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. SendPulse
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for small teams that want email, chatbots, SMS and a CRM on one bill rather than four.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Ghost | SendPulse |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Free plan; Standard from $9.60 / month Prices are the annual-billing rate at the smallest list size of 500 subscribers and rise with subscriber count. Pro from $11.52 and Enterprise from $16.13 per month at the same size. A pay-as-you-go option is sold alongside the plans. |
| Free trial | Not stated | Free plan for up to 500 subscribers and 15,000 emails per month |
| API | Yes, REST APIs for reading and writing content, documented for headless use | Yes, REST API and webhooks on every plan, plus an official SendPulse 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 | Email campaigns and transactional email alongside chatbots for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok, Telegram and Viber, bulk SMS, web push, live chat, pop-ups, landing pages and an online course builder |
| 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 360 triggers flows of emails, chatbot messages, web push and SMS from subscriber actions. The free plan allows 5 flows; Enterprise lifts the limit |
| Segmentation and personalisation | Yes, audience segmentation so different newsletters go to different groups of readers | Yes, segmentation by tags, variables and subscriber behaviour that updates as people act, with dynamic text personalisation. Tags are not included on the free plan and dynamic segmentation starts with Pro |
| 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 more than 130 free templates on every plan, plus AI copywriting that drafts, improves, retones and translates email text |
| 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 | A built-in spam checker before sending, A/B testing of subject lines and content from the Standard plan, and email verification from Pro (100 verifications on the free plan) |
| 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 built-in CRM with contacts, deals and pipelines, plus Shopify and WooCommerce for stores and connectors for Salesforce, Pipedrive and HubSpot |
| 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, REST API and webhooks on every plan, an integration marketplace including Zapier and Make, and an official MCP server compatible with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other clients |
| AI features | No | stated Yes |
| MCP-ready | No | stated Yes |
| 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 | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized |
| Integrations | Stripe, Slack, Google Analytics, Zapier | more entries Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce, Pipedrive, HubSpot, Zapier, Make, Typeform, Slack, PayPal |
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 SendPulse Free plan; Standard from $9.60 / month
- Deployment Ghost Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise SendPulse Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
- Hosting Ghost Cloud (Ghost Pro) or self-hosted; open source under the MIT licence SendPulse Cloud (SaaS)
- Support Ghost Community forum SendPulse Chat, 24/7
- AI features Ghost No SendPulse 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
SendPulse
Strengths
- Free plan covers 500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month
- Email, chatbots, SMS, web push, CRM and landing pages in one account
- REST API and webhooks on every plan, including the free one
- Official MCP server is free to connect, so AI assistants can run the account
Limitations
- Tags and A/B testing are missing from the free plan, and automation flows are capped at 5
- Dynamic segmentation and email verification start with the Pro plan
- Quoted prices are the annual-billing rate and rise with subscriber count
- Phone numbers are for pre-sale questions only; support runs through 24/7 live chat
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.
SendPulse
- Free $0 Up to 500 subscribers and 15,000 emails per month, 3 chatbots, 130+ templates and 5 automation flows. No tags, no A/B testing, 100 email verifications.
- Standard $9.60 Per month billed annually, at 500 subscribers. Unlimited emails, A/B testing, advanced automation and 3 users. The price rises with subscriber count.
- Pro $11.52 Per month billed annually, at 500 subscribers. Adds dynamic segmentation, email verification, 10 users and a dedicated coordinator.
- Enterprise $16.13 Per month billed annually, at 500 subscribers. Unlimited users and automation flows, full A/B testing and dedicated support. A VIP plan is quoted for accounts above 5 million 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. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
SendPulse
- 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. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
How we check reviews
Before sending, the author has to confirm three things: that they have used the product themselves, that they work neither for the vendor nor for a competitor, and that nobody is paying them for the review. We also ask whether the vendor invited them to write it. That answer is required, either answer is accepted, and it stays with the review.
Every review is read by a person before it appears. An email address is required and is confirmed: we send a link to it, and a review does not reach us until the author opens that link, so a review has a sender who was reachable at least once rather than being anonymous. Where what somebody writes needs backing, we ask them for evidence that they used the product, and a review that does not get it is not published. We publish positive and negative reviews alike, we pay nothing and offer nothing for a review, and we accept none that was bought or incentivised.
What we cannot do is verify a purchase. There is no shop here and no account, so whether the author really used the tool rests on their own declaration, on whatever we ask them for, and on the plausibility of what they write. We say so rather than implying a check that does not exist.
A vendor cannot buy a review, and cannot have one removed or changed because they dislike it. We remove or edit a review only if it breaks our rules or the law, for example a false statement of fact. Paid placement has no effect on which reviews appear or on any score.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Ghost https://ghost.org · checked against the official source on 2026-09-07
SendPulse https://sendpulse.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-16
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.