Ghost vs Beehiiv: which is right for your publication?
Beehiiv is the best pure-newsletter product on the market. Ghost is the best full publishing platform that also has a newsletter. If your publication is just a newsletter, Beehiiv is faster to start. If your publication is a website that also has a newsletter, Ghost is the better long-term home.
- ✓ Your publication is a real website with archives, categories, tags, and SEO
- ✓ You want to own your data and run your own theme
- ✓ You want to bundle Ghost with other apps (Nextcloud for storage, n8n for automation)
- ✓ You want a real membership program (Free / Member / Supporter / Annual tiers)
- ✓ You do not want to be locked into a single vendor if it changes pricing
- ○ Your publication is purely a newsletter, no website beyond a landing page
- ○ You want the ad network (Beehiiv pays you for ads in other peoples newsletters)
- ○ You want a generous free tier up to 2,500 subscribers
- ○ You are just starting and want to be live today
- ○ You do not want to think about hosting, security, or updates
Migrating from Beehiiv?
Beehiiv provides a full export of posts and subscribers as JSON. We import the posts into Ghost, redirect old URLs to the new Ghost posts, and import the subscribers with their full status (free, paid, churned). The migration typically takes 2-4 hours per publication. We do not charge for the migration.
Questions, answered.
Is Ghost harder to use than Beehiiv?
In the first week, yes. Ghost has themes, integrations, and a small learning curve. Beehiiv is intentionally minimal. By the second month, Ghost is the more capable product, especially if you grow past a single newsletter.
Can I use Ghost just for newsletters?
Yes. Many Ghost users ignore the website features and use Ghost purely as a newsletter engine. You still own your data, can customize your templates, and pay $8/mo instead of 10% of revenue.
Does Ghost have an ad network like Beehiiv?
No. Ghost does not run an ad network. The trade-off: Beehiiv takes a cut and shares revenue with you; Ghost does not run ads, so you sell your own sponsorships directly. For publications above 50k subscribers, the direct sponsorship model usually pays 2-3x the ad network rate.
I have 5,000 subscribers on Beehiiv. Is it worth moving?
Probably yes if your publication is more than a newsletter. If it is just a newsletter and you are happy with Beehiiv, do not move. The migration is free and fast, but the value is in the long-term platform, not the move itself.
Make the switch.
Free migration help. From $8/mo. 7-day refund. 0% sales tax.