Ghost CMS hosting - discover the best place to host a Ghost website
Ghost focus is to be the best platform for independent writers and creators.
So, if you're considering using it, you have come to the right place to learn more about Ghost hosting.
After spending several days looking for the best options to host my website, I wish to help you make the best decision.
Affiliate disclaimer: some links are affiliates. This means that if you buy after clicking on one of those, I get a commission at no additional cost for you.
Top recommended Ghost Hosting
A list of the top paid hosting companies
- Ghost(PRO)
- Midnight hosting
- Gloat
- DigitalOcean
Ghost(PRO) - Official managed hosting
If you want the official managed hosting go with this option.
This is the best way to support the Ghost Foundation and further development. With Ghost(PRO) you get:
- Set-up and maintenance
- Automatic updates
- Automatic backups
- Automatic SSL certificate
- Custom domain
- CDN
- Great email support
The cheapest plan starts at 9$/ month paid annually. Although you won't have access to integrations nor allow you to upload a custom theme.
This price is extremely competitive for beginners and the only downside of Ghost (Pro) is the steeper pricing when members increase to thousands.
Besides this, Ghost is a lot cheaper than Substack and has better features.
In case you want custom integrations price starts at 25$/ month.
Ghost(PRO) websites are hosted on DigitalOcean.
Previously, I've hosted my website with them and was happy with the support received.
I was helped by Sarah and, she was relentless to ensure my problem was solved.
By hosting with them you get a great product and are supporting open-source software.
Midnight - Affordable and high quality managed Ghost hosting
Midnight hosting is a company I recommended and vouch for the quality of their service to host a Ghost CMS website.
However, they have been slow to upgrade Ghost versions in the last couple of months. This annoys me a bit.
You can count on the following features:
- Set-up and maintenance
- Automatic updates
- Automatic backups
- Automatic SSL certificate
- Custom domain
- CDN for images
- Awesome chat & email support (I've bugged them and know how fast and helpful they are)
- Unlimited members
- Custom integrations on all plans
- No contract commitments
- Fast SSD servers
There are many reasons why I'm a fan and happy customer of Midnight. Some of them are:
- Fast website
- Awesome support
- Custom integrations in all plans
- No members limits
- No commitments
I was talking about them to people even before being a customer. And now, my money is where my mouth is.
Gloat - Managed or self-hosted Ghost installations
Gloat offers 2 types of services:
- Managed hosting on gloathost.com
- Self-hosted installations on gloat.dev
Dan is a known face on the forums and developer of several tools for Ghost. He's ready to offer you the hosting option you like the most.
Gloat managed hosting has 2 plans:
- Low volume (20 000 monthly emails) costing 189$/ year (paid upfront)
- High volume (unlimited emails) 449$/ year
What do you get with Gloat hosting:
- Set-up and maintenance
- Automatic updates
- Automatic backups
- Automatic SSL certificate
- Custom domain (or free ongloat.com subdomain)
- Up to 20,000 newsletter emails per month included (cheapest plan)
- Unlimited page views, subscribers and authors
- Unlimited bandwidth and media storage
- Free migration help from a previous host
Want more guides like this? Subscribe to get 1 every Monday
DigitalOcean - easier self-hosting
DigitalOcean offers an easy and powerful self-hosting option in the market.
Using the 1-click Ghost install you will have the website set up in no time.
By hosting on DigitalOcean, you can use memberships, which you can't by using Ghost as a static website (we'll see more about this later).
This allows you to get paid for your work without extra fees (only paying for credit card fees).
This makes it easy and cheap to create a website with prices starting at 5$/ month.
You will still be the sole responsible for the website. Including making backups, updates, connect to a CDN, and install a SSL certificate.
Complete guide about hosting on DigitalOcean.
Related article
Tiago Silva
Tiago Silva
Where can you host Ghost CMS?
It's possible to host Ghost on a decent VPS (Virtual Private Server).
If you are going to self-host, look for a VPS with the following specs:
- A server with at least 1GB of memory
- Ubuntu 16.04, 18.04 or 20.04
- MySQL 5.7 or 8.0
- NGINX
- Systemd
- A Node version installed via NodeSource (version 14.x is recommended)
- A non-root user for running ghost commands
Managed hosts already have the requirements to run a Ghost website.
Now, let's focus on how to host for free.
Subscribe to newsletter about tech for blogs and newsletters
Where can you host Ghost for free?
You can host Ghost for free using Github Pages, Heroku, or DigitalPress.
The first two are self-hosted and, DigitalPress is a managed host with a free plan available.
Hosting on DigitalPress
This is by far the easier option to host a website for free.
Creating a website on DigitalPress takes 1 minute and requires 3 easy steps.
They are:
- Create an account
- Click on "Create new blog"
- Give a name to your website and, you're done
If you are doubting how easy it can be, see for yourself in the GIF:
DigitalPress free tier offers 1GB of storage.
They will display ads on the website to pay for your usage of the service.
Also, in the free plan, you have:
- Comments (by Disqus)
- Live chat (by Crisp)
- Google Analytics
- Custom domain name
This managed host also provides Free Automatic SSL, automatic backups and free themes.
In the paid plan, you can remove ads, upload a costume theme and priority support (Premium plan only).
The best part is the lack of long-term contracts. Prices start at 6,9€ per month.
Hosting on Github Pages
Hosting a Ghost with Github Pages implies that you convert the website to a static website.
This creates some advantages and drawbacks (we'll get there in a minute).
What you need to Host a Website with Github:
- Ghost installation in your local machine or root access to the server it's installed.
- GitHub account
- Static Site Generator (11ty or Ghost SSG are popular options)
Advantages of hosting on Github Pages:
- Static websites are fast
- Automatic SSL certificate
- CDN support (which means you can integrate with Cloudflare)
- Website backed up by Git version history
Disadvantages:
- Memberships don't work
- The Repository in Github is public (this means the email used to admin the website will be visible)
- Difficult to set-up
- The repository must be smaller than 1GB
- Soft limits for bandwidth and number of builds
Hosting on Heroku
Hosting on Heroku is a similar process to Github Pages. Except for the mandatory use of a Static Website Generator.
Prerequisites:
- Heroku Account
- Netlify Account
Use this button for a 1-click deployment of Ghost 4.x from alan345.
Make sure to validate a billing option on your account so you can unlock free extra hours in your dynos.
Also, make sure to create a cron job to keep the dynos running.
This is recommended to keep the website running. The dynos turn off after some minutes of not being used.
Related article
Tiago Silva
Tiago Silva
Ghost Summary
Ghost is a simple, elegant, and open-source CMS.
It offers a complete content management system with support for multiple languages.
Read the complete Ghost review here.
If you are ready to go ahead with one of the best platforms for authors (aka. Ghost CMS) you have 2 options:
- Self-hosting: you'll be the sole responsible for the set-up, updates, and keeping the servers running.
- Managed hosting: you will pay a company to manage all the technical aspects and focus only on the content.
The decision between each one comes down to your technical knowledge.
There is no right or wrong choice, even though they are opposites.
If value your time more, go for managed hosting. It will be easier and avoid a lot of headaches.
