Mailcheap vs Ghost vs Keila

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.

Mailcheapmarclou/mailcheap

GhostTryGhost/Ghost

Keilapentacent/keila

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

Yes

Signup forms and landing pages

Partly

Yes

Open and click analytics

Partly

Yes

Paid subscriptions and newsletter website

Partly

Yes

Jobs covered

1 of 6 jobs

5 of 6 jobs

4 of 6 jobs

All 6

Popularity and activity (from GitHub)

Stars

1,275

55,578Top

2,239

—

Gain this week

Unknown

—

Signal

Building history

—

Commits / 4 wk

934Top

—

Latest release

Unknown

v6.72.0 · 2026-10-20Top

0.30.3 · 2026-09-06

—

Commits / 12 wk

2,115

—

People committing / 12 mo

92+

—

Issues opened / closed, 30 days

0 / 0

14 / 17

3 / 2

—

Facts, with sources on each project page

Runs on my machine?Differs

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

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

Self-hosted Docker image, or hosted Keila Cloud

Hosted by the vendor

Code licenceDiffers

AGPL-3.0

MIT

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

—

Model weights licenceDiffers

No bundled weights; AI agents connect through its MCP server

No separate model weights

—

Commercial useDiffers

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

Yes, MIT

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

—

Paid services needed?Differs

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

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

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

Subscription

HardwareDiffers

Not checked yet

Server with at least 1 GB memory for production

Not documented; needs a container engine and PostgreSQL

—

Operating systemsDiffers

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

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

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

—

Setup effortDiffers

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

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

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

—

Stars over time

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

Mailcheap
Ghost
Keila

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.

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

beehiiv: See pricing page
Mailcheap: free software; does 1 of 6 beehiiv jobs
Ghost: free software; does 5 of 6 beehiiv jobs
Keila: free software; does 4 of 6 beehiiv jobs

- Mailcheap: 1,275 GitHub stars, 75 commits in 12 weeks, licence AGPL-3.0
- Ghost: 55,578 GitHub stars, 2,115 commits in 12 weeks, licence MIT
- Keila: 2,239 GitHub stars, 25 commits in 12 weeks, licence AGPL-3.0-or-later (copyleft); logo and extra/ directory excluded

Where they differ:
- Runs on my machine?: Mailcheap Self-hosted on Vercel or any Node.js 22+ host; Ghost Self-hosted with Ghost-CLI (local dev or Ubuntu production), or hosted Ghost(Pro); Keila Self-hosted Docker image, or hosted Keila Cloud
- Code licence: Mailcheap AGPL-3.0; Ghost MIT; Keila AGPL-3.0-or-later (copyleft); logo and extra/ directory excluded
- Model weights licence: Mailcheap No bundled weights; AI agents connect through its MCP server; Ghost No separate model weights; Keila No separate model weights
- Commercial use: Mailcheap Yes, AGPL-3.0; you must share your source if you offer a modified version over a network; Ghost Yes, MIT; Keila Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms; self-hosted version is not feature-gated in the README
- Paid services needed?: Mailcheap Needs Amazon SES or PostShiba for sending, both paid; MongoDB, QStash and hosting have free tiers; Ghost Newsletter delivery requires Mailgun (SMTP not supported for bulk mail); Stripe needed for paid memberships; Keila Your own inbox over SMTP works for small lists; larger lists need a sending service
- Hardware: Mailcheap Not checked yet; Ghost Server with at least 1 GB memory for production; Keila Not documented; needs a container engine and PostgreSQL
- Operating systems: Mailcheap Deployment requires Node.js 22+ hosting. No explicit Windows/macOS/Linux server support matrix was verified.; Ghost Production on Ubuntu 22.04/24.04/26.04; local development install on macOS, Windows or Linux; Keila Any host running a container engine; host OS support not listed
- Setup effort: Mailcheap Medium; deploy to Vercel or a Node.js host, then set up MongoDB, SES or PostShiba, QStash and DNS; Ghost Medium; npm install ghost-cli then ghost install, with NGINX, MySQL 8 and a domain for production; Keila Medium; Docker image or sample Docker Compose file, plus PostgreSQL

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. marclou/mailcheap ↗TryGhost/Ghost ↗pentacent/keila ↗

Mailcheap vs Ghost vs Keila

Stars over time

Notes for a video or post

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