Best for
Best for creators and small businesses that want low-cost newsletters, automation and landing pages without paying for features they will not use.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Email Marketing Comparison
EmailOctopus vs. Ghost
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for independent publishers and creators who want a website, newsletter and paid subscriptions in one platform they can host themselves.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | EmailOctopus | Ghost |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | lower value From $9 / month Pro plan, billed yearly; the price scales with the number of subscribers. A free Starter plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month. | Free version if self-hosted; Ghost(Pro) from $18 / month Ghost(Pro) Starter is $18 per month billed yearly for up to 1,000 members. Self-hosting the open source application carries no licence cost, but the server and email delivery are your own. |
| Free trial | Free Starter plan for up to 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month, with EmailOctopus branding | Not stated |
| API | Yes, a public API to manage lists, contacts, campaigns and automations | Yes, REST APIs for reading and writing content, documented for headless use |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS) | Cloud (Ghost Pro) or self-hosted; open source under the MIT licence |
| Campaign types | Yes, email newsletters and campaigns, with scheduled sending | Newsletters published to a website and sent by email in the same step, with free and paid membership tiers |
| Automation and journeys | Yes, automated sequences that engage subscribers based on triggers | Yes, in public beta since June 2026. An Automations tab opens a drag-and-drop canvas with two flows ready to go, one for new free members and one for new paid ones, built from two actions: send an email and wait a set amount of time. Existing welcome emails move into it automatically, and more triggers and actions are announced as coming |
| Segmentation and personalisation | Yes, segmentation using custom fields and tags | Yes, audience segmentation so different newsletters go to different groups of readers |
| Templates and editor | Yes, a drag-and-drop editor with auto-generating templates that adapt to your colours | Yes, an editor built for long-form work with galleries, video, audio and dynamic content cards; custom themes from the Publisher plan |
| Deliverability and testing | Yes, with over a decade of email delivery experience and real-time open and click reporting | Preview shows the post as it will look on the web, on mobile, in an email and on social, and a test email can be sent to your own inbox with a custom subject line before publishing. On Ghost(Pro) email delivery is included and configured for you; a self-hosted install has to supply Mailgun API keys, which is the only supported bulk email provider |
| Ecommerce and CRM data | Through integrations rather than a built-in sync: an official WordPress plugin for sign-up forms, and Zapier for the rest, with Shopify connected that way | Yes, native paid subscriptions through Stripe on monthly and yearly tiers, with signup forms and promotional offers. Ghost takes 0% of subscription revenue on Publisher and above, though payment processor fees still apply |
| Integrations and API | Yes, a public API for lists, contacts, campaigns and automations, plus over 1,000 integrations | Yes, REST APIs for content in and out, plus more than 8,000 integrations through Zapier and similar from the Publisher plan |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise |
| Support | Not stated | Community forum |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized |
| Integrations | Zapier, WordPress, Shopify | more entries Stripe, Slack, Google Analytics, Zapier |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price EmailOctopus From $9 / month Ghost Free version if self-hosted; Ghost(Pro) from $18 / month
- Deployment EmailOctopus Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based Ghost Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise
- Hosting EmailOctopus Cloud (SaaS) Ghost Cloud (Ghost Pro) or self-hosted; open source under the MIT licence
- API EmailOctopus Yes, a public API to manage lists, contacts, campaigns and automations Ghost Yes, REST APIs for reading and writing content, documented for headless use
- Campaign types EmailOctopus Yes, email newsletters and campaigns, with scheduled sending Ghost Newsletters published to a website and sent by email in the same step, with free and paid membership tiers
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
EmailOctopus
Strengths
- Generous free plan for up to 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month
- Low-cost Pro plan from $9 per month
- Automation, tag-based segmentation, and landing pages and forms
- Public API and over 1,000 integrations
Limitations
- The free plan carries EmailOctopus branding
- The lowest Pro price is billed yearly
Ghost
Strengths
- Open source under the MIT licence and self-hostable, so the whole platform can run on your own infrastructure
- Ghost takes 0% of paid subscription revenue on Publisher and above; only payment processor fees apply
- Website, newsletter and paid memberships in one product, with no separate email tool to wire up
- Run by a non-profit foundation funded by its users, with no outside investors
- Unlimited email sends on every Ghost(Pro) tier
Limitations
- The Starter plan has no paid subscriptions, no custom themes and only limited integrations
- Member count drives the price: Starter and Publisher both stop at 1,000 members, Business at 10,000
- Self-hosting means providing and maintaining your own server and email delivery
- Built for publishing rather than campaign marketing, so there is no multi-channel journey builder
Plans
Pricing
EmailOctopus
- Starter $0 / month Up to 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month, with EmailOctopus branding.
- Pro From $9 / month Billed yearly; removes branding and adds custom email design, unlimited landing pages, forms and reports. The price scales with the number of subscribers.
Ghost
- Self-hosted $0 The open source Ghost application under the MIT licence. No licence cost; you provide the server and email delivery.
- Starter $18 Per month, billed yearly. Up to 1,000 members, one staff user, website, newsletter, free custom domain and unlimited email sends. No paid subscriptions or custom themes.
- Publisher $29 Per month, billed yearly. Up to 1,000 members, three staff users, custom themes, paid subscriptions, advanced analytics and more than 8,000 integrations.
- Business $199 Per month, billed yearly. Up to 10,000 members, 15 staff users, priority support, higher usage limits and early access to new features.
- Custom Not stated Unlimited members and staff users, advanced configuration, dedicated IP and a 99.9% uptime SLA.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
EmailOctopus
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Ghost
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
EmailOctopus https://emailoctopus.com · checked against the official source on 2026-08-22
Ghost https://ghost.org · checked against the official source on 2026-09-07
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.