Choose Ghost if you
- want readers to pay you, with memberships and tiers
- need to send newsletters from the platform
- work with a team, or need many integrations
- want open-source software you can host yourself
Choose Bearletter if you
- want a writing tool first: drafts, versions and short posts
- want a fast, simple blog that is a folder of text files
- want your own domain for US$5 a month, at any size of list
- want a place to be found that can't be bought, and no ads, ever
At a glance
| Feature | Bearletter | Ghost (Ghost(Pro) hosting) |
|---|---|---|
| Price to start | Free; Pro US$5 a month or US$50 a year | Starter US$15 a month billed yearly (US$18 monthly) |
| A free plan | Yes: write, publish and keep a blog | No hosted free plan; the open-source software is free to host yourself |
| As your list grows | Same price | Publisher rises with members: US$29 at 1,000, US$88 at 10,000 a month, billed yearly |
| Your own domain | Pro | Every plan |
| Email newsletters | Collects subscribers; sends through Substack, by exporting the list there | Built in, unlimited sends; 1 newsletter on Starter |
| Paid subscriptions | No | Publisher and up, 0% Ghost fee (Stripe fees apply) |
| Themes and design | 13 themes on every plan; your own CSS on Pro | Design settings on Starter; marketplace and custom themes from Publisher |
| Writing | Drafts, versions, articles and short posts | An editor for posts and pages |
| Being found | The front page: ranked by readers' likes and time, rules public, can't be bought | Ghost Explore, recommendations, the social web |
| Statistics | Pro, without cookies | Subscriber and email analytics on every plan; advanced analytics from Publisher |
| Ads | Never, on any plan | Ad network integrations from Publisher |
| Your content | Export the blog as Markdown files, subscribers as CSV | Export posts and pages as JSON, members as CSV |
| Open source | No; a static-site export is on its way | Yes, MIT licensed, self-host anywhere |
What it costs
Pro is US$5 a month or US$50 a year, whether ten people read you or ten thousand. The Free plan keeps your writing and your blog for as long as you like.
Ghost(Pro) starts at US$15 a month billed yearly, or US$18 billed monthly. Starter holds up to 1,000 members, one staff user and one newsletter, and does not include paid subscriptions or custom themes. Publisher, at US$29 a month billed yearly for 1,000 members, adds those, and its price rises with your list: US$88 a month at 10,000 members.
Where Ghost is the better choice
If your writing is a business, Ghost is hard to beat. Paid memberships with tiers and offers, tips, newsletters sent from the same place, a member database, integrations and a team. Ghost takes no cut of your subscription revenue. And because Ghost is open source under the MIT license, you can run it on your own server.
Bearletter does none of the paid part. It does not take payments from your readers, and it does not send newsletters. If you need either, use Ghost.
Where Bearletter is different
- A writing tool, not a CMS. Write articles and short posts, keep versions, and publish to your blog when it's ready.
- Your blog is a folder. Every page is a text file you can read, edit or export. Thirteen themes, and your own CSS on Pro.
- One small price. Your own domain, search engine indexing, collecting subscribers, 50 GiB of media and statistics for US$5 a month, at any size.
- A front page, in the open. Posts from every blog can reach bearletter.com's front page, ranked only by readers' likes and time. The rules are public and nobody can pay to rise.
- No ads, no tracking. No ad slots on any plan, ever. Statistics use no cookies and store no IP addresses.
Moving from Ghost
Export your members from Ghost as a CSV and import the file into your Bearletter list on Pro; members who turned off email in Ghost are left out. Ghost exports posts and pages as one JSON file, and Bearletter has no Ghost importer yet, so posts need converting to Markdown before they go in as a folder of files, or through the text API on Pro. Old addresses can keep working with redirects.
Start writing, free · Compare plans
Ghost and Ghost(Pro) are trademarks of the Ghost Foundation. Bearletter is not affiliated with Ghost. Prices change; check ghost.org/pricing for the latest. Spot something out of date? Write to hello@bearletter.com.