Keila vs Notifuse vs Ghost

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.

Keilapentacent/keila

NotifuseNotifuse/notifuse

GhostTryGhost/Ghost

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

4 of 6 jobs

5 of 6 jobs

All 6

Popularity and activity (from GitHub)

Stars

2,239

2,254

55,578Top

—

Gain this week

Unknown

—

Signal

Building history

—

Commits / 4 wk

934Top

—

Latest release

0.30.3 · 2026-09-06

v41.0 · 2026-09-17

v6.72.0 · 2026-10-20Top

—

Commits / 12 wk

2,115

—

People committing / 12 mo

92+

—

Issues opened / closed, 30 days

3 / 2

20 / 8

14 / 17

—

Facts, with sources on each project page

Runs on my machine?Differs

Self-hosted Docker image, or hosted Keila Cloud

Self-hosted with Docker or Docker Compose, or Notifuse Cloud

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

Hosted by the vendor

Code licenceDiffers

AGPL-3.0-or-later (copyleft); logo and extra/ directory excluded

Business Source License 1.1 from v40 (converts to AGPL-3.0-or-later after four years); v39 and earlier AGPL-3.0

MIT

—

Model weights licence

No separate model weights

—

Commercial useDiffers

Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms; self-hosted version is not feature-gated in the README

Production use and hosting for others allowed; six licensed features need a paid key

Yes, MIT

—

Paid services needed?Differs

Your own inbox over SMTP works for small lists; larger lists need a sending service

Needs an email provider or SMTP server; licence key only for >3 workspaces, granular permissions, SES tenants, SSO, multilingual templates and audit log

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

Subscription

HardwareDiffers

Not documented; needs a container engine and PostgreSQL

No hardware figures; needs PostgreSQL 17 or newer

Server with at least 1 GB memory for production

—

Operating systemsDiffers

Any host running a container engine; host OS support not listed

Docker host with PostgreSQL; host OS not listed

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

—

Setup effortDiffers

Medium; Docker image or sample Docker Compose file, plus PostgreSQL

Medium; Docker Compose or standalone Docker, then a setup wizard for admin, API endpoint and SMTP

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

—

Stars over time

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

Keila
Notifuse
Ghost

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.

Keila vs Notifuse vs Ghost (as alternatives to beehiiv)
Figures from RepoQuarry, 21 Oct 2026. Sources: https://repoquarry.dev/compare?ids=keila,notifuse,ghost&product=beehiiv

beehiiv: See pricing page
Keila: free software; does 4 of 6 beehiiv jobs
Notifuse: free software; does 4 of 6 beehiiv jobs
Ghost: free software; does 5 of 6 beehiiv jobs

- Keila: 2,239 GitHub stars, 25 commits in 12 weeks, licence AGPL-3.0-or-later (copyleft); logo and extra/ directory excluded
- Notifuse: 2,254 GitHub stars, 59 commits in 12 weeks, licence Business Source License 1.1 from v40 (converts to AGPL-3.0-or-later after four years); v39 and earlier AGPL-3.0
- Ghost: 55,578 GitHub stars, 2,115 commits in 12 weeks, licence MIT

Where they differ:
- Runs on my machine?: Keila Self-hosted Docker image, or hosted Keila Cloud; Notifuse Self-hosted with Docker or Docker Compose, or Notifuse Cloud; Ghost Self-hosted with Ghost-CLI (local dev or Ubuntu production), or hosted Ghost(Pro)
- Code licence: Keila AGPL-3.0-or-later (copyleft); logo and extra/ directory excluded; Notifuse Business Source License 1.1 from v40 (converts to AGPL-3.0-or-later after four years); v39 and earlier AGPL-3.0; Ghost MIT
- Commercial use: Keila Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms; self-hosted version is not feature-gated in the README; Notifuse Production use and hosting for others allowed; six licensed features need a paid key; Ghost Yes, MIT
- Paid services needed?: Keila Your own inbox over SMTP works for small lists; larger lists need a sending service; Notifuse Needs an email provider or SMTP server; licence key only for >3 workspaces, granular permissions, SES tenants, SSO, multilingual templates and audit log; Ghost Newsletter delivery requires Mailgun (SMTP not supported for bulk mail); Stripe needed for paid memberships
- Hardware: Keila Not documented; needs a container engine and PostgreSQL; Notifuse No hardware figures; needs PostgreSQL 17 or newer; Ghost Server with at least 1 GB memory for production
- Operating systems: Keila Any host running a container engine; host OS support not listed; Notifuse Docker host with PostgreSQL; host OS not listed; Ghost Production on Ubuntu 22.04/24.04/26.04; local development install on macOS, Windows or Linux
- Setup effort: Keila Medium; Docker image or sample Docker Compose file, plus PostgreSQL; Notifuse Medium; Docker Compose or standalone Docker, then a setup wizard for admin, API endpoint and SMTP; Ghost Medium; npm install ghost-cli then ghost install, with NGINX, MySQL 8 and a domain for production

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. pentacent/keila ↗Notifuse/notifuse ↗TryGhost/Ghost ↗

Keila vs Notifuse vs Ghost

Stars over time

Notes for a video or post

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