Ghost vs WordPress.com Pricing (2026)
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25 seats

Ghost vs WordPress.com

Content Management System (CMS) pricing comparison · 2026

Ghost pricing ranges from $0–$199/month, while WordPress.com ranges from $0–$70/month. These products use different pricing models ( vs ), so a direct price comparison isn't meaningful — costs depend on usage volume and mix.

Visit
See pricing on each vendor's site
Above-the-fold path — each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Ghost pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit WordPress.com pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Compare
2 products · Content Management System (CMS)
Side-by-side · live
Ghost
Ghost pricing starts at $15/month for the Starter plan on Ghost(Pro) managed hosting, scal
verified 20d ago
$359 $800
View pricing →
WordPress.com
WordPress.
verified 7w ago
$359 $800
View pricing →
Verdict · Vendr median · year 1
WordPress.com saves $441 vs Ghost · 25 seats
Cheapest $359
Spread 55%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Publisher
$8.7K/yr
year 1 license · $29/seat
Premium
$5.4K/yr
year 1 license · $18/seat
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
Median annual
$800/yr
Vendr · n=355
↓ Lowest median
Median annual
$359/yr
Vendr · n=108
REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources 9 sourced facts
6 hidden-cost · 1 contract · Vendr median · 1 review platform
Last verified 2w ago
Confidence Medium confidence
Sources 12 sourced facts
7 hidden-cost · 1 contract · Vendr median · 3 review platforms
Last verified 1mo ago
Confidence High confidence
REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker
Severity-ranked, sourced
4 documented
  • Self-Hosting Infrastructure and Maintenance Costs
    $5-$50/user/month
    2 sources
  • Member/Subscriber Limits Forcing Plan Upgrades
    $29-$199/month
    1 source
  • Unwitting Plan Upgrades from Staff User Additions
    $29-$199/month
    1 source
  • Traffic Spike Pricing Ambiguity
    $29-$199/month
    2 sources
5 documented
  • Domain Name Renewal
    $10-$20
    1 source
  • Premium Themes and Plugins
    $20 to thousands of dollars
    1 source
  • Hosting Upgrades
    1 source
  • Additional Security and Maintenance
    $50-$300 per year
    1 source
  • Developer Fees
    $1,000 to $10,000+
    1 source
REF · 04

Contract terms

The fine print, surfaced. Green = buyer-friendly. Each clause backed by a quoted source.

Ghost
WordPress.com
Auto-renewal
Yes
Yes
Cancellation
—
✓ 14 days for annual plans, 7 days for monthly plans
Commitment
—
✓ monthly, annual, two-year, and three-year payment options
Price escalation
No published escalation schedule; users report significant cost jumps when exceeding staff user or member limits, with tier prices ranging from $15 to $199/month representing up to a 7x increase between tiers
—
Can downgrade
—
—
Based on 2 verified sources (Vendr · TrustRadius · BBB)
REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
TrustRadius
8out of 5 (1)
Best for
Self-hosted blogging
Watch out
Managed hosting plans perceived as expensive compared to self-hosting on a VPS
TrustRadius
8.6out of 5 (3,350)
Trustpilot
4.5out of 5 (4,087)
G2
4.4out of 5 (2,600)
Best for
Hobbyists and personal blogs
Watch out
Advanced customization options are often restricted to higher-tier plans.
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Ghost pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit WordPress.com pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
Content Management System (CMS)

Ghost

$0–$199
/month
5 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Content Management System (CMS)

WordPress.com

$0–$70
/month
6 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
⚖

Different Pricing Models

Direct price comparison isn't meaningful here — Ghost uses pricing while WordPress.com uses pricing. Your actual cost will depend on usage volume, team size, or both. Here's each product in its native unit.

Ghost

$0–$199 / month
See full Ghost pricing →
vs

WordPress.com

$0–$70 / month
See full WordPress.com pricing →

Ghost and WordPress.com both operate in the content management system (cms) category. This page compares their list pricing.

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan Ghost WordPress.com
Free Free /month Free /month
Starter $15 /month $9 /month
Publisher $29 /month $18 /month
Business $199 /month $40 /month
Custom Custom $70 /month
Enterprise — Custom

Market Intelligence

Ghost

Median annual cost
$800
Based on
355 deals

WordPress.com

Median annual cost
$359
Based on
108 deals

Hidden Costs

Beyond the sticker price — what catches buyers off guard.

Ghost 4 hidden costs

medium
Self-Hosting Infrastructure and Maintenance Costs $5-$50/user/month
high
Member/Subscriber Limits Forcing Plan Upgrades $29-$199/month
medium
Unwitting Plan Upgrades from Staff User Additions $29-$199/month
low
Traffic Spike Pricing Ambiguity $29-$199/month
See all Ghost hidden costs →

WordPress.com 7 hidden costs

low
Domain Name Renewal $10-$20
high
Premium Themes and Plugins $20 to thousands of dollars
medium
Hosting Upgrades
medium
Additional Security and Maintenance $50-$300 per year
critical
Developer Fees $1,000 to $10,000+
See all WordPress.com hidden costs →

Contract Terms

Term Ghost WordPress.com
Auto-renewal Yes Yes
Cancellation — 14 days for annual plans, 7 days for monthly plans
Minimum commitment — monthly, annual, two-year, and three-year payment options
Price escalation No published escalation schedule; users report significant cost jumps when exceeding staff user or member limits, with tier prices ranging from $15 to $199/month representing up to a 7x increase between tiers —

Continue researching

Ghost

WordPress.com

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