Ghost vs Pelican

Ghost8.3Visit Pelican7.9Visit

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

vs

Pelican #8 in Blog Software 7.9/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 3 features Visit Pelican

• Ghost fits best

  Publishers combining a blog, newsletter, and memberships

• Pelican fits best

  Technical bloggers who prefer static publishing

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Side by side

Feature	Ghost 8.3/10 Visit ↗	Pelican 7.9/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.3	7.9
Ranking	#5 in Blog Software	#8 in Blog Software
Best for	Publishers combining a blog, newsletter, and memberships	Technical bloggers who prefer static publishing
Pricing model	Paid	Free
Starting price	$18/mo	Free plan
Free plan	—	✓ (best)
Free trial	14 days	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Platforms	Web	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Email, Community, Docs	Docs
Integrations	8,000+ integrations	6 integrations
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business
Features Ghost 1/3 · Pelican 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	Authors can write in Markdown or reStructuredText. Generates static HTML with themes, feeds, and multilingual articles. Imports content from WordPress, Dotclear, or RSS.
Cons	Ghost(Pro) starts at $18/month with annual billing Starter lacks paid subscriptions and advanced analytics Business costs $199/month, billed annually	Publishing requires command-line site generation. You must deploy the generated files using external hosting. Themes require custom code, and analytics need external services or configuration.
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 →	Pelican is an open-source static site generator for bloggers who want to publish from files rather than manage a hosted blog editor. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and turns Markdown or reStructuredText into static HTML pages and… 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

• Pelican — where it wins

  • Authors can write in Markdown or reStructuredText.
  • Generates static HTML with themes, feeds, and multilingual articles.
  • Imports content from WordPress, Dotclear, or RSS.

  Where it doesn't

  • Publishing requires command-line site generation.
  • You must deploy the generated files using external hosting.
  • Themes require custom code, and analytics need external services or configuration.

• Ghost8.3/10 · 14-day trial

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

  Visit GhostFull verdict →
• Pelican7.9/10 · Free plan

  A free, command-line static publishing tool for technical bloggers comfortable with self-hosting.

  Visit PelicanFull verdict →