Softwr

Software · head to head

FullStory vs Ghost CMS

FullStory logo

FullStory

Software

Digital experience intelligence platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Ghost CMS logo

Ghost CMS

Software

Modern platform for professional publishing

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: FullStory free tier limited to 30,000 sessions per month, no 5,000+ monthly active user sites; Ghost CMS ghost Pro plans cap members, at 1,000 on both Starter and Publisher and 10,000 on Business
  • They diverge on capability: FullStory covers Session replay, Ghost CMS covers Publishing platform.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which FullStory and Ghost CMS actually diverge.

Attributes where FullStory and Ghost CMS differ
AttributeFullStoryGhost CMS
Pricing modelquotefreemium
PlatformsWeb, MobileWeb, Self-hosted
Founded20142013

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in FullStory

  • Session replay
  • Heatmaps
  • Conversion funnels
  • User journey mapping
  • Error tracking
  • Frustration signals
  • Search functionality
  • Custom events

Only in Ghost CMS

  • Publishing platform
  • Email newsletters
  • Membership management
  • Analytics
  • Paywall support
  • SEO optimization
  • Media library
  • API access

Both cover

  • Zapier

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

FullStory

  • User experience analysisnot Ghost CMS
  • Bug reproductionnot Ghost CMS
  • Conversion optimizationnot Ghost CMS
  • Customer supportnot Ghost CMS
  • Product developmentnot Ghost CMS

Ghost CMS

  • Running a publication or newsletter with paid subscriptionsnot FullStory
  • Self hosting a headless or full stack publishing platformnot FullStory

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

FullStory

  • Free tier limited to 30,000 sessions per month, no 5,000+ monthly active user sites
  • Personal email addresses cannot be used for signup; business email domain required
  • Paid plan pricing not publicly listed, requires sales contact for quotes
  • Free plan has no email support, only community-based assistance
  • Mobile app analytics requires a separate add-on purchase

Ghost CMS

  • Ghost Pro plans cap members, at 1,000 on both Starter and Publisher and 10,000 on Business
  • Staff users are limited to 1 on Starter and 3 on Publisher
  • Custom themes and integrations require the Publisher plan at $29 a month billed yearly
  • The jump to 10,000 members is the $199 a month Business plan, with nothing between
  • Self hosting is free but installing under a subdirectory needs a custom reverse proxy that Ghost does not officially support

Pricing, plan by plan

FullStory

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1,000 sessions/month
    • 14-day data retention
    • Basic analytics
  • Business$undefined/month
    • Custom sessions
    • 3-month retention
    • Advanced analytics
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Unlimited sessions
    • Custom retention
    • Advanced privacy controls

Ghost CMS

Free
  • Free Self-HostedFree
    • Open source
    • Self-hosted
    • Basic features
  • Creator$29/month
    • Email newsletters
    • Memberships
    • Analytics
  • Business$99/month
    • Advanced analytics
    • Priority support
    • Custom integrations

Which should you pick?

Choose FullStory if

  • You need session replay.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want heatmaps.
FullStory review

Choose Ghost CMS if

  • You need publishing platform.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted.
  • You also want email newsletters.
Ghost CMS review

Questions people ask

Is FullStory or Ghost CMS better?
Neither clearly leads. FullStory starts at Free and Ghost CMS at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, FullStory or Ghost CMS?
FullStory starts at Free and Ghost CMS at Free.
Does FullStory or Ghost CMS run on more platforms?
FullStory runs on Web, Mobile. Ghost CMS runs on Web, Self-hosted.
Can I use FullStory for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is FullStory best used for?
FullStory is most often used for user experience analysis, bug reproduction, conversion optimization, customer support. Of those, user experience analysis and bug reproduction are not what Ghost CMS is typically brought in for.
What can FullStory do that Ghost CMS cannot?
FullStory covers Session replay, Heatmaps, Conversion funnels, User journey mapping. Ghost CMS covers Publishing platform, Email newsletters, Membership management, Analytics. Both handle Zapier.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

FullStory: What does FullStory's free tier include?

30,000 sessions per month, 10 user seats, 5,000 server-side events per month, 1 year of session replay retention, and 1 year of product analytics retention. Session capture pauses when you exceed the monthly limit, though existing sessions remain accessible.

Source
FullStory: What features are excluded from the free plan?

Dashboards, configurable form privacy, Go-Live functionality, Streams, client-side rate hooks, mobile app analytics, and StoryAI are not available on the free tier. Email support is also unavailable; only community-based help is provided.

Source
FullStory: Can I use a personal email to sign up for FullStory's free plan?

No. FullStory requires a business email domain for signup; personal email services like Gmail cannot be used for free plan registration.

Source
FullStory: How does FullStory integrate with Slack?

FullStory's Slack integration allows individual users to send noteworthy sessions to Slack channels. Advanced and Enterprise plans can configure Alerts to receive notifications in Slack when user metrics exceed defined thresholds.

Source
FullStory: What analytics platforms does FullStory integrate with?

FullStory integrates with Segment, Mixpanel, Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics, Salesforce, HubSpot, and others. These integrations allow you to attach FullStory session URLs to events in your analytics platform for cross-platform correlation.

Source
ShareXLinkedInRedditWhatsAppEmail

Related pages

More on FullStory

More on Ghost CMS

Keep looking

Other head to heads