	Total /mo	Diff
1	Kit Free Visit site · vs Ghost	$145	−$77
2	Buttondown Paid (usage-based) Visit site	$176	−$46
3	MailerLite Comfort Visit site · vs Ghost	$196	−$26
4	AWeber Lite Visit site (paid link) · vs Ghost	$227	+$5
5	GetResponse Creator Visit site	$242	+$20
6	Flodesk Everything Visit site	$254	+$32
7	beehiiv Lite Visit site (paid link) · vs Ghost	$256	+$34
8	Substack Free + 10% of paid revenue Visit site · vs Ghost	$347	+$125

Not available or not verified for this scenario: EmailOctopus, Brevo, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, ActiveCampaign, Sender, Moosend, Klaviyo, Omnisend, Shopify Email, Mailjet, SendPulse, HubSpot.

Cheapest alternative at each list size

Paid newsletter (5% pay $8/mo, fees included)

Ghost plan used: Publisher.

Subscribers	Ghost	Cheapest alternative	Saving /mo
1,000	$64.40	Kit $29 Free	$35.40
2,500	$128.50	Kit $72.50 Free	$56
5,000	$222	Kit $145 Free	$77
10,000	$399	Kit $290 Free	$109
25,000	$904	none cheaper	—

Basic newsletter

Ghost plan used: Starter, Publisher.

Subscribers	Ghost	Cheapest alternative	Saving /mo
1,000	$18	beehiiv $0 Free	$18
2,500	$55	beehiiv $0 Free	$55
5,000	$75	Kit $0 Free	$75
10,000	$105	Kit $0 Free	$105
25,000	$169	Substack $0 Free + 10% of paid revenue	$169

With automations

Ghost has no option for this in our verified data (n/a).

Subscribers	Ghost	Cheapest alternative	Saving /mo
1,000	n/a	EmailOctopus $0 Free, limited	n/a
2,500	n/a	EmailOctopus $0 Free, limited	n/a
5,000	n/a	Buttondown $29 Paid (usage-based)	n/a
10,000	n/a	EmailOctopus $44.50 Pro	n/a
25,000	n/a	Brevo $82 Starter, limited	n/a

Cheapest plan on each platform that covers the list size and needs. Paid totals = plan + platform cut + Stripe card fees (2.9% + $0.30 per payment, estimate) + Stripe's 0.7% Billing fee on recurring payments where confirmed (beehiiv, MailerLite, Ghost, Buttondown, Substack, AWeber and Flodesk); not added for GetResponse (not confirmed); Kit's 3.5% + $0.30 is all-in. How we model fees. "limited" = feature capped on that plan.

Switching? Ghost → Kit cost · Ghost → Buttondown cost · Rank all platforms for your needs · Substack vs beehiiv vs Ghost: real cost at 1k, 10k and 50k subscribers

What you'd give up

Cost isn't everything. What Ghost does well, from its official pages: Publishers who want a full website and membership business on their own domain, with 0% platform fees and the option to self-host.

No free hosted plan; Starter is capped at 1,000 members and does not include paid subscriptions. source
0% Ghost transaction fees on Publisher and above; Stripe fees apply. source
Ghost is open-source software, so you can also self-host it instead of paying for Ghost(Pro). source
No drip/automation builder is listed on the Ghost(Pro) pricing page. source

FAQ

What is the cheapest Ghost alternative?

Paid newsletter (5% pay $8/mo, fees included) at 5,000 subscribers: Kit Free at $145/mo vs Ghost $222/mo. Basic newsletter at 5,000 subscribers: Kit Free at $0/mo vs Ghost $75/mo. With automations at 5,000 subscribers: Buttondown Paid (usage-based) at $29/mo. Monthly billing, prices verified 2026-10-20.

Is Ghost more expensive than the alternatives?

For a paid newsletter, at least one tracked platform is cheaper than Ghost at 4 of the 5 list sizes we checked (1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000). Cheaper is not always better: check the features you need on each platform page.

How much would I save by switching from Ghost?

Use the migration cost calculator with your own list size. At 5,000 subscribers (paid newsletter), the cheapest alternative saves $77 a month.

Sources

More: Kit alternatives · MailerLite alternatives · AWeber alternatives · GetResponse alternatives · Flodesk alternatives · beehiiv alternatives · all alternatives pages · Ghost pricing · best platform by use case · cheapest by list size