Khalid / Compare / Khalid vs Ghost

Khalid vs Ghost: pick Ghost to sell subscriptions, Khalid for a free blog.

Ghost is a publishing platform with paid subscriptions, hosted for you from $18 a month. Khalid is one free program that runs your blog with SEO built in, and has no paid subscriptions. If your readers pay you, Ghost fits. If your blog is free to read, Khalid costs nothing to run.

Get Khalid on GitHub See the templates

Ghost facts from Ghost's own pages, read 4 November 2026.

The short answer.

Pick Khalid if
You want a blog that is free to read and free to run, in your own design, with SEO checks before every post. Khalid is one free program.
Pick Ghost if
You sell paid subscriptions, or you want someone else to run the server. Ghost(Pro) does both. Khalid does neither.
Cost
Ghost(Pro) is $18, $29 or $199 a month, billed yearly. Khalid costs $0, and a static Khalid blog runs on Cloudflare's free plan.

Yes or no. Khalid and Ghost, side by side.

Only the rows where Ghost's own pages give an answer. Every Ghost fact links its source in the table further down.

FeatureKhalidGhost
Cost and hosting
Price of the software Yes:Free, AGPL-3.0, no paid edition Partly:Ghost(Pro) from $18 a month, or your own server
A hosted service run for you No:No hosted service Yes:Ghost(Pro)
What your own server runs Yes:One program, its database inside Partly:Node.js, MySQL 8, NGINX, Ghost-CLI and systemd
Design
Your own design on the entry plan Yes:All 11 templates, in your colours, fonts and logo No:Starter allows official themes only
Price of a theme Yes:Every template is free Partly:About 20 free; paid themes cost $35 to $149
Publishing and money
Paid subscriptions No:Not available Yes:From the $29 Publisher plan
Newsletter Yes:Built in, through your own mail provider Yes:Built in
Where posts live Yes:Markdown files you can keep in git Partly:Rows in a MySQL database
For developers
Read-only Content API Yes:Ghost's filter grammar and list options Yes:REST, with the key in the address
Admin API on the entry plan Yes:In every install No:Not on Starter; from Publisher
Moving in
Import from WordPress Yes:khalid import, with a redirect for every moved address Yes:A WordPress migrator in the admin

Ghost facts from ghost.org and docs.ghost.org, read 4 November 2026. Khalid facts from its README and docs on GitHub.

Setup and running cost. What a year costs.

Ghost(Pro) runs the server for you, for a monthly fee. Khalid is free, and you choose where it runs.

Ghost(Pro), billed yearly

  • Starter$18 a month: 1,000 members, 1 staff user, official themes only$216
  • Publisher$29 a month: adds custom themes, paid subscriptions and the Admin API$348
  • Business$199 a month$2,388

$348a year for your own theme, on Publisher

Running Ghost yourself instead: an Ubuntu server with 1GB of memory or more, Node.js, MySQL 8, NGINX, Ghost-CLI and systemd, at your host's price.

Khalid

  • The programFree and open source, AGPL-3.0$0
  • Templates11, in your own colours, fonts and logo$0
  • DatabaseInside the program, no database server$0
  • Hosting a static blogCloudflare's free plan$0

$0a year

The admin, comments and forms need a running server, at your host's price. Khalid runs on Linux, macOS, Windows or Docker.

List prices billed yearly, from Ghost's pricing page, read 4 November 2026. Yearly figures are the monthly price times 12, before taxes. Business also offers custom SSL and subdirectory installs at $50 a month each. Self-hosting needs from Ghost's install guide.

The facts behind the table. Each with its source.

FactKhalidGhost
Hosted plans None. You run it, or a host you choose runs itsource $18 Starter, $29 Publisher, $199 Business a month, billed yearly; Custom through salessource Stronger
Entry plan limits No plans and no limits: every feature is in the free programsource Stronger Starter: 1,000 members, 1 staff user, official themes only, no Admin APIsource
Running it yourself One program for Linux, macOS or Windows, or a Docker imagesource Stronger Ubuntu 22.04, 24.04 or 26.04, Node.js, MySQL 8.0 or 8.4, NGINX 1.9.5 or later, Ghost-CLI, systemd, 1GB of memory or more, and a domain before installsource
Database Inside the program; every post is a text filesource Stronger MySQL 8; SQLite is not documented for productionsource
Extra setup None for the blog itselfsource Self-hosted analytics and ActivityPub need the Docker Compose installsource
Themes 11 free templates in your own colours, fonts and logosource 258 themes; about 20 free, paid ones $35 to $149, bought from each authorsource
How themes are checked Every template follows one front end checklistsource Handlebars templates, checked by GScan; fatal errors block activationsource
Content API Read only, with Ghost's filter grammar and the options filter, include, fields, limit, page and ordersource Read only REST; key in the address; posts, pages, tags, authors, tiers and settingssource
Paid subscriptions Not availablesource From the Publisher plan, $29 a monthsource Stronger
Moving from WordPress khalid import keeps every address and stores redirectssource A WordPress migrator in the admin that maps categories to tagssource

Ghost facts read on 4 November 2026. A cell marked Stronger is the better side for that row, in our reading. Wrong or out of date? Email [email protected].

When to pick each. Ghost first.

Choose Ghost if

  1. Your readers pay you. Paid subscriptions are built into Ghost from the Publisher plan, and Ghost(Pro) grows with you up to Business. Khalid has no paid memberships at all.
  2. You do not want to run a server. Ghost(Pro) runs it for you. Khalid has no hosted service.
  3. You want to choose from a large theme marketplace, with 258 themes to pick from.

Choose Khalid if

  1. Your blog is free to read, and you want it to cost nothing to run. A static Khalid blog runs on Cloudflare's free plan.
  2. You want your own design without a plan upgrade. All 11 templates are free and take your colours, fonts and logo.
  3. You want the blog beside your website, at blog.example.com or example.com/blog/, with a linter that stops weak posts before they go live.

Our limits, in the same place: no paid subscriptions, no hosted service, and a new, small project.

Questions about Khalid and Ghost.

Can't find the answer? Email us.

Is Khalid a free alternative to Ghost?

For a blog, yes. Khalid is free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence, with no paid edition. Ghost(Pro) costs $18, $29 or $199 a month billed yearly. Khalid has no paid subscriptions, so it does not replace Ghost for a paid newsletter business.

What do I need to self-host Ghost?

Ghost's install guide asks for an Ubuntu server with at least 1GB of memory, Node.js, MySQL 8, NGINX, Ghost-CLI and systemd, and a domain set up before you install. Khalid is one program with its database inside, so there is no database server to run.

Can I use my own theme on Ghost(Pro) Starter?

No. Ghost's pricing page says the $18 Starter plan allows official themes only. Custom themes start on the $29 Publisher plan. Every Khalid template is free and takes your own colours, fonts and logo.

Can I move my Ghost blog to Khalid?

Yes. khalid import reads a Ghost export, keeps your post addresses and stores a redirect for each one that moves. Paid subscriptions do not move, because Khalid has no paid memberships.

Does Khalid work with front ends built for Ghost?

Partly. Khalid's read-only Content API uses Ghost's filter grammar and the same list options: filter, include, fields, limit, page and order. Its addresses and keys are its own, so a Ghost front end needs small changes. Khalid also ships Astro and Next.js starter kits.

Sources and corrections.

Every competitor fact on this page comes from that company's own public pages, listed here and read on 4 November 2026. Prices and plans change. If something here is out of date or wrong, email [email protected]. We fix it, change the date and record the change on the changelog.

A free blog, in your own design.
Run your blog on Khalid.

Free and open source. Compare it with Strapi and WordPress too.

Get Khalid on GitHub All comparisons