Ghost vs Paid Memberships Pro
Ghost
ghost.org
Paid Memberships Pro
paidmembershipspro.comSide by side
| Figure | Ghost | Paid Memberships Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $18/mo | $41.58/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 7 |
| Spec score · Membership Site Platforms | 8.9 (#10) | 9.1 (#5) |
| Content gating | post | post |
| Custom Domain | Ghost(Pro) includes a free ghost.io subdomain and supports custom domains. | Yes |
| Founded | 2013 | 2010 |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| App Integrations | Ghost connects with services including Stripe, Zapier, Slack, YouTube, Google Analytics, and GitHub. | Official integrations include WooCommerce, BuddyPress, BuddyBoss, bbPress, Mailchimp, MailerLite, MailPoet, Slack, Google Analytics, Zapier, LearnDash, and LifterLMS. |
| Paid from | 18 | 49 |
| Subscription billing | both | both |
| Transaction fee | 0% Ghost fee; payment processor fees apply | No platform transaction fee; payment gateway charges still apply. |
Plans
Ghost
- Starter$18 a month
- Publisher$29 a month
- Business$199 a month
- CustomPriced on request
Paid Memberships Pro
- FreeFree
- Standard$49 a month
- Max$99 a month
- Max 2x$299 a month
- Standard$499 a year
- Max$999 a year
- Max 2x$2,999 a year
In their own words
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.
Paid Memberships Pro
Paid Memberships Pro is a WordPress plugin and open-source platform for restricting content, taking payments, and managing subscriptions on a website. Site owners can protect 28 types of content and create unlimited membership levels, with free or paid access, one-time charges, or recurring billing from hourly to annual intervals. Pricing tools include trials, coupons, proration, donations, gift codes, invite codes, and variable pricing. Stripe and PayPal are included without a platform transaction fee, although gateway charges still apply. The free plan provides the self-hosted platform and 25 free add-ons; Standard, Max, and Max 2x include 54 premium add-ons. Paid plans start at $49/mo. Standard is $49 a month, Max is $99 a month, and Max 2x is $299 a month, all billed monthly. The platform includes member administration, customizable dashboards and forms, reporting, and integrations such as WooCommerce, Mailchimp, and LearnDash. It supports WordPress installations running version 5.2 or higher, while technical support covers only the three most recent minor releases. Premium purchases have a 100-day money-back guarantee covering one payment.