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
Email Marketing Comparison
Ghost vs. Kit
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for creators, newsletter authors and course sellers who want email automation, landing pages and a way to sell digital products in one platform.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Ghost | Kit |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | lower value 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. | From $39 / month Creator plan for up to 1,000 subscribers; the price scales with the number of subscribers. |
| Free trial | Not stated | Free plan (Newsletter) for up to 10,000 subscribers |
| API | Yes, REST APIs for reading and writing content, documented for headless use | Yes, a public API plus an official Kit MCP server |
| Hosting | Cloud (Ghost Pro) or self-hosted; open source under the MIT licence | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Campaign types | Newsletters published to a website and sent by email in the same step, with free and paid membership tiers | Yes, one-off broadcasts and newsletters plus automated email sequences, with unlimited landing pages, forms and a store for digital products |
| Automation and journeys | 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 | Yes, a visual automation builder that triggers workflows on signup, link clicks, purchases, inactivity or custom rules |
| Segmentation and personalisation | Yes, audience segmentation so different newsletters go to different groups of readers | Yes, tags and segments, with subscriber scoring on the Creator Pro plan |
| Templates and editor | Yes, an editor built for long-form work with galleries, video, audio and dynamic content cards; custom themes from the Publisher plan | Yes, an email editor with 40-plus creator-built templates, plus direct Canva, Pinterest and Typeform integrations |
| Deliverability and testing | 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 | Yes, subject line and content A/B testing on broadcasts, with a delivery rate Kit reports at 99.8% |
| Ecommerce and CRM data | 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 | Yes, sell digital products and subscriptions natively at 0.6% plus card fees, with Shopify, Stripe and WooCommerce among 100-plus integrations |
| Integrations and API | Yes, REST APIs for content in and out, plus more than 8,000 integrations through Zapier and similar from the Publisher plan | Yes, a public API and an official Kit MCP server with read and write access |
| MCP-ready | No | stated Yes |
| Deployment | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Community forum | Email helpdesk |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | Not stated |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized |
| Integrations | Stripe, Slack, Google Analytics, Zapier | more entries Shopify, Stripe, WooCommerce, Canva, Typeform |
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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 Ghost Free version if self-hosted; Ghost(Pro) from $18 / month Kit From $39 / month
- Deployment Ghost Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise Kit Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
- Hosting Ghost Cloud (Ghost Pro) or self-hosted; open source under the MIT licence Kit Cloud (SaaS)
- Support Ghost Community forum Kit Email helpdesk
- MCP-ready Ghost No Kit Yes
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
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
Kit
Strengths
- Free Newsletter plan for up to 10,000 subscribers
- Visual automation builder with unlimited landing pages and forms
- Sell digital products and subscriptions natively at 0.6% plus card fees
- Official Kit MCP server lets AI tools read and update the account
Limitations
- Paid prices scale with the number of subscribers
- Advanced reporting and subscriber scoring are reserved for the Creator Pro plan
- The free Newsletter plan leaves out the visual automation builder and email sequences
Plans
Pricing
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.
Kit
- Newsletter $0 / month Free for up to 10,000 subscribers, with unlimited landing pages and forms, broadcasts and the ability to sell digital products.
- Creator From $39 / month Up to 1,000 subscribers, adding the visual automation builder, email sequences and unlimited sends. Scales with subscribers.
- Creator Pro From $79 / month Adds advanced reporting, subscriber scoring, a newsletter referral system and priority support. Scales with subscribers.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
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.
Kit
- 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
Ghost https://ghost.org · checked against the official source on 2026-09-07
Kit https://kit.com · checked against the official source on 2026-08-23
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.