News · head to head
Ghost CMS vs Prisma
The short version
- Only Prisma has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Ghost CMS ghost Pro plans cap members, at 1,000 on both Starter and Publisher and 10,000 on Business; Prisma prisma Postgres is billed per operation, with the free tier at 100,000 operations and 500 MB of storage
- They diverge on capability: Ghost CMS covers Publishing platform, Prisma covers ORM.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Ghost CMS and Prisma actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).
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 Ghost CMS
- Publishing platform
- Email newsletters
- Membership management
- Analytics
- Paywall support
- SEO optimization
- Media library
- API access
Only in Prisma
- ORM
- Query builder
- Auto-migrations
- Node.js
- TypeScript
- GraphQL
- REST APIs
- Node.js support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Ghost CMS
- Running a publication or newsletter with paid subscriptionsnot Prisma
- Self hosting a headless or full stack publishing platformnot Prisma
Prisma
- Using a type safe ORM and query layer against a Postgres databasenot Ghost CMS
- Adding a managed connection pool and edge cache in front of an existing databasenot Ghost CMS
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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
Prisma
- Prisma Postgres is billed per operation, with the free tier at 100,000 operations and 500 MB of storage
- Starter at $10 a month includes 1M operations then charges $0.0080 per 1,000
- Storage overage runs from $2.00 per GB on Starter down to $1.00 per GB on Business, so the unit cost depends on the plan
- Accelerate charges separately per operation and per GiB of query egress beyond the first 1 KiB
- Cache tag invalidations are not included below the Pro plan and are billed per thousand above it
Pricing, plan by plan
Ghost CMS
$18/month- Starter$18/month
- For solo blogs and newsletters
- Your own website
- Email newsletter
- Publisher$29/month
- For custom publications
- 3 staff users
- Custom themes
- Business$199/month
- For teams scaling up
- 15 staff users
- Priority support
- Custom$null/contact
- For organizations with complex needs
- Unlimited staff users
- Dedicated IP addresses
Prisma
Free- FreeFree
- 1M requests/month
- 360 GB-hours memory
- 4 vCPU-hours
- Starter$10/month
- 5M requests/month
- 1M database operations ($8 per million overage)
- 10 GB storage ($2/GB overage)
- Pro$49/month
- 20M requests/month
- 10M operations ($2 per million overage)
- 50 GB storage ($1.50/GB overage)
- Business$129/month
- 100M requests/month
- 50M operations ($1 per million overage)
- 100 GB storage
Which should you pick?
Choose Ghost CMS if
- You need publishing platform.
- You work on Web, Self-hosted.
- You also want email newsletters.
Choose Prisma if
- You need orm.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Node.js, TypeScript.
- You also want query builder.
Questions people ask
- Is Ghost CMS or Prisma better?
- Neither clearly leads. Ghost CMS starts at $18/month and Prisma at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Ghost CMS or Prisma?
- Prisma has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $18/month for Ghost CMS and Free for Prisma.
- Does Ghost CMS or Prisma run on more platforms?
- Ghost CMS runs on Web, Self-hosted. Prisma runs on Node.js, TypeScript.
- Can I use Prisma for free?
- Yes. Prisma has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Ghost CMS starts at $18/month.
- What is Ghost CMS best used for?
- Ghost CMS is most often used for running a publication or newsletter with paid subscriptions, self hosting a headless or full stack publishing platform. Of those, running a publication or newsletter with paid subscriptions and self hosting a headless or full stack publishing platform are not what Prisma is typically brought in for.
- What can Ghost CMS do that Prisma cannot?
- Ghost CMS covers Publishing platform, Email newsletters, Membership management, Analytics. Prisma covers ORM, Query builder, Auto-migrations, Node.js.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Ghost CMS: How much does Ghost CMS cost?
Ghost(Pro) pricing starts at $18 per month when billed yearly for the Starter plan, with Publisher at $29 per month and Business at $199 per month. All plans include unlimited email sends and enterprise-grade security.
SourcePrisma: How much does Prisma cost?
Prisma is free to start with 1M requests/month. The Starter plan costs $10/month with 5M requests, the Pro plan $49/month with 20M requests, and the Business plan $129/month with 100M requests. All plans have usage-based overages.
SourceGhost CMS: Can I cancel my Ghost subscription anytime?
Yes, users can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel their Ghost subscription anytime without penalties.
SourcePrisma: What is Prisma's overage pricing?
Prisma charges $1 per million requests over the included amount (Starter), $2 per million database operations overage (Pro and Starter), and $1.50-$2 per GB for storage overages depending on the plan. All plans include a hard spend limit on by default.
SourceGhost CMS: Are there any additional fees with Ghost?
Ghost waives transaction fees on all plans, though payment processor fees still apply. There are no setup fees or hidden charges.
SourcePrisma: Does Prisma include data transfer costs?
No, Prisma includes unlimited data transfer with no egress fees on all plans. Prisma ORM remains free across all tiers.
SourceRelated pages
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