# Ghost pricing (2026): plans, cost, and compliance

**Entry price:** $0 (free)/mo (Self-hosted (open source)). Among the 8 newsletter platforms we track it is the cheapest; median entry $0/mo.
**Domain:** ghost.org
**Free tier:** Yes · 14-day free trial
**Compliance:** HIPAA Not published · SOC 2 Not published · GDPR Not published
**Integrations:** Zapier, Stripe, Slack, Google Analytics, FirstPromoter, Memberful
**Best for:** independent publishers; membership sites; editorial teams; developers wanting open-source control
**Price tracked since:** June 2026

## Plans

| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Billing | Notes | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Self-hosted (open source) | $0 | — | flat | Ghost CMS is MIT-licensed open source. Self-hosted on your own infrastructure at no license cost. Requires server, domain, and email sending setup (not managed by Ghost). | ghost.org |
| Starter | $18 | −17% | flat | 1,000 members, 1 staff user, 1 email newsletter, no paid subscriptions, no custom themes. $18/mo monthly billing; $15/mo billed annually. 14-day free trial, no credit card required. | ghost.org |
| Publisher | $35 | −17% | flat | 1,000 members, 3 staff users, 3 email newsletters, paid subscriptions enabled, custom themes, 8,000+ integrations. $35/mo monthly billing; $29/mo billed annually. 14-day free trial. | ghost.org |
| Business | $239 | −17% | flat | 10,000 members, 15 staff users, 10 email newsletters, paid subscriptions, premium tiers, special offers, priority support. $239/mo monthly billing; $199/mo billed annually. 14-day free trial. | ghost.org |
| Custom | Quote-only | — | custom | Unlimited members and staff users, dedicated IP, 99.9% uptime SLA, SSO authentication. Contact sales for pricing (no published price). | ghost.org |

**Key features:** 0% transaction fee on paid memberships (all Ghost Pro plans); Open-source self-hosted option at no license cost; Custom themes and full design control on Publisher+; Built-in membership and paid subscription management.

**Plan limits:** 1,000 members on Starter and Publisher; 10,000 members on Business; 1 staff user on Starter; No forever-free hosted plan (Ghost Pro is 14-day trial; $0 is self-hosted only).

Sources: 1 · Last verified 2026-06-18
Provenance: Fetched ghost.org/pricing/ on 2026-06-18; annual prices ($15 Starter / $29 Publisher / $199 Business) and monthly-billing prices ($18 / $35 / $239) confirmed, corroborated via Ghost forum thread on the July 2025 pricing update. Ghost is also available self-hosted for free (MIT open source). There is no forever-free Ghost(Pro) HOSTED plan — only a 14-day trial; the $0 entry is the self-hosted option.
Canonical: https://frontdeskreview.com/software/newsletter-platforms/ghost/
Cite: Per The Front Desk Review, Ghost's entry plan was $0 (free)/mo as of 2026-06-18 — https://frontdeskreview.com/software/newsletter-platforms/ghost/
License: CC BY 4.0. Price history: https://frontdeskreview.com/data/price-history.jsonl