Substack vs Ghost
The clearest fee-model decision in this whole category.
The verdict
Substack until the 10% hurts, Ghost after that. At $1,000 a month in subscription revenue Substack costs $100 and Ghost's Publisher plan costs $29. At $10,000 it is $1,000 against $199. What you buy with Substack's fee is discovery: recommendations, Notes, and the app genuinely find readers, which matters enormously at the start and not at all once you have an audience. Ghost is open source and self-hostable, so it is also the only option here where nobody can change your terms.
Choose Substack if
- You are starting without an audience
- Discovery and recommendations would move the needle for you
- You want zero fixed cost while you find out if this works
Choose Ghost if
- You already have readers and can convert them yourself
- Subscription revenue is or will be meaningful
- Owning the software and the brand matters to you
Cost at three real sizes
Cheapest plan that holds the member count, including each platform's own cut and payment processing.
| Scenario | Substack | Ghost |
|---|---|---|
| 50 members at $20$1,000 monthly revenue | $151Substack | $62Starter |
| 200 members at $25$5,000 monthly revenue | $740Substack | $223Starter |
| 500 members at $30$15,000 monthly revenue | $2,190Substack | $603Starter |
Feature by feature
| Capability | Substack | Ghost |
|---|---|---|
| Community features | Partially supported | Partially supported |
| Courses | Not supported | Not supported |
| Coaching and live events | Not supported | Not supported |
| Video hosting | Partially supported | Not supported |
| Livestreaming | Partially supported | Not supported |
| Newsletter and publishing | Supported | Supported |
| Private podcast support | Supported | Third-party integration |
| Payments and monetization | Supported | Supported |
| Branding and customization | Partially supported | Higher plan required |
| Branded mobile app | Not supported | Not supported |
| Audience discovery | Supported | Not supported |
| Email and marketing | Partially supported | Supported |
| Integrations and API | Not supported | Higher plan required |
| Migration support | Supported | Supported |
| Customer and data ownership | Partially supported | Supported |
Best case across each platform’s full range. Individual plans gate some of these; the platform pages show which.