News · alternatives
Alternatives to Ghost CMS
20 news tools sit alongside Ghost CMS in this directory. Below is what separates each from Ghost CMS on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 10
- Cheaper to start
- 4
- Ghost CMS starts at
- $18/month
Why people look past Ghost CMS
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Ghost CMS entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
Ghost CMS starts at $18/month. Across the 7 news tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $12.99/month.
There is no free tier
The record for Ghost CMS carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 10 of the 20 alternatives below can be used without paying.
Cost climbs steeply across the tiers
Ghost CMS publishes 4 tiers, from $18/month up to On request. Teams that outgrow the entry plan can find the next rung a large step, the Ghost CMS pricing page breaks each one down.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
The all-in-one platform for newsletter creators
- Can be used without paying; Ghost CMS cannot.
- Starts $25 a month dearer, at $43/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
Organize, read, and share content you care about
- Can be used without paying; Ghost CMS cannot.
The content reader for power users
- Can be used without paying; Ghost CMS cannot.
- Starts $10.5 a month cheaper, at $7.5/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
- 3 tiers to Ghost CMS's 4.
Real-time analytics for publishers
- Starts $982 a month dearer, at $1000/month.
- Sold on a quote model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Ghost CMS's 4.
Free open source RSS reader for Mac and iOS, with no subscription, no ads and no feed limit
- Can be used without paying; Ghost CMS cannot.
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Ghost CMS's 4.
Subscription RSS and social feed reader for Apple platforms, with a separate one-time Classic version
- Can be used without paying; Ghost CMS cannot.
- Starts $8 a year cheaper, at $10/year.
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than subscription.
- 3 tiers to Ghost CMS's 4.
Every Ghost CMS alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghost CMS (this page) | $18/month | Subscription | 4 | |
| BeehiivThe all-in-one platform for newsletter creators | Free, then $43/month | Freemium | 4 | vs Ghost CMS |
| FeedlyOrganize, read, and share content you care about | Free | - | - | vs Ghost CMS |
| InoreaderThe content reader for power users | Free, then $7.5/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Ghost CMS |
| ChartbeatReal-time analytics for publishers | $1000/month | Quote | 1 | vs Ghost CMS |
| NetNewsWire | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Ghost CMS |
| Reeder | Free, then $10/year | Per user per month | 3 | vs Ghost CMS |
| ConvertKit | Free, then $33/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Ghost CMS |
| Google News | Free | Free | 1 | vs Ghost CMS |
| Free | Free | 1 | vs Ghost CMS | |
| Buttondown | Free, then $9/month | - | 2 | vs Ghost CMS |
| Artifact | Free | Free | 1 | vs Ghost CMS |
| GlobeNewswire | On request | Usage-based | 4 | vs Ghost CMS |
| Apple News | $12.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Ghost CMS |
| CrowdTangle | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Ghost CMS |
| Brightspot | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Ghost CMS |
| EIN Presswire | On request | Usage-based | 3 | vs Ghost CMS |
| Feedbin | On request | Subscription | 2 | vs Ghost CMS |
| Cision | On request | Subscription | 2 | vs Ghost CMS |
| Agility PR Solutions | On request | Subscription | 3 | vs Ghost CMS |
| Arc Publishing | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Ghost CMS |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Ghost CMS badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (10)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Beehiiv , Free, then $43/month
- Feedly , Free
- Inoreader , Free, then $7.5/month
- NetNewsWire , Free
- Reeder , Free, then $10/year
- ConvertKit , Free, then $33/month
- Google News , Free
- Flipboard , Free
Cheaper than Ghost CMS (4)
Entry price under Ghost CMS's $18/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- Inoreader , Free, then $7.5/month
- Reeder , Free, then $10/year
- Buttondown , Free, then $9/month
- Apple News , $12.99/month
What you would be giving up
Ghost CMS is most often brought in for running a publication or newsletter with paid subscriptions, self hosting a headless or full stack publishing platform. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Ghost CMS is broadly right and the question is cost, the Ghost CMS pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the News category lists everything the directory holds, and best news tools ranks them.
Ghost CMS runs on web, self-hosted. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Ghost CMS alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Ghost CMS?
- 20 other news tools are listed in this directory, led by Beehiiv, Feedly, Inoreader, Chartbeat. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Ghost CMS?
- 10 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Beehiiv, Feedly, Inoreader, NetNewsWire, Reeder.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Ghost CMS?
- Yes. 4 of the alternatives below start under Ghost CMS's $18/month: Inoreader at Free, then $7.5/month, Reeder at Free, then $10/year, Buttondown at Free, then $9/month, Apple News at $12.99/month.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Ghost CMS?
- On the figures on record, 3 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier; cost climbs steeply across the tiers. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Ghost CMS?
- Ghost CMS is most often brought in for running a publication or newsletter with paid subscriptions, self hosting a headless or full stack publishing platform. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Ghost CMS?
- None of the news tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Ghost CMS alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, News, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Ghost CMS against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Ghost CMS covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every news tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the News category, 20 tools beside Ghost CMS. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.