ConvertKit vs Ghost CMS - which is better for creators?
Ghost and ConvertKit (CK) are 2 of the best Substack alternatives and great platforms to publish a newsletter or blog online.
This article will help you decide which platform is better for your needs, as I will show you their differences, strengths, and limitations.
ConvertKit vs Ghost summary
- Content creation: 6.8
- Customization: 9.6
- SEO: 3.7
- Growth: 8.6
- Management: 7.5
- Monetization: 8.1
- Overall Score: 8.4
- Content creation: 8.9
- Customization: 6.3
- SEO: 9.0
- Growth: 7.3
- Management: 9.0
- Monetization: 6.2
- Overall Score: 9.4
The main difference between them is that Ghost is a fantastic blogging tool with okay newsletter capabilities. While ConvertKit is one of the best email service providers for newsletters, but a below-average blogging offering.
Yet, Ghost and ConvertKit aren't mutually exclusive, thanks to their integrations.
This means that it's possible to use Ghost for your blog and ConvertKit for sending the newsletter, making use of the strongest points of each one.
Ghost and ConvertKit are more than solid options for creators to use to publish online content.
Ghost will be better suited for creators that are looking to have a great blog and not use WordPress or Substack, as these 2 are either complicated or not good for blogging.
While ConvertKit is one of the highest-rated newsletter tools available. CK has some of the best monetization options (selling newsletter memberships, digital products, newsletter ads, and more), which give you lots of options to earn a living through your content.
So, I recommend Ghost if publishing content on a blog is your main goal, and ConvertKit if you are looking primarily for a newsletter tool.
Ghost CMS overview
Ghost CMS is a fantastic platform for bloggers and writers who want to publish content and monetize it with memberships.
The strongest points of Ghost are its SEO and ease of use. The best part is that Ghost is safe, fast, and optimized out of the box. So you can focus on creating the content instead of having to tweak things around.
Ghost is super easy to use with managed hosting like Ghost (Pro) because this type of service takes care of updates, backups, and installation. I've used Ghost since 2021, always with a managed hosting.
Things I like about Ghost CMS:
- 0% membership fees;
- Fantastic search engine optimization (SEO);
- The websites are fast;
- No coding knowledge required with managed hosting;
- Best writing experience on any platform I know;
- Works as blog + newsletter;
- You can self-host Ghost;
- Ghost sites are safer than WordPress;
- Integrations that work like plugins;
- Team members (editors and writers);
- Ghost themes are beautiful.
Things I don't like about Ghost CMS:
- Lack of email sequences and welcome emails;
- Self-hosting isn't intuitive (requires command-line knowledge);
- Theme customization requires coding;
- Limited newsletter analytics.
ConvertKit overview
ConvertKit is one of the best alternatives to Substack and one of the best newsletter services on the market.
It was created in 2013, and ConvertKit focused on being THE email service for creatives.
As you will see, they have all the tools to run a personal newsletter, monetizing it and earn a full-time income.
Things I like about ConvertKit:
- Free plan (up to 1,000 subscribers);
- Automated email sequences;
- Integrations (example, Zapier);
- Great Monetization (newsletter memberships, digital products, newsletter ads and more);
- Low fees (0,6% + payment processing fees);
- Analytics tools (including click tracking and subscriber engagement score);
- Email segmentation (send emails based on tags);
- Newsletter referral program.
Things I don't like about ConvertKit:
- Their landing page is a bit limited;
- Not good for blogging and SEO;
- Lack of importing/export posts.
