Ghost vs MailerLite: publication site or email marketing tool

The practical difference

Ghost sells Ghost(Pro) plans, among them Starter and Publisher. Starter, for solo blogs and newsletters, includes your own website, an email newsletter and 1,000 members; Publisher adds paid subscriptions, custom themes and 3 staff users.

Members and subscribers

Ghost counts members, anyone with a free or paid account on your site, and asks you to upgrade as the count grows. MailerLite counts unique active subscribers in a billing cycle: Free covers 250, and Comfort and Power are priced by tiers from 500 up.

Paid newsletters

Ghost takes payments from members through Stripe on Publisher and above. MailerLite also uses Stripe: paid newsletters and recurring subscriptions need Comfort or Power, and one digital product can be sold on Free.

Automation and forms

MailerLite's automations start from triggers such as joining a group: 3 on Free, 50 on Comfort and unlimited on Power. Pop-ups, embedded forms and email A/B tests are on every plan. Ghost tags members automatically, by hand or through automation.

Moving a list

Ghost imports and exports members as CSV files, and MailerLite exports subscribers as CSV and imports CSV files from other platforms, so a list can move either way. Bring only people who opted in.

Which option should you choose?

Choose Ghost if the publication itself, with a website and member accounts, is the product. Choose MailerLite if email is the product and the site supports it: automated sequences, signup forms, landing pages and a free plan to start.

Publishers considering Ghost can test MailerLite's paid newsletter feature in its 14-day trial.