Price checkPer USD
STARTER$15/USD /moPUBLISHER$29/USD /moBUSINESS$199/USD /mo
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All Ghost CMS Plans & Pricing

Plan Monthly Annual Best For
STARTER
PUBLISHER
BUSINESS
CUSTOM
View all features by plan (compare side-by-side)

STARTER

PUBLISHER

BUSINESS

CUSTOM

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Compare Ghost CMS with alternativesAdjust seats, lock a tier, add up to 2 more products side-by-side. Shareable URL.
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What does Ghost CMS actually cost you?

Drag the slider. Pick a tier. Your projected spend updates as you go.

Tier
Billing
Your projected cost$375per month · $15/unit × 25units
Year 1 license$4.5K12 months at this rate
At a glance

List price by tier (annualized, per unit)

Per-unit list price across Ghost CMS's plans, annualized. Custom-priced tiers show a hatched bar.

STARTER$180/yr
PUBLISHER$348/yr
BUSINESS$2.4K/yr
CUSTOMCustom
Quick Answer
Last verified:
High confidence

Ghost CMS costs $15 to $199 per USD / mo as of July 2026, with 4 plans available. Plans: STARTER at $15/USD / mo, PUBLISHER at $29/USD / mo, and BUSINESS at $199/USD / mo. Enterprise pricing is available on request. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.

Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.

  • Free tier: No free tier available

Ghost CMS offers 4 pricing tiers: STARTER, PUBLISHER, BUSINESS, CUSTOM. Paid plans include STARTER at $15/USD / mo, PUBLISHER at $29/USD / mo, BUSINESS at $199/USD / mo.

Compared to other headless cms software, Ghost CMS is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.

  • 11 documented hidden costs beyond list price
  • Contracts auto-renew — at any time, with deletion at the end of the current billing cycle
  • G2 rating: 4 out of 5 from 39 reviews (as of Jul 2026)
Last verified: | Sources: 1 pricing pages and reviews

How much does Ghost CMS cost?

Ghost CMS pricing starts at $15/USD / mo across 4 plans, with enterprise pricing available on request. Plans include STARTER at $15/USD / mo, PUBLISHER at $29/USD / mo, BUSINESS at $199/USD / mo, CUSTOM (custom pricing).

Ghost CMS Pricing Overview

Ghost CMS has 4 pricing plans ranging from $15 to $199/USD / mo. The STARTER plan costs $15/USD / mo. The PUBLISHER plan costs $29/USD / mo. The BUSINESS plan costs $199/USD / mo. The CUSTOM plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote.

Ghost CMS contracts auto-renew.

There are at least 11 documented hidden costs beyond Ghost CMS's list price, including implementation, training, and add-on fees.

This pricing was last verified in June 13, 2026 from 1 independent source.

See Ghost CMS Plans

Ghost CMS offers tiered pricing plans for different needs. Plans are available on a monthly basis. The available tiers are STARTER, PUBLISHER, BUSINESS, and CUSTOM.

How Ghost CMS Pricing Compares

Compare Ghost CMS pricing against top alternatives in Headless CMS.

Contentful $0-$850/month View pricing → Hygraph $0-$199/month View pricing → Payload CMS $0-$833/month View pricing →

Compare Ghost CMS vs Alternatives

Before committing to Ghost CMS, compare pricing with these 3 alternatives in the same category.

VSContentful
Free

Individual developers, small projects, testing

Compare pricing
VSHygraph
Free

Individuals and personal projects

Compare pricing
VSPayload CMS
Free

Developers self-hosting their CMS

Compare pricing

All Ghost CMS alternatives & migration guides

What Companies Actually Pay for Ghost CMS

Review scores
TrustRadius 6.6out of 10 (11)
Trustpilot 2.4out of 5 (218)
G2 4out of 5 (39)
Third-party review aggregates, as of Jul 2026

Score gap reflects platform demographics — G2 surveys verified business users; Trustpilot is open to all, skewing toward support complaints.

Top pricing complaints
difficulty of customization without coding knowledgea general lack of customization optionsthat it might not cater as effectively to the diverse needs of larger enterprises compared to other solutionsthe WYSIWYG editor lacks critical functions such as superscript and subscript

How Ghost CMS Pricing Compares

Software Starting Price Top Price
Ghost CMS $15/USD / mo $199/USD / mo
Contentful Free $850/month
Hygraph Free $199/month
Payload CMS Free $833/month
Sanity Free $15/month
Strapi $35/month $450/month

Browse all Headless CMS pricing →

11 Ghost CMS Hidden Costs Beyond the List Price

Beyond the listed price, Ghost CMS has at least 11 documented hidden costs that can significantly increase total cost of ownership.

Watch for 11 hidden costs
  • Hosting Costs (Self-Hosted) $4-$50/month
    high 1 source
    industry "Hosting Costs: While the Ghost software is open-source and free, self-hosting requires a Virtual Private Server (VPS), which can range from approximately $4-$6/month to $50/month, depending on the provider and resource needs."
  • Managed Self-Hosting $15/month
    medium 1 source
    industry "Managed self-hosting via third parties like Pikapods or MagicPages can start from $15/month."
  • Email Delivery (Self-Hosted) $15-$90/month
    high 1 source
    industry "Email Delivery: For self-hosted Ghost, email delivery is not included and requires third-party services like Mailgun, SendGrid, or Sender."
  • Basic Ghost Setup $400-$800
    medium 1 source
    industry "Development and Theming: * Basic Ghost setup with an existing theme and configuration can cost $400-$800."
  • Semi-Custom Site Development $800-$1,500
    medium 1 source
    industry "Semi-custom sites with theme customization and basic integrations are estimated at $800-$1,500."
  • Advanced Ghost Builds $3,000-$10,000+
    high 1 source
    industry "Advanced Ghost builds, including headless setups, custom APIs, and membership flows, can cost $3,000-$10,000+."
  • CMS Migration $500-$2,000
    medium 1 source
    industry "Migration from other CMS platforms like WordPress can cost $500-$2,000, depending on site size."
  • Premium Themes $69-$149
    low 1 source
    industry "Premium themes typically cost a one-time investment of $69-$149."
  • Payment Processing Fees 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, plus 0.7% for recurring subscriptions
    medium 1 source
    industry "Third-Party Integrations: While Ghost offers a 0% platform fee on subscription revenue, standard Stripe payment processing fees (typically 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, plus a 0.7% fee for recurring subscriptions) still apply."
  • Time Investment for Self-Hosting
    medium 1 source
    industry "Time Investment: Self-hosting demands significant time for setup, updates, security, and backups, which can be a hidden cost for those without technical expertise."
  • Managed Subdirectory Install $50/month
    low 1 source
    industry "Add-ons: A managed subdirectory install, which allows a Ghost site to run on a subdirectory (e.g., example.com/blog), is a $50/month add-on available only on the Ghost(Pro) Business plan."
Tip

Ask your Ghost CMS sales rep about these costs upfront. Getting them in writing before signing can save you from surprise charges later.

Full hidden costs breakdown →

Intelligence sourced from 4 independent sources
industry TrustRadius Enterprise reviews Trustpilot Consumer reviews G2 B2B reviews
Key claims include inline source attribution. Data verified against multiple independent sources. 12 source citations total.

Ghost CMS Contract Terms

Ghost CMS contracts auto-renew. Changes require at any time, with deletion at the end of the current billing cycle. These terms are sourced from verified buyer experiences.

Contract Terms
Auto-Renewal Yes
Cancellation Notice at any time, with deletion at the end of the current billing cycle
Based on 1 verified source

Ghost CMS Pricing FAQ

01 What is the cheapest paid plan?

The STARTER plan is the cheapest paid plan at $15.00 USD / mo.

02 What are the monthly prices for Ghost CMS?

The STARTER plan is $15.00 USD / mo, the PUBLISHER plan is $29.00 USD / mo, and the BUSINESS plan is $199.00 USD / mo.

03 Does Ghost CMS offer custom pricing?

Yes, Ghost CMS offers a CUSTOM pricing tier.

Is this pricing incorrect? — we'll verify and update it.