Ghost vs Jekyll

Ghost8.3Visit Jekyll8.0Visit

Higher score Ghost #5 in Blog Software 8.3/10 14-day trial Free trial✓ 1 of 3 features Visit Ghost

vs

Jekyll #7 in Blog Software 8.0/10 Open source ✓ 0 of 3 features Visit Jekyll

• Ghost fits best

  Publishers combining a blog, newsletter, and memberships

• Jekyll fits best

  Developers comfortable maintaining a static blog

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Side by side

Feature	Ghost 8.3/10 Visit ↗	Jekyll 8.0/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.3	8.0
Ranking	#5 in Blog Software	#7 in Blog Software
Best for	Publishers combining a blog, newsletter, and memberships	Developers comfortable maintaining a static blog
Pricing model	Paid	Free
Starting price	$18/mo	Open source
Free plan	—	Not checked yet
Free trial	14 days	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Self-hosted, Cloud
Platforms	Web	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Email, Community, Docs	Community, Docs
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Ghost 1/3 · Jekyll 0/3
Custom domain	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Post scheduling	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Built-in analytics	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Content editor	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Included users	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Content export	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Combines publishing, newsletters, memberships, and tiered content access Supports recurring Stripe subscriptions and member segmentation Can be self-hosted or run on Ghost(Pro) hosting	Turns Markdown, Liquid, HTML, and CSS into static websites Supports drafts, tags, categories, excerpts, and future-dated posts Offers theme customization, plugins, and GitHub Pages deployment
Cons	Ghost(Pro) starts at $18/month with annual billing Starter lacks paid subscriptions and advanced analytics Business costs $199/month, billed annually	Theme editing relies on custom code Content is managed in files rather than through a database Hosting and services depend on the deployment setup
Our verdict	Ghost brings website and post publishing together with email newsletters, memberships, and protected content. It suits independent writers, creators, publishers, and organizations that want to build an audience and offer free or paid… Read the review →	Jekyll is an open-source, Ruby-based static site generator for blogs and other websites. It converts Markdown, Liquid templates, HTML, and CSS into static files, with content managed in text files rather than a database. Its file-based… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Ghost — where it wins

  • Combines publishing, newsletters, memberships, and tiered content access
  • Supports recurring Stripe subscriptions and member segmentation
  • Can be self-hosted or run on Ghost(Pro) hosting

  Where it doesn't

  • Ghost(Pro) starts at $18/month with annual billing
  • Starter lacks paid subscriptions and advanced analytics
  • Business costs $199/month, billed annually

• Jekyll — where it wins

  • Turns Markdown, Liquid, HTML, and CSS into static websites
  • Supports drafts, tags, categories, excerpts, and future-dated posts
  • Offers theme customization, plugins, and GitHub Pages deployment

  Where it doesn't

  • Theme editing relies on custom code
  • Content is managed in files rather than through a database
  • Hosting and services depend on the deployment setup

• Ghost8.3/10 · 14-day trial

  A publishing platform for combining a website, newsletters, and paid memberships.

  Visit GhostFull verdict →
• Jekyll8.0/10 · Open source

  A file-based blog generator for developers who want control over code and deployment.

  Visit JekyllFull verdict →