# Ghost

> Ghost (55.5k stars, v6.71.0 Oct 2026) is a Node.js publishing platform: you write posts, publish them on your own site and send them as email newsletters, with native signup forms, multiple newsletters, segments and free or paid member tiers through Stripe. MIT licensed. Production self-hosting is documented on Ubuntu with NGINX, MySQL 8 and 1 GB RAM. Newsletter delivery only works through Mailgun (plain SMTP is not supported for bulk mail). It is a publisher tool, not a marketing-automation suite.

- Repository: https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost
- Official docs: https://docs.ghost.org
- Checked: 2026-10-16

## What it replaces
- beehiiv: Subscriber lists and segments, Campaign editor and templates, Signup forms and landing pages, Open and click analytics, Paid subscriptions and newsletter website (partial). Closest match for a newsletter website with paid tiers; needs Mailgun for sending and Stripe for payments.
- Mailchimp: Subscriber lists and segments, Campaign editor and templates, Signup forms and landing pages (partial). Newsletters to members only; not a general email-marketing or automation tool.
- Kit Creator and Pro: Write and send email campaigns, Paid newsletter subscriptions (partial). Newsletter publishing and paid memberships cover a creator publication; Kit's general marketing automation is not replaced; self-hosted bulk newsletters need delivery configuration and paid memberships need a payment provider.

## Facts, with sources

| Question | Status | Answer | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on my machine? | Confirmed | Self-hosted with Ghost-CLI (local dev or Ubuntu production), or hosted Ghost(Pro) | https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost#quickstart-install | 2026-10-16 |
| Code licence | Confirmed | MIT | https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/blob/main/LICENSE | 2026-10-16 |
| Model weights licence | Confirmed | No separate model weights | https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost#readme | 2026-10-16 |
| Commercial use | Confirmed | Yes, MIT | https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/blob/main/LICENSE | 2026-10-16 |
| Paid services needed? | No | Newsletter delivery requires Mailgun (SMTP not supported for bulk mail); Stripe needed for paid memberships | https://docs.ghost.org/faq/mailgun-newsletters | 2026-10-16 |
| Hardware | Confirmed | Server with at least 1 GB memory for production | https://docs.ghost.org/install/ubuntu | 2026-10-16 |
| Operating systems | Confirmed | Production on Ubuntu 22.04/24.04/26.04; local development install on macOS, Windows or Linux | https://docs.ghost.org/install/local | 2026-10-16 |
| Setup effort | Confirmed | Medium; npm install ghost-cli then ghost install, with NGINX, MySQL 8 and a domain for production | https://docs.ghost.org/install/ubuntu | 2026-10-16 |

GitHub: 55546 stars, 11995 forks, last push 2026-10-15, archived: no.
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Source: RepoQuarry (https://repoquarry.dev/projects/ghost). Data licence: CC BY 4.0. Quotes are from project documentation and belong to their authors.