Ghost vs HostPanel Ghost Hosting

Ghost9.4Visit HostPanel Ghost Hosting8.7Visit

Higher score Ghost #1 in Ghost Hosting 9.4/10 14-day trial Free trial✓ 0 of 3 features Visit Ghost

vs

HostPanel Ghost Hosting #5 in Ghost Hosting 8.7/10 Paid ✓ 3 of 3 features Visit HostPanel

• Ghost fits best

  Publishers wanting the fullest Ghost platform

• HostPanel Ghost Hosting fits best

  Teams needing affordable managed Ghost hosting

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Side by side

Feature	Ghost 9.4/10 Visit ↗	HostPanel Ghost Hosting 8.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	8.7
Ranking	#1 in Ghost Hosting	#5 in Ghost Hosting
Best for	Publishers wanting the fullest Ghost platform	Teams needing affordable managed Ghost hosting
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	$18/mo	£6/mo
Free plan	—	—
Free trial	14 days	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Email, Community, Docs	Email
Compliance	2FA	GDPR, 2FA
Integrations	8,000+ integrations	3 integrations
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market
Features Ghost 0/3 · HostPanel Ghost Hosting 3/3
Managed Ghost updates	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Paid memberships	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Email newsletters	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Specs
Storage limit	Not checked yet	10 GB
Publication limit	Not checked yet	1 sites
Support level	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Paid subscriptions and tiered access through Stripe Open-source core with self-hosted and managed hosting options APIs, webhooks, analytics, SEO tools, and 8,000+ integrations	Managed Ghost, Node.js security patches and MySQL 8 administration Native memberships, Stripe subscriptions and Mailgun newsletters SSL, DDoS protection and daily or hourly backups included
Cons	Managed hosting starts at $18 per month with annual billing Advanced features begin on the Publisher plan Business pricing rises to $199 per month with annual billing	No free plan; pricing starts at £6 per month Staging environments are limited to Growth and Agency Bulk newsletters require a customer-provided Mailgun account
Our verdict	Ghost is an open-source publishing and membership platform for writers, creators, publications, and media teams. It combines website publishing, newsletters, member registration, protected posts, paid subscriptions, tiered memberships,… Read the review →	HostPanel Ghost Hosting is a managed web service for teams running Ghost publications without taking on routine server administration. It runs Ghost 5.x with Node.js and MySQL 8 from a UK London datacentre, while HostPanel handles minor… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Ghost — where it wins

  • Paid subscriptions and tiered access through Stripe
  • Open-source core with self-hosted and managed hosting options
  • APIs, webhooks, analytics, SEO tools, and 8,000+ integrations

  Where it doesn't

  • Managed hosting starts at $18 per month with annual billing
  • Advanced features begin on the Publisher plan
  • Business pricing rises to $199 per month with annual billing

• HostPanel Ghost Hosting — where it wins

  • Managed Ghost, Node.js security patches and MySQL 8 administration
  • Native memberships, Stripe subscriptions and Mailgun newsletters
  • SSL, DDoS protection and daily or hourly backups included

  Where it doesn't

  • No free plan; pricing starts at £6 per month
  • Staging environments are limited to Growth and Agency
  • Bulk newsletters require a customer-provided Mailgun account

• Ghost9.4/10 · 14-day trial

  Ghost brings publishing, newsletters, memberships, subscriptions, and APIs into one platform.

  Visit GhostFull verdict →
• HostPanel Ghost Hosting8.7/10 · Paid

  Affordable managed Ghost hosting with memberships, newsletters, backups and staging on higher tiers.

  Visit HostPanelFull verdict →