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. Klaviyo
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for ecommerce and B2C teams that want email and SMS driven by a customer data platform with real-time segmentation and deep store data.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Ghost | Klaviyo |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | 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. | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | Free plan for up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends per month, plus $5 of mobile messages a month |
| API | Yes, REST APIs for reading and writing content, documented for headless use | Yes, a REST API with webhooks, SDKs, warehouse syncs and more than 350 integrations |
| Hosting | Cloud (Ghost Pro) or self-hosted; open source under the MIT licence | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Made in | Not stated | United States |
| Campaign types | Newsletters published to a website and sent by email in the same step, with free and paid membership tiers | Yes, email campaigns with SMS and push from the same customer profiles |
| 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, automation flows triggered by customer behaviour and events |
| Segmentation and personalisation | Yes, audience segmentation so different newsletters go to different groups of readers | Yes, real-time segmentation with predictive analytics on unified customer profiles |
| 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, a drag-and-drop email editor with templates |
| 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, deliverability tools with reporting and revenue attribution |
| 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, a customer data platform with deep ecommerce data and more than 350 integrations including Shopify and WooCommerce |
| 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 REST API with webhooks, SDKs and warehouse syncs |
| AI features | No | stated Yes |
| Deployment | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Community forum | more entries Email helpdesk, Chat, Community forum |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Live online demos and webinars, Personal consulting |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Stripe, Slack, Google Analytics, Zapier | more entries Shopify, Magento 1.x, Magento 2.x, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix, OpenCart, PrestaShop, Spree, Shift4Shop, Volusion |
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
- Deployment Ghost Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise Klaviyo Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
- Company size Ghost Freelancers, Small and mid-sized Klaviyo Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Hosting Ghost Cloud (Ghost Pro) or self-hosted; open source under the MIT licence Klaviyo Cloud (SaaS)
- Support Ghost Community forum Klaviyo Email helpdesk, Chat, Community forum
- AI features Ghost No Klaviyo 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
Klaviyo
Strengths
- Customer data platform with unified profiles behind email, SMS and push
- Real-time segmentation with predictive analytics
- More than 350 integrations including Shopify and WooCommerce
- Free plan for up to 250 active profiles
Limitations
- Pricing scales with the number of active profiles
- The free plan is limited to 500 email sends a month
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.
Klaviyo
- Free $0 / month Up to 250 active profiles, 500 email sends a month and $5 of mobile messages a month, with email support for the first 60 days.
- Email Not stated Paid email plan that scales with the number of active profiles, with higher sending allowances.
- Email and SMS Not stated Adds SMS and mobile messaging on top of the email plan, priced by active profiles and message volume.
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.
Klaviyo
- 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
Klaviyo https://www.klaviyo.com · checked against the official source on 2026-08-19
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.