Creativesub vs Ghost
Creativesub
creativesub.com
Ghost
ghost.orgSide by side
| Figure | Creativesub | Ghost |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $18/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 4 |
| Spec score · Membership Site Platforms | 7.5 (#73) | 8.9 (#10) |
| Content gating | post | post |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Subscription billing | both | both |
| Transaction fee | 3.5% platform fee; Stripe card fees are separate and typically about 2.9% + $0.30, varying by country | 0% Ghost fee; payment processor fees apply |
Plans
Creativesub
- Founding creators — year 1Free
- Founding creators — after year 1Price not published
- Founding creators (#1–100)Free
- Standard creatorsFree
Ghost
- Starter$18 a month
- Publisher$29 a month
- Business$199 a month
- CustomPriced on request
In their own words
Creativesub
Creativesub has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Ghost
Ghost is an open-source blog and newsletter platform for professional publishers, with tools for publishing, memberships, analytics, and editorial workflows. It runs on the web and supports custom domains, theme customization, SEO tools, multilingual content, and CSV export. Publishers can send multiple email newsletters and offer free or paid memberships with monthly or yearly billing. The editor supports galleries, GIFs, video, audio, products, files, and bookmarks. Integrations include Stripe, Zapier, Slack, YouTube, Google Analytics, and GitHub. Paid plans start at $18/mo (annual), with a 14-day trial and no permanent free plan. Starter costs $18 a month, billed yearly, and includes 1,000 members, one staff user, and a 5 MB file upload limit. Ghost charges a 0% fee on publication revenue; payment processor fees still apply. Ghost(Pro) includes security protections, while all plans include device verification and email-based two-factor authentication.