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. Zoho Campaigns
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for teams already running Zoho who want email, SMS and WhatsApp campaigns synced to the same contact records.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Ghost | Zoho Campaigns |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Forever Free plan for up to 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month and 5 users |
| API | Yes, REST APIs for reading and writing content, documented for headless use | Yes, a developer API with token-based authentication, exchanging data as XML or JSON |
| 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 newsletters, plus bulk SMS and WhatsApp campaigns from the same account with their own delivery dashboards |
| 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, behaviour-triggered workflows for onboarding, nurture and abandoned cart; live workflows are editable without disrupting journeys in progress and contacts re-enroll as conditions change. Basic workflows from Standard, abandoned-cart workflows and frequency capping on Professional. |
| Segmentation and personalisation | Yes, audience segmentation so different newsletters go to different groups of readers | Yes, basic segmentation on Standard and advanced segmentation on Professional combining several conditions with engagement criteria, plus dynamic content and send-time optimisation on Professional |
| 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 template editor with images, text blocks, buttons and social icons; 120+ templates from the Standard plan |
| 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 | Reports cover bounces and unsubscribes with minute-level delivery statistics and deferred-email statuses explaining why a message is queued. A/B testing from the Standard plan, and a dedicated IP as a yearly add-on. |
| 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, Shopify and WooCommerce for purchase activity and abandoned-cart triggers, two-way sync with Zoho CRM, and connectors for Salesforce, HubSpot, SugarCRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Bigin |
| 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 developer API, plus integrations across the Zoho suite (CRM, Books, Desk, Commerce, Survey, Forms, Analytics, Flow), ecommerce and CRM systems, cloud storage and Zapier |
| AI features | 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 | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Stripe, Slack, Google Analytics, Zapier | more entries Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, Zoho Desk, Zoho Commerce, Zoho Survey, Zoho Forms, Zoho Analytics, Zoho Flow, Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce, HubSpot, SugarCRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Bigin, SurveyMonkey, 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
- Deployment Ghost Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise Zoho Campaigns Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
- Company size Ghost Freelancers, Small and mid-sized Zoho Campaigns Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Hosting Ghost Cloud (Ghost Pro) or self-hosted; open source under the MIT licence Zoho Campaigns Cloud (SaaS)
- Support Ghost Community forum Zoho Campaigns Email helpdesk
- AI features Ghost No Zoho Campaigns 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
Zoho Campaigns
Strengths
- Forever Free plan for up to 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month with 5 users
- Priced by contact tier rather than per seat, with unlimited emails on the paid plans
- Two-way sync with Zoho CRM plus connectors for Salesforce, HubSpot, SugarCRM and Microsoft Dynamics 365
- Email, SMS and WhatsApp campaigns run from one account
Limitations
- Advanced segmentation, dynamic content, send-time optimisation and abandoned-cart workflows require the Professional plan
- SMS and WhatsApp are credit-based add-ons on top of the plan
- A dedicated IP is a separate yearly purchase
- The free plan is capped at 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails 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.
Zoho Campaigns
- Forever Free Not stated Up to 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month and 5 users, with templates, list management, 35 app integrations and basic reporting.
- Standard Not stated From 500 contacts up to 100,000, unlimited emails and 10 users. Adds basic segmentation, 120+ templates, A/B testing, attachments, basic workflows, advanced analytics and 40+ app integrations.
- Professional Not stated From 500 contacts up to 500,000, unlimited emails and 20+ users. Adds advanced segmentation, dynamic content, send-time optimisation, abandoned-cart workflows and frequency capping.
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.
Zoho Campaigns
- 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
Zoho Campaigns https://www.zoho.com/campaigns/ · checked against the official source on 2026-09-12
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.