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. Sender
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for small businesses that want email and SMS together on a budget, with a generous free plan and pricing that scales with the list.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Ghost | Sender |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | lower value From $7 / month Standard plan for up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month; the price scales with the subscriber count. A Free Forever plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails per month. |
| Free trial | Not stated | Free Forever plan for up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails per month, with Sender branding |
| API | Yes, REST APIs for reading and writing content, documented for headless use | Not stated |
| 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, email newsletters and campaigns, plus SMS on paid plans and transactional email, with A/B testing |
| 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, unlimited marketing automation |
| Segmentation and personalisation | Yes, audience segmentation so different newsletters go to different groups of readers | Yes, unlimited segmentation for targeted messaging |
| 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 builder with 1,600+ mobile-responsive templates and a custom HTML editor |
| 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, with 24/7 IP monitoring and sender-reputation tracking, plus A/B testing for subject lines, content and send times |
| 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, integrations for Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop and WordPress |
| 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, integrations including WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, PrestaShop and Zapier |
| Deployment | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Community forum | more entries Chat, 24/7 |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | Not stated |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Stripe, Slack, Google Analytics, Zapier | more entries WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, PrestaShop, 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 Ghost Free version if self-hosted; Ghost(Pro) from $18 / month Sender From $7 / month
- Deployment Ghost Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise Sender Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
- Company size Ghost Freelancers, Small and mid-sized Sender Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Hosting Ghost Cloud (Ghost Pro) or self-hosted; open source under the MIT licence Sender Cloud (SaaS)
- Support Ghost Community forum Sender Chat, 24/7
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
Sender
Strengths
- Free plan for up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails per month
- Email plus SMS from paid plans, with unlimited automation and segmentation
- 1,600+ responsive templates and a drag-and-drop builder
- Ecommerce integrations for Shopify, WooCommerce and PrestaShop
Limitations
- The free plan carries Sender branding
- SMS is only available on paid plans
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.
Sender
- Free $0 / month Up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails per month, with Sender branding.
- Standard From $7 / month Up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month; removes branding and adds SMS and A/B testing. Scales with subscriber count.
- Professional From $14 / month Up to 1,000 subscribers and 24,000 emails per month; adds advanced automation, more seats and priority support. Scales with subscriber count.
- Enterprise Not stated Unlimited emails, a dedicated success manager, SSO and phone support, quoted by sales.
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.
Sender
- 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
Sender https://www.sender.net · checked against the official source on 2026-08-22
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.