Ghost(Pro) pricing, checked: Starter, Publisher and Business at every member count, monthly vs yearly
Last updated 2026-10-04 · By Smart Pick Desk editors · Prices read on Ghost's pricing page at every member step, in both billing modes, on 2026-10-04; help centre and terms read the same day · We have not used Ghost(Pro) · How we checked ↓
The short answer
Ghost(Pro) is the hosted version of Ghost, a publishing tool that combines a website, an email newsletter and paid memberships. It has three listed plans, Starter, Publisher and Business, plus Custom. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial, and paid subscriptions start at Publisher.
- Starter is $18 a month, or $15 a month billed yearly, for up to 1,000 members. It covers a website, a custom domain and one newsletter, but not paid subscriptions, and it does not grow with the member slider.[1]
- Publisher starts at $35 a month, or $29 billed yearly, and rises with your members: $105 or $88 at 10,000, $329 or $274 at 100,000. Business starts at $239 or $199 for 10,000 members.[1]
- Ghost takes no cut of what members pay you, but it does not refund, and going over your member limit pauses publishing until you upgrade.[2][3][4]
If you want one sentence: on Ghost(Pro) your bill is set by the plan and your member count, not by a share of your revenue, so the questions are how many members you will have and whether you need paid subscriptions at all.
On this page
At a glance
| Members | Publisher, monthly | Publisher, yearly (per month) | Business, monthly | Business, yearly (per month) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $35 | $29 | $239 | $199 |
| 2,500 | $55 | $46 | $239 | $199 |
| 5,000 | $75 | $63 | $239 | $199 |
| 7,500 | $95 | $79 | $239 | $199 |
| 10,000 | $105 | $88 | $239 | $199 |
| 25,000 | $169 | $141 | $319 | $266 |
| 50,000 | $249 | $208 | $399 | $333 |
| 75,000 | $289 | $241 | $439 | $366 |
| 100,000 | $329 | $274 | $479 | $399 |
Every step of the member slider on Ghost's pricing page, read on 2026-10-04 in both billing modes.[1] Starter is $18 a month billed monthly or $15 billed yearly at every step, and its card always says 1,000 members. Business stays at its 10,000-member price until the slider passes 10,000. At the last position, 100,000+, the Publisher and Business cards print “Over 100,000 members?” instead of a price.[1] On yearly billing the cards show a price per month with “Billed yearly” under it; the page does not print the yearly total.
Two patterns are visible. Publisher's price climbs steeply in the first steps, from $35 at 1,000 to $105 at 10,000 on monthly billing, then more slowly. And between 1,000 and 10,000 members, Business costs the same at every step, so its price per member falls as you approach 10,000.
How we checked this (and what we did not check)
Last updated 2026-10-04 (first version). Every number and quotation here comes from Ghost's own pages. Prices change — confirm on Ghost's own page before you sign up.
What we did. On 2026-10-04 we opened ghost.org/pricing in a browser with no account, chose Yearly billing and moved the member slider one step at a time with the keyboard, saving the page text at each of its ten positions; then we did the same with Monthly billing. The same day we saved fourteen help-centre articles on the subscription, members, fees, domains, files, Stripe, tiers and exports, plus the fair use policy and the terms of service. Wording in quotation marks is copied from those saved pages word for word, and a script checks every quotation against the saved text.
What we did not do. We have not used Ghost(Pro). There is no account, no screenshot of the product and no view here on its editor, themes or deliverability. Every image is a chart or summary we drew from the saved text; none shows Ghost's logo or screens. We did not look at self-hosting Ghost, which is a separate route with its own costs.
What that leaves. Ghost(Pro)'s prices at every member step in both billing modes, what each plan includes according to its comparison table, and its counting, limit, fee, cancellation and refund rules, as published.
The trial, and why there is no free plan
The pricing page's button reads “Get Started — free”, but what it starts is a trial, not a free plan. The help article on managing your subscription: “All new Ghost(Pro) accounts start on a 14-day free trial.” It continues: “You will not be billed when your trial expires, but to continue using Ghost(Pro) after your trial you will need to select a plan.”[2]
- No charge at the end of the trial. The help text says you are not billed when the trial expires, so the trial does not roll into a paid plan on its own.[2]
- File uploads during the trial are capped at the Starter size: the media limits article lists “Free trial: 5mb”.[7]
- The free route Ghost mentions is not a plan. The discounts article says the Ghost codebase is free and open source and can be self-hosted on your own server.[6] That means paying for and running your own hosting, which this page does not cover.
So with Ghost(Pro), the smallest ongoing cost is Starter: $15 a month on yearly billing, which is $180 for a year by our arithmetic, or $18 a month paid monthly.
What each plan includes
The pricing page has plan cards and a long feature comparison table. The table below picks the rows that most often decide the plan.
| From the comparison table | Starter | Publisher | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff users | 1 | 3 | 15 |
| Registered members (at the first step) | 1,000 | 1,000 | 10,000 |
| Newsletters | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| Paid subscriptions and tips | No | Yes | Yes |
| Premium tiers / special offers | No | 3 / 15 | 10 / 50 |
| Marketplace and custom themes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Custom sending domain | No | Yes | Yes |
| Zapier, webhooks, Admin API | No | Yes | Yes |
| File uploads | 5mb | 100mb | 250mb |
Feature comparison on the pricing page.[1] Rows the table marks Yes on all three plans include a free custom domain, unlimited email sends, member import and export, comments, recommendations, SEO tools and automated backups.
- Starter is a website and one newsletter for free members. Its card lists “Your own website”, “Free custom domain”, “Email newsletter” and “Simple design settings”.[1] It cannot take payments.
- Publisher adds paid subscriptions, custom themes, integrations, advanced analytics and three staff users. It is the first plan that can charge members.[1]
- Business adds 15 staff users, priority support and higher limits, and starts at 10,000 members.[1]
- Two Business-only add-ons are priced in the table: a custom SSL certificate and a custom subdirectory install, each “+ $50/mo”.[1]
Every plan hosts one publication. The help centre: “Ghost(Pro) subscriptions include hosting for one Ghost publication.” Separate sites need separate accounts and subscriptions.[8]
How members and staff are counted
Ghost(Pro) plans are set by two numbers, members and staff users, and the help centre defines both.[5]
- Members. Anyone who has signed up through the members features, free or paid: “This includes members who have free access to your content, as well as those who have an active subscription via the Stripe integration.” And: “Each individual member account and its associated email address is counted as one member.”[5]
- Staff users. The users invited to your team in Ghost Admin. Contributors and suspended users do not count, but “Pending invites to the publication do count towards plan limits.”[5]
- Over the staff limit, Ghost says it will email you to upgrade or change users' roles.[5]
Because free members count, a newsletter with many free readers and few paying ones is priced by the whole list. On the slider, the step after 1,000 is 2,500, so for a list of 1,200 members the slider shows Publisher's 2,500 price.
Monthly or yearly
The pricing page has a Monthly billing and a Yearly billing switch. On yearly billing each card shows a per-month price with “Billed yearly” under it; the yearly totals below are our arithmetic (12 × that price).[1]
| Plan and members | Monthly price | 12 monthly payments | Yearly billing, 12 months | Less over a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter, 1,000 members | $18 | $216 | $180 | $36 |
| Publisher, 1,000 members | $35 | $420 | $348 | $72 |
| Publisher, 10,000 members | $105 | $1,260 | $1,056 | $204 |
| Publisher, 50,000 members | $249 | $2,988 | $2,496 | $492 |
| Publisher, 100,000 members | $329 | $3,948 | $3,288 | $660 |
| Business, 1,000 members | $239 | $2,868 | $2,388 | $480 |
| Business, 100,000 members | $479 | $5,748 | $4,788 | $960 |
Monthly and per-month yearly prices from the pricing page;[1] the 12-month and difference columns are our arithmetic, assuming your member count stays on the same step all year.
How you are charged comes from the help centre and the terms rather than the pricing page. The help article says subscriptions are billed monthly or annually using the card on file.[2] The terms describe paid services as charged in advance for the monthly or annual period and renewing automatically unless you cancel before the period ends.[12] Together with the no-refunds rule below, a yearly plan is a commitment for the year.
Going over your member limit
Ghost(Pro) does not add a per-member fee when you grow. Instead, it stops one thing. The subscription article: “If your publication grows over your plan's current member limit, publishing content within Ghost Admin will be temporarily disabled.”[2]
- What you see. A banner across the top of Ghost Admin, and a similar prompt if you try to publish or send.[2]
- What fixes it. Upgrading to the next tier of your plan from the Ghost(Pro) billing area, which restores publishing and sending.[2]
- On Starter, the next tier is a different plan: Starter's card shows 1,000 members at every step of the slider, so passing 1,000 means moving to Publisher.[1]
The difference from tools that upgrade you automatically is that nothing is charged until you act, but a newsletter cannot go out until you do. If you publish on a schedule, keep an eye on the member count near a step.
Paid subscriptions and fees
- Ghost's share. “Ghost charges 0% transaction fees.” Your site connects to your own Stripe account, and “The only fees you'll need to pay are Stripe's own processing fees (2.9% + 30¢).”[3] The pricing page's headline makes the same point: “No payment fees — upgrade, downgrade, or cancel anytime.”[1]
- Stripe only. “Stripe is our exclusive payments partner.” If you move from another platform such as Substack, Ghost's Stripe guide says you need to use the same Stripe account.[9]
- Tiers. “Each tier can have its own name, description, monthly and yearly prices, and list of benefits.” Tiers can include a free trial for members, and price changes should be made in Ghost Admin rather than in Stripe.[10]
- How many tiers. The comparison table lists 3 premium tiers and 15 special offers on Publisher, 10 and 50 on Business, and none on Starter.[1]
For a paid newsletter, this makes the cost easy to forecast: the plan price plus Stripe's processing fee on each payment, with nothing taken as a percentage by Ghost.
Domains, email and storage
- Custom domain on every plan. The comparison table marks a free custom domain Yes on all plans, and the help centre says all Ghost(Pro) sites get an SSL certificate by default.[1][11] You can also buy a domain inside Ghost Admin; the purchase goes through GoDaddy, and the help article notes that .link domains are free to register for the first year.[13]
- Sending newsletters from your own domain. “Custom sending domains are only supported on the Publisher plan or higher on Ghost(Pro).” It needs a custom domain and a DMARC record, and a new sending domain is warmed up gradually over about six weeks.[14] On Starter, newsletters go out from Ghost's own sending domain.
- Storage. The fair use policy: “Ghost(Pro) sites have unlimited data storage and transfer.” The limit is per file: 5mb on Starter, 100mb on Publisher and 250mb on Business.[7][15] The policy says file storage is for running the site, not a general file store, and that Ghost may suspend sites that consistently or dramatically exceed its limits.[15]
- Exports. The exports guide lists posts and pages in JSON, members in CSV, theme files as a zip and post analytics in CSV.[16]
Changing plans, cancelling and refunds
- Changing plan or billing frequency. Done by the site owner in the billing area: “When changing plans, or billing frequencies, the change will take effect immediately.” Unused time is credited and the new plan's charge is prorated.[2]
- Cancelling. “Once your subscription is cancelled, your site and account will be deleted at the end of your billing cycle.”[2] The same article recommends a backup first, and points out that the export in Labs only includes content, tags, staff users and site settings; for images, themes and other files you ask Ghost's support for a complete export before cancelling.[2]
- Refunds. “As mentioned in our terms of service, we do not offer refunds.”[2] The refund policy in the terms says that, unless Ghost decides otherwise, “all sales are final and no refunds are provided for any products or services provided”, and the payment section adds that “Upgrade fees are not refundable.”[12]
- Pausing. “There isn't a way to put your Ghost(Pro) account on hold.” To stop paying, you cancel completely; Ghost offers a full archive with images so you can re-import later.[4]
- Auto-renew. Turning off auto-renew is the same action as cancelling: the red Cancel account link in the billing area.[17]
The practical consequence: cancelling Ghost(Pro) takes the site offline for good at the end of the period. If you want to stop paying but keep a site online, you need somewhere else to move it first.
Where Ghost's pages disagree
- The yearly discount. The help centre says: “We offer a 20% discount on all Ghost(Pro) plans if you subscribe annually.”[6] On the pricing page, the yearly per-month price is about 16% to 17% below the monthly price at every step we read: Starter $15 against $18 (16.7%), Publisher $29 against $35 at 1,000 (17.1%) and $88 against $105 at 10,000 (16.2%), Business $199 against $239 (16.7%). The percentages are our arithmetic from the printed prices. We did not find a step where the gap reaches 20%.
- Plan names in the fair use policy. Its bandwidth limits for headless setups name four plans that do not appear on the pricing page: “Basic — 50GB/mo”, “Creator — 100GB/mo”, “Team — 250GB/mo” and Business at 500GB a month.[15] The pricing page names Starter, Publisher, Business and Custom.
We have not asked Ghost which is current. If the yearly saving matters to you, compare the two prices on the pricing page at your member count rather than relying on the 20% figure.
Which plan fits which situation
| If you are… | Look at | Why, from Ghost's pages | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting a free newsletter and blog under 1,000 readers | Starter, $15 a month billed yearly | Website, free custom domain, one newsletter[1] | No paid subscriptions; passing 1,000 members means Publisher[1] |
| Charging for some posts or a newsletter | Publisher, from $29 | Paid subscriptions with 0% Ghost fee[1][3] | Free members count toward the price too[5] |
| Sending from your own domain | Publisher or higher | Custom sending domains[14] | Needs a DMARC record and about six weeks of warm-up[14] |
| Running a team publication | Business, from $199 | 15 staff users, priority support[1] | Pending invites count as staff[5] |
| Running two or more sites | One plan per site | Each subscription hosts one publication[8] | Each site needs its own account and email address[8] |
| Thinking of paying yearly | Any plan | Lower per-month price[1] | Charged up front, renews automatically, no refunds[2][12] |
Comparing it with other publishing tools: Substack pricing, checked covers a platform that charges a share of paid subscriptions instead of a plan price, and Kit pricing, checked covers an email tool priced by subscribers.
Questions people ask
Is Ghost(Pro) free?
No. New accounts start on a 14-day free trial, and you choose a paid plan to keep the site.[2] The Ghost software itself is open source and can be self-hosted, which is a separate route.[6]
How much is Ghost(Pro) per month?
At 1,000 members: Starter $18 monthly or $15 a month billed yearly; Publisher $35 or $29. Business starts at $239 or $199 for 10,000 members.[1] See the full table.
Does Ghost take a cut of paid subscriptions?
No. Ghost charges 0% transaction fees; Stripe's processing fees apply. Paid subscriptions need Publisher or higher.[1][3]
What happens if I go over my Ghost(Pro) member limit?
Publishing in Ghost Admin is paused until you upgrade to the next tier.[2]
Can I get a refund from Ghost(Pro)?
Ghost's help centre and terms say it does not offer refunds.[2][12]
Can I pause Ghost(Pro)?
No; to stop paying you cancel completely, and Ghost offers a full archive first.[4]
Do you get paid if I sign up?
Not from this page — it has no affiliate links today. If that changes, it will say so at the top, and each link will be marked.
Sources and check log
| # | Source | URL | Checked | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ghost, Ghost(Pro) plans & pricing (cards at every member step, feature comparison) | ghost.org/pricing | 2026-10-04 | Opened in a browser with no account; page text saved at all ten slider positions in both billing modes |
| 2 | Ghost help, Manage your Ghost(Pro) subscription | ghost.org/help › manage subscription | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 3 | Ghost help, Are there any transaction fees? | ghost.org/help › transaction fees | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 4 | Ghost help, Can I pause my Ghost(Pro) subscription and publication? | ghost.org/help › pause | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 5 | Ghost help, How are members and staff users calculated on Ghost(Pro) plans? | ghost.org/help › members and staff | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 6 | Ghost help, Do you offer student, open source developer, or non-profit discounts? | ghost.org/help › discounts | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 7 | Ghost help, Media file size limits | ghost.org/help › file size limits | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 8 | Ghost help, Creating multiple Ghost(Pro) sites | ghost.org/help › multiple sites | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 9 | Ghost help, Connecting Stripe | ghost.org/help › Stripe | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 10 | Ghost help, Create paid tiers | ghost.org/help › tiers | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 11 | Ghost help, Adding a custom domain | ghost.org/help › custom domain | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 12 | Ghost, Terms of Service (3. Payment and Renewal) | ghost.org/terms | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 13 | Ghost help, How do I buy a domain on Ghost(Pro)? | ghost.org/help › buy a domain | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 14 | Ghost help, Custom sending domains | ghost.org/help › sending domains | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 15 | Ghost, Fair Use Policy | ghost.org/fair-use | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 16 | Ghost help, Exporting content and data | ghost.org/help › exports | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
| 17 | Ghost help, How do I turn off auto-renew for my Ghost(Pro) subscription? | ghost.org/help › auto-renew | 2026-10-04 | Page text saved |
Change log
- 2026-10-04 — First version. Every member step in both billing modes, fourteen help articles, the fair use policy and the terms read on 2026-10-04.
- Previous check: none for this page.
- What we will re-check: every member step, the yearly discount against the help centre's 20%, the plan names in the fair use policy, and the refund line in the terms.
Who writes this
Smart Pick Desk is an independent site that compares tools for people who work online. We are not employed by, or partnered with, Ghost, and we do not run Ghost(Pro) in our own business. What we do is read what each company publishes, write down the date we read it, and say plainly which parts we could not check. More: who the editors are and how we check a page.
We do not promise results. Nothing here is a prediction about what a tool will do for your publication.