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Ghost vs Mautic

Ghost logo

Ghost

News

Modern publishing platform with content API and membership support

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Mautic logo

Mautic

Marketing

The main open source marketing automation platform, self-hosted and GPL licensed

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Ghost backup and migration processes have significant limitations and are problematic for long-term users; Mautic mautic depends on reliably scheduled cron jobs to process segments and send campaigns, and a misconfigured or silently failing schedule stops sends without an obvious error, which is the most common way Mautic deployments fail in production.
  • They diverge on capability: Ghost covers Content API, Mautic covers Visual campaign builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Ghost and Mautic actually diverge.

Attributes where Ghost and Mautic differ
AttributeGhostMautic
Pricing modelUnknownOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, Self-hosted, Cloud-hostedWeb, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker
CategoryNewsMarketing
Founded2013Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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

  • Content API
  • Membership
  • Analytics
  • Webhooks
  • Zapier
  • Custom integrations
  • Node.js support
  • Cloud support

Only in Mautic

  • Visual campaign builder
  • Contact management and segmentation
  • Landing pages and forms
  • Lead scoring
  • Dynamic web content
  • Email builder and A/B testing
  • Self-hosted data control
  • No feature gating

What people use each for

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

Ghost

  • API Developmentnot Mautic
  • API Gatewaynot Mautic
  • API Testingnot Mautic
  • API Documentationnot Mautic
  • Microservicesnot Mautic

Mautic

  • A marketing agency running automation for many clients that cannot pass on per-contact SaaS pricing at scalenot Ghost
  • A European university or public body whose data protection position requires contact data to stay on infrastructure it controlsnot Ghost
  • A company with a list of several hundred thousand contacts where SaaS per-contact pricing has become the largest line in the marketing budgetnot Ghost
  • A team that needs to modify the automation logic itself, not just configure it, and wants source access to do sonot Ghost

Where each one falls short

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

Ghost

  • Backup and migration processes have significant limitations and are problematic for long-term users
  • Open-source version lacks automatic backups, email subscriptions, and ad placement features
  • No built-in e-commerce functionality; separate platform required for product sales
  • Smaller community compared to WordPress, making support and resources harder to find
  • Narrow focus on publishing limits use cases outside content-only websites

Mautic

  • Mautic depends on reliably scheduled cron jobs to process segments and send campaigns, and a misconfigured or silently failing schedule stops sends without an obvious error, which is the most common way Mautic deployments fail in production.
  • Email sending is not included: you must arrange, pay for and warm up your own sending infrastructure through Amazon SES, SendGrid or similar, and deliverability problems become entirely your problem with no vendor to escalate to.
  • Acquia owns the commercial descendant, Campaign Studio, and is the largest contributor, so the loudest commercial interest in the ecosystem benefits from a hosted product rather than from the self-hosted one being easy.
  • Upgrades between major versions have historically been disruptive, requiring database migrations and plugin compatibility checks, so a neglected instance can become expensive to bring current.
  • The interface and the reporting are noticeably behind commercial platforms, so marketing teams that came from HubSpot or ActiveCampaign will find everyday tasks slower and will need training.

Pricing, plan by plan

Ghost

Free
  • Self-HostedFree
    • Open-source Ghost CMS
    • Full control over data
    • No payment fees
  • Starter$15/month
    • Up to 1,000 members
    • Newsletter functionality
    • Membership management
  • Publisher$29/month
    • Unlimited members
    • Continuous member scaling
    • Advanced analytics
  • Business$199/month
    • All Publisher features
    • Custom domain
    • Priority support

Mautic

Free
  • Self-hosted communityFree
    • GPL licensed, no licence fee and no contact limits
    • All features included, no paid edition
    • You provide hosting, database, cron scheduling and email sending
  • Managed Mautic hosting$undefined/month
    • Third-party managed hosting listed by the project
    • Updates, backups and cron scheduling handled for you
    • Pricing varies by provider and is not set by the project

Which should you pick?

Choose Ghost if

  • You need content api.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted, Cloud-hosted.
  • You also want membership.
Ghost review

Choose Mautic if

  • You need visual campaign builder.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker.
  • You also want contact management and segmentation.
Mautic review

Questions people ask

Is Ghost or Mautic better?
Neither clearly leads. Ghost starts at Free and Mautic at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Ghost or Mautic?
Ghost starts at Free and Mautic at Free.
Does Ghost or Mautic run on more platforms?
Ghost runs on Web, Self-hosted, Cloud-hosted. Mautic runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker.
Can I use Ghost for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Ghost best used for?
Ghost is most often used for api development, api gateway, api testing, api documentation. Of those, api development and api gateway are not what Mautic is typically brought in for.
What can Ghost do that Mautic cannot?
Ghost covers Content API, Membership, Analytics, Webhooks. Mautic covers Visual campaign builder, Contact management and segmentation, Landing pages and forms, Lead scoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Ghost: What is the free option for Ghost?

Ghost is open-source software that can be self-hosted for free. Self-hosting costs depend on your own server, domain, SSL, email delivery infrastructure, and DevOps expertise.

Source
Mautic: Is Mautic free?

Yes, GPL licensed with no licence fee and no contact limits. You pay for hosting, email sending and the staff time to maintain it.

Ghost: What is the starting price for Ghost(Pro) managed hosting?

Ghost(Pro) Starter plan is USD 15/month when billed yearly or USD 18/month when billed monthly. This plan includes up to 1,000 members with membership features enabled.

Source
Mautic: Does Acquia own Mautic?

Acquia acquired the founding commercial entity in 2019 and sells Campaign Studio built on it, but the Mautic trademark sits with the Open Source Collective and the project is community governed.

Ghost: Can I collect payments and manage subscriptions with Ghost?

Yes. Ghost includes native membership and subscription management with support for free signups and paid tiers (monthly/yearly options). All revenue goes directly to publishers with zero payment fees.

Source
Mautic: What breaks most often?

Cron scheduling. If segment rebuilding and campaign triggers are not running on schedule, campaigns quietly stop sending with no alert.

Ghost: Does Ghost integrate with Stripe?

Yes. Ghost integrates with Stripe for payment processing and subscription management, plus Zapier, Slack, Google Analytics, and thousands of other third-party apps.

Source
Mautic: Can it handle large contact lists?

Yes, but performance at several hundred thousand contacts depends on database tuning and queue configuration, which is work you must do yourself.

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