Bluey vs Ghost (2026): Email Platform vs Ghost(Pro) From $15
Ghost is an open-source publishing platform (blog + website + newsletter) with native paid subscriptions and 0% payment fees — you pay only Stripe’s standard rate (EmailTooltester). Ghost(Pro) hosting is priced by member count: Starter $15/mo (up to 1,000 members, no paid subscriptions), Publisher $29/mo (monetization enabled), Business $199/mo, rising as your list grows (Ghost pricing). Bluey Email is email marketing software that bills a flat fee by emails sent — free at 500/500, Grow $30/mo with unlimited contacts — with automation, segmentation, and a CRM Ghost does not offer. Choose Ghost to own a full publishing site; choose Bluey for marketing power and predictable cost. Full disclosure: Bluey is my own product; I compare both honestly and say plainly where Ghost wins.
Ghost and Bluey overlap on email but solve different jobs. Ghost is closer to a content management system — a self-hostable blog, website, and membership platform with a newsletter attached. Bluey is a dedicated email marketing tool for campaigns, automations, and transactional email. Which fits depends on whether you are building a publication or running marketing.
How much does Ghost cost in 2026?
Ghost comes two ways. Self-hosted Ghost is free and open-source — you run it on your own server and pay only for hosting. Ghost(Pro) is the managed, hosted version, priced by member count (Ghost pricing):
| Plan | From (annual) | Members | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $15/mo | 1,000 | Custom domain, newsletters — no paid subscriptions |
| Publisher | $29/mo | 1,000+ | Paid subscriptions, custom themes, 3 staff, integrations |
| Business | $199/mo | Higher | 15 staff, priority support |
Source: Ghost pricing; pricing updated July 2025 (Ghost forum). Two things matter: the Starter plan cannot take paid subscriptions — monetizing means starting at Publisher ($29/mo) — and the price rises as your member count grows. What Ghost never charges is a cut of your revenue: it “takes 0%,” so you keep everything after Stripe’s standard fees (EmailTooltester).
How much does Bluey Email cost?
Bluey bills a flat subscription by emails sent, with unlimited contacts on Grow:
- Free — 500 contacts, 500 sends/mo
- Spark — from $7/mo; roughly $14/mo at 10,000 sends
- Grow — $30/mo, unlimited contacts, ~50,000 sends
- Business — $300/mo, adds a built-in CRM, landing pages, transactional email, and pre-built ecommerce flows
Which is cheaper?
It depends on your list size and whether you self-host Ghost.
1,000 members/contacts. Ghost(Pro) Publisher (to monetize): $29/mo. Bluey: Spark from $7/mo (~$10–14 at typical send volumes), or free up to 500. Bluey is cheaper on subscription — but Ghost’s 0% payment fee means a monetized newsletter keeps more per sale.
10,000 members/contacts. Ghost(Pro) rises well past its entry price as members climb, while Bluey Grow stays $30/mo with unlimited contacts. Bluey is cheaper on platform cost at scale.
Self-hosted Ghost. Free software, but you pay for hosting and handle setup, updates, and deliverability yourself — a real cost in time and technical effort (EmailTooltester).
The split: Ghost charges for members (or your own hosting) but takes 0% of sales; Bluey charges a flat fee for sends and leaves monetization to your own checkout.
Feature comparison
| Bluey Email | Ghost | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Email marketing software | Publishing CMS + newsletter |
| Pricing basis | Emails sent (flat) | Members (or self-host) |
| Revenue cut | 0% | 0% |
| Built-in paid subscriptions | Via integrations | Yes (Publisher+) |
| Website + blog builder | Landing pages (Business) | Full CMS + themes |
| Automation & segmentation | Yes | Limited |
| Transactional email | Yes (Business) | Basic |
| Ease of use | Beginner-friendly | Needs setup / tech comfort |
| Own/self-host data | Yes | Yes (open-source) |
Where Ghost plainly wins
- A full publishing platform. Ghost is “closer to a full-blown content management system” — blog, static pages, website, and newsletter in one (EmailTooltester). Bluey does not replace a website.
- Design and ownership. Open-source, self-hostable, fully themeable — “you own your data, including your email list and content” (EmailTooltester).
- Native paid subscriptions at 0%. Memberships, paywalls, and Stripe are built in, and Ghost takes no cut (EmailTooltester).
- A distraction-free writing experience for creators publishing regularly.
Where Bluey wins
- Real automation and segmentation. Welcome series, behavioral flows, and targeted sends — Ghost’s automation is limited by comparison.
- Flat, predictable cost. $30/mo on Grow with unlimited contacts, versus Ghost(Pro) climbing with member count.
- Transactional and marketing email on one bill (Business) — Ghost’s transactional is basic.
- A built-in CRM on Business — Ghost has none.
- Beginner-friendly. No themes, servers, or configuration; Ghost “requires more setup than Substack or Beehiiv” even on the hosted version (EmailTooltester).
Frequently asked questions
Does Ghost take a cut of revenue? No — Ghost takes 0%; you pay only Stripe’s standard processing fees on paid subscriptions (EmailTooltester).
How much does Ghost cost? Self-hosted Ghost is free (you provide hosting). Ghost(Pro) starts at $15/mo (Starter, 1,000 members), but paid subscriptions require Publisher at $29/mo, and cost rises with member count (Ghost pricing).
Is Ghost an email marketing tool? Partly. It sends newsletters and transactional email but lacks the automation, segmentation, and campaign tooling of a dedicated platform like Bluey.
Is Bluey a Ghost alternative? For the email and marketing side, yes — with more automation and a CRM. But Ghost also gives you a full website and CMS that Bluey does not replace.
Which is easier for a beginner? Bluey — Ghost needs themes, integrations, and configuration even on the hosted plan.
The verdict
Choose Ghost if you want to own a complete publishing platform — website, blog, and newsletter — with full design control, native memberships, and 0% revenue fees, and you are comfortable with a bit of setup.
Choose Bluey Email if you want a dedicated email marketing tool with real automation, segmentation, a CRM, and transactional email, a flat cost that stays $30/mo as your list grows, and a beginner-friendly setup. The honest split: Ghost is the better publishing platform; Bluey is the better email marketing tool — and if you are running marketing rather than building a media site, Bluey does more of the job for less effort.
Compare the wider field in Best Email Marketing Software in 2026, see the Ghost alternatives roundup, the sibling head-to-head Bluey Email vs Substack, or start with the complete email marketing guide.
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