Ghost alternatives
Providers that compete with Ghost on at least one of: Newsletter Self-hosted
Open-source publishing with built-in memberships and email.
Switching as SaaS product teams
A SaaS product sends on behalf of its customers, so the deciding factors are tenant isolation, whether suppressions can be scoped rather than global, and whether support can answer why one specific account did not receive one specific email. Lifecycle automation and transactional sending usually need to coexist.
Ghost does not cover multi-tenant support, event stream, and operating track record. Novu, Postal, and mailcow close that gap. The order below weighs this audience's priorities first, so it differs from a general popularity ranking.
ranked for SaaS product teams
- 01
Novu
Notifications Self-hostedOpen-source notification infrastructure.
Adds multi-tenant support and event stream over Ghost, with nothing given up on these priorities.
30,000 events/mo on cloud, free self-hosted · $250/mo (Business cloud) - 02
Postal
Self-hosted TransactionalOpen-source mail delivery platform.
Adds multi-tenant support and event stream, gives up scheduling.
Free, self-hosted · Self-hosted only - 03
mailcow
Self-hostedDockerized groupware and email server suite.
Adds multi-tenant support and event stream, gives up scheduling and webhook coverage.
Free self-hosted, GPL-3.0 · Free self-hosted - 04
Listmonk
Newsletter Self-hostedSelf-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager.
Adds event stream over Ghost, with nothing given up on these priorities.
Free, self-hosted · Self-hosted only - 05
Loops
Marketing TransactionalModern lifecycle and broadcast email for SaaS.
Adds event stream over Ghost, with nothing given up on these priorities.
1,000 contacts and 4,000 sends/mo on the Free plan · $49/mo for 5,000 contacts - 06
Buttondown
NewsletterMinimalist, indie-built newsletter platform.
Adds event stream over Ghost, with nothing given up on these priorities.
100 subscribers free · $9/mo for 1,000 subscribers - 07
Plunk
Self-hosted MarketingOpen-source unified email platform.
Adds event stream over Ghost, with nothing given up on these priorities.
3,000/mo on hosted free plan · $19/mo or self-host - 08
Kit
Newsletter MarketingCreator-focused newsletter platform (formerly ConvertKit).
Adds event stream over Ghost, with nothing given up on these priorities.
10,000 subscribers, broadcasts only · $15/mo for 1,000 subscribers (Creator)
Ghost and its alternatives, side by side
Columns are the priorities SaaS product teams weigh, in order. Ghost is the first row so the trade in each direction is readable at a glance.
| Provider | Multi-tenant | Event stream | Suppressions API | Operating since | Scheduling | Best published rate per 1,000 | Webhooks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghost | No | No | Yes | 2013 | Yes | Tiers not published in comparable form | Yes |
| Novu | Yes | Yes | Yes | 2021 | Yes | Tiers not published in comparable form | Yes |
| Postal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published | No | Tiers not published in comparable form | Yes |
| mailcow | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published | No | Tiers not published in comparable form | No |
| Listmonk | No | Yes | Yes | Not published | Yes | Tiers not published in comparable form | Yes |
| Loops | No | Yes | Yes | 2022 | Yes | Tiers not published in comparable form | Yes |
| Buttondown | No | Yes | Yes | 2017 | Yes | Tiers not published in comparable form | Yes |
| Plunk | No | Yes | Yes | Not published | Yes | Tiers not published in comparable form | Yes |
| Kit | No | Yes | Yes | 2013 | Yes | Tiers not published in comparable form | Yes |
Novu, Listmonk, and Loops add capability without giving anything up on these priorities. The rest trade one thing for another.