Ghost vs Mailcheap vs Plunk

Side by side, as alternatives to beehiiv. Rows that differ are highlighted; the strongest value in a row is marked. Unknown means no source yet.

GhostTryGhost/Ghost

Mailcheapmarclou/mailcheap

Plunkuseplunk/plunk

beehiivpaid product

Cost and coverage

Price

$0 software; you run it

See pricing page source ↗

Subscriber lists and segments

Partly

Yes

Campaign editor and templates

Partly

Yes

Automations and drip sequences

Partly

Yes

Signup forms and landing pages

Partly

Yes

Open and click analytics

Partly

Yes

Paid subscriptions and newsletter website

Partly

Yes

Jobs covered

5 of 6 jobs

1 of 6 jobs

3 of 6 jobs

All 6

Popularity and activity (from GitHub)

Stars

55,578Top

1,275

5,535

—

Gain this week

Unknown

—

Signal

Building history

—

Commits / 4 wk

934Top

—

Latest release

v6.72.0 · 2026-10-20Top

Unknown

v0.16.0 · 2026-10-08

—

Commits / 12 wk

2,115

139

—

People committing / 12 mo

92+

—

Issues opened / closed, 30 days

14 / 17

0 / 0

5 / 4

—

Facts, with sources on each project page

Runs on my machine?Differs

Self-hosted with Ghost-CLI (local dev or Ubuntu production), or hosted Ghost(Pro)

Self-hosted on Vercel or any Node.js 22+ host

Self-hosted with Docker Compose, or hosted Plunk

Hosted by the vendor

Code licenceDiffers

MIT

AGPL-3.0

AGPL-3.0 (copyleft)

—

Model weights licenceDiffers

No separate model weights

No bundled weights; AI agents connect through its MCP server

No separate model weights

—

Commercial useDiffers

Yes, MIT

Yes, AGPL-3.0; you must share your source if you offer a modified version over a network

Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms

—

Paid services needed?Differs

Newsletter delivery requires Mailgun (SMTP not supported for bulk mail); Stripe needed for paid memberships

Needs Amazon SES or PostShiba for sending, both paid; MongoDB, QStash and hosting have free tiers

Self-hosting requires an AWS SES account for sending

Subscription

HardwareDiffers

Server with at least 1 GB memory for production

Not checked yet

Not documented

—

Operating systemsDiffers

Production on Ubuntu 22.04/24.04/26.04; local development install on macOS, Windows or Linux

Deployment requires Node.js 22+ hosting. No explicit Windows/macOS/Linux server support matrix was verified.

Any host with Docker and Docker Compose; host OS not listed

—

Setup effortDiffers

Medium; npm install ghost-cli then ghost install, with NGINX, MySQL 8 and a domain for production

Medium; deploy to Vercel or a Node.js host, then set up MongoDB, SES or PostShiba, QStash and DNS

Medium; Docker Compose plus AWS SES setup and DNS for app, api and other subdomains

—

Stars over time

Switch to Growth % to compare projects of different sizes fairly.

Ghost
Mailcheap
Plunk

Focus a point, use arrow keys, or tap for its value.

Tracked daily since 16 Oct 2026. Dashed history: estimated from public records of when people starred the repo. Lines connect observations only; gaps contain no measured points.

Growth % starts at each project's first observed point in the shown range. Zero-star starts are unavailable.

Notes for a video or post

A plain summary with today's date and a link to the sources. Check each project page before you publish.

Ghost vs Mailcheap vs Plunk (as alternatives to beehiiv)
Figures from RepoQuarry, 21 Oct 2026. Sources: https://repoquarry.dev/compare?ids=ghost,mailcheap,plunk&product=beehiiv

beehiiv: See pricing page
Ghost: free software; does 5 of 6 beehiiv jobs
Mailcheap: free software; does 1 of 6 beehiiv jobs
Plunk: free software; does 3 of 6 beehiiv jobs

- Ghost: 55,578 GitHub stars, 2,115 commits in 12 weeks, licence MIT
- Mailcheap: 1,275 GitHub stars, 75 commits in 12 weeks, licence AGPL-3.0
- Plunk: 5,535 GitHub stars, 139 commits in 12 weeks, licence AGPL-3.0 (copyleft)

Where they differ:
- Runs on my machine?: Ghost Self-hosted with Ghost-CLI (local dev or Ubuntu production), or hosted Ghost(Pro); Mailcheap Self-hosted on Vercel or any Node.js 22+ host; Plunk Self-hosted with Docker Compose, or hosted Plunk
- Code licence: Ghost MIT; Mailcheap AGPL-3.0; Plunk AGPL-3.0 (copyleft)
- Model weights licence: Ghost No separate model weights; Mailcheap No bundled weights; AI agents connect through its MCP server; Plunk No separate model weights
- Commercial use: Ghost Yes, MIT; Mailcheap Yes, AGPL-3.0; you must share your source if you offer a modified version over a network; Plunk Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms
- Paid services needed?: Ghost Newsletter delivery requires Mailgun (SMTP not supported for bulk mail); Stripe needed for paid memberships; Mailcheap Needs Amazon SES or PostShiba for sending, both paid; MongoDB, QStash and hosting have free tiers; Plunk Self-hosting requires an AWS SES account for sending
- Hardware: Ghost Server with at least 1 GB memory for production; Mailcheap Not checked yet; Plunk Not documented
- Operating systems: Ghost Production on Ubuntu 22.04/24.04/26.04; local development install on macOS, Windows or Linux; Mailcheap Deployment requires Node.js 22+ hosting. No explicit Windows/macOS/Linux server support matrix was verified.; Plunk Any host with Docker and Docker Compose; host OS not listed
- Setup effort: Ghost Medium; npm install ghost-cli then ghost install, with NGINX, MySQL 8 and a domain for production; Mailcheap Medium; deploy to Vercel or a Node.js host, then set up MongoDB, SES or PostShiba, QStash and DNS; Plunk Medium; Docker Compose plus AWS SES setup and DNS for app, api and other subdomains

Stars show popularity, not quality. Check each project page before publishing.

Want share images and a ready video description? Open a project's creator kit.

Numbers: GitHub, fetched nightly. Facts: read from each project's own documentation, with the source on its page. How we check. TryGhost/Ghost ↗marclou/mailcheap ↗useplunk/plunk ↗

Ghost vs Mailcheap vs Plunk

Stars over time

Notes for a video or post

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