Ghost: One Platform for Newsletters, Blogs, and Memberships

As developers, we often find ourselves piecing together different services to get a project online. You might have a blog on one platform, a newsletter on another, and a separate system for handling memberships. It gets messy. What if you could manage all of that in a single, open-source tool that you control?

That's the idea behind Ghost. It started as a simple blogging platform, but it's evolved into a powerful, all-in-one solution for independent creators and developers who want to publish content and build a business around it, without the lock-in of a monolithic SaaS platform.

What It Does

Ghost is a headless Node.js CMS designed for professional publishing. At its core, it's a robust blogging engine, but its real power lies in its built-in features for monetization and audience growth. You can write and publish content, send out email newsletters to subscribers, and offer paid memberships—all from a single, clean admin interface. It gives you the flexibility of a modern content API with the business-oriented features usually found in separate, proprietary services.

Why It's Cool

The coolest part of Ghost is its focus on doing a few things really well. Instead of trying to be a general-purpose CMS for every possible use case, it's optimized specifically for publishers.

• All-in-One Simplicity: You don't need to integrate a newsletter service like Mailchimp with a membership system like Patreon and a blog like WordPress. Ghost handles the entire workflow natively, which simplifies your tech stack and reduces costs.
• Developer-Friendly Foundation: It's built on a modern Node.js stack, and perhaps most importantly, it's open source. You can self-host it on your own infrastructure, customize it, and own your data completely. It also offers a fully managed professional hosting service if you'd rather not deal with servers.
• Clean, Markdown-First Editor: The writing experience is fast and focused, supporting Markdown and keyboard shortcuts, which is a huge win for developers who are already comfortable with that workflow.

How to Try It

The easiest way to kick the tires is with Ghost's managed Pro service. They offer a 14-day free trial that lets you explore all the features without needing to set up a server.

Start a 14-day free trial of Ghost(Pro)

If you're the hands-on type and want to self-host, you can install it on your own machine or server. The quickest way is using the Ghost CLI. Make sure you have Node.js installed, then run:

# Install the Ghost CLI globally
npm install ghost-cli@latest -g

# Create a new directory and install Ghost inside it
mkdir my-ghost-site
cd my-ghost-site
ghost install local

This will set up a local development instance. Check out the GitHub repository for detailed documentation and contribution guidelines.

Final Thoughts

Ghost feels like a thoughtful response to the complexity of modern publishing. For developers building their own brand or a content-focused side project, it removes a lot of friction. You get a polished, user-facing product without sacrificing the control and flexibility that comes with an open-source project. It's definitely worth a look if you're tired of juggling multiple platforms and want to consolidate your publishing stack.

— @githubprojects