Kit (previously ConvertKit) vs Ghost CMS: which is better for creators?
Ghost and Kit (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.
I'm Tiago Silva, and what you are about to read is based on my experience of being a creator since 2020. The goal is to give you the best info to help you pick the right tool for your newsletter, while I write about something I enjoy.
Kit vs Ghost summary
The main difference between them is that Ghost is a fantastic blogging tool with okay newsletter capabilities. While Kit is one of the best email service providers for newsletters, but a below-average blogging offering.
Yet, Ghost and Kit aren't mutually exclusive, thanks to their integrations.
This means that it's possible to use Ghost for your blog and Kit for sending the newsletter, making use of the strongest points of each one.
Ghost and Kit 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 Kit 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 Kit if you are looking primarily for a newsletter tool.
- 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
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.
Kit overview
Kit is one of the best alternatives to Substack and one of the best newsletter services on the market.
It was created in 2013, and Kit 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 Kit:
- 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 Kit:
- Their landing page is a bit limited;
- Not good for blogging and SEO;
- Lack of importing/export posts.
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Now, you will see a head-to-head comparison of Kit and Ghost.
I will go deep into some details to help you decide whether Kit or Ghost is better for you.
Let's start with the ease of use and setup.
Content Creation
Now, I'll explore the process of creating content with each tool.
Content Creation Experience on Ghost CMS
The content creation experience on Ghost is simple and allows you to do almost everything you want.
The text editor on Ghost is the best I've used so far. The feature list is enormous, as seen in the Ghost CMS review. In summary, Ghost editor has everything one needs to write, like:
- Custom HTML;
- Image gallery;
- Product boxes;
- Audio, Video, and File uploads;
- Buttons.
Ghost allows you to create a lot of things without code, like product review cards with descriptions and star ratings!
But what I like the most is the flexibility that Custom HTML and code injection gives us. These 2 things allow you to create any type of content on the page.
You also have different styles for callouts and quotes.
Ghost also allows multiple newsletters within the same site. This is particularly helpful if you write about topics that vary widely and could potentially interest different audiences.
For example, a news website could break down its posts into the following newsletters:
- Sports;
- Breaking News;
- Political.
As you can see, this gives many possibilities to connect with an audience.
Content creation experience on Kit
The writing experience in Kit is pretty good.
The editor looks clean: with the content on the left and settings on the right (to customize font size, colors, etc.).
When you start creating a newsletter, you can start with a blank page or use one of the templates available, which makes the newsletter prettier and saves time with formatting.
But better than an editor that looks clean is one that works well and doesnāt limit you from creating content. So, let me tell you that you are in good hands with Kit.
Here are some of the main content blocks you can find on the editor:
- Text formatting;
- Files;
- Layouts;
- Products;
- Countdown times;
- HTML blocks.
Content blocks on Kit text editor.
If I have to point out a weakness here, Iāll mention that the HTML block doesnāt always work as intended, and I'm not sure it's my fault (but it could be).
Creating and writing category winner
For me, Ghost wins as the better tool when it comes to creating content.
The editors of both tools are similar and share most features. So, I would say you can do most things with any of them.
Yet, the editor of Ghost is better, less frustrating, and requires fewer hacks according to my experience.
Customization
Next comes customization and design.
Customization on Ghost CMS
Ghost has many themes available to pick from, and the number keeps growing.
2 of my favorite themes are Ubud (from Aspire Themes) and Rinne (from Bright Themes).
Also, if you want a custom theme, you can code it yourself or hire an expert like the inoryum agency (I've worked for them in the past) to develop a custom theme.
However, Ghost isn't a no-code website builder where you can customize everything with sliders and buttons.
Instead, you must know how to code to make most layout changes. So, it's not perfect for everyone, but at least customization is possible.
Ghost CMS also uses integrations instead of plugins. The end result is basically the same as those integrations allow adding missing features.
And there are hundreds of integrations, as Ghost can connect to almost every service, including Zapier.
Customization on Kit
Kit's customization summary:
- Newsletter templates: Yes;
- Newsletter customization options: Yes;
- Website themes: Yes;
- Possibility to buy a theme from a 3rd-party or create one with a custom code: Yes, from Palladio.
When it comes to customization, Kit is great!
Kit allows customizing almost everything on the newsletter side. For example, you can tinker with font colors, backgrounds, the styles of the buttons, and a lot more.
CK also makes customizing landing pages and forms really easy.
On top of that, CK has many design options for newsletters, landing pages, and forms. This can save you hours with Kitās templates or simply get inspired by them.
And if all these arenāt wow enough, Kit also has content snippets which are blocks of content that you can reuse in different places, speeding up your content creation process.
With Kit, itās possible to express yourself with ease and make your newsletter pretty without much effort.
Customization category winner
The winner when it comes to customization is Kit.
You don't need any coding skills on Kit to customize the newsletter. So, it is much easier to customize it than Ghost.
As much as I love the themes available for Ghost, most times, you need to buy one, and you won't be able to customize it as much as a Kit template (without coding skills).
And for these reasons, Kit wins this category.
Pricing
Now comes the cost of each tool.
Ghost CMS pricing
Ghost pricing summary:
- Free plan: No;
- Cheaper plan: $9/ month for Ghost (Pro);
Ghost is open-source, meaning you can host it where you want and have some price flexibility.
Starting at $9/month, Ghost (Pro) is the easiest and best hosting option for Ghost CMS. They will take care of the installation, updates, and back process.
I've been using it since August 2022 after trying other options in the past.
If you prefer to self-host, DigitalOcean starting at $5/ month is the most popular option. But this is the path for people who know how to code and have the time to maintain the website, backups, and updates.
Kit pricing
Kit pricing summary:
- Free plan: Yes;
- Cheaper paid plan: $9/month for 300 subscribers.
Pricing is one of the downsides of Kit, as their prices go up faster than some other alternatives like beehiiv or MailerLite.
Their pricing works in tiers: the more subscribers you get, the more you get billed.
However, Kit has a free plan of up to 1,000 subscribers.
Pricing category winner
I think Ghost wins the pricing category for 2 reasons.
First, Ghost is open-source, and you can decide to host it on a cheap platform to save money.
Second, Ghost (Pro) prices are similar to Kit, but Ghost is more complete when it comes to blogging. So, you can use Ghost to run a blog + newsletter without problems. But blogging with Kit will be something I don't recommend.
Monetization
Now, I'll analyze the options to make money with each platform.
Monetization options on Ghost
Monetization options on beehiiv:
- Memberships: Yes
- Display ads (Programmatic advertisement like Adsense): Yes;
- e-Commerce / Digital products: No;
- Sponsorships/ Marketplace ads: No
- Donations/ Tips: No;
- Manual embed ads on content: Yes;
- Affiliate marketing: Yes.
The main monetization options on Ghost CMS are memberships and display ads.
Memberships work well for newsletters or episodic posts (think about books) and display ads to monetize informational content.
To enable membership, just go to settings, connect your Stripe account, decide the prices, and you're good to go!
For display ads, you need to put the Adsense script on the site or use the integration to start showing ads on your site.
Both of these options are super simple.
Monetization options on kit
Monetization options on Kit:
- Memberships: Yes;
- Display ads (Programmatic advertisement): No;
- Digital products: Yes;
- Sponsorships/ Marketplace ads: Yes;
- Donations/ Tips: Yes;
- Manual embed ads on content: Yes;
- Affiliate marketing: Yes.
The āEarnā tab in Kit reveals all the ways you can monetize your content: paid newsletter, selling digital products, and sponsorships (via Kit Sponsor Network, aka CKSN).
Most creators make the bulk of their revenue via paid subscriptions and sponsorships.
Kit allows you to maximize earnings because you can easily create a paid newsletter. And if you are approved to the Sponsor Network, youāll have an easy path to finding sponsors.
On top of that, Kit also allows you to sell digital products. Apart from newsletters, you can also use Kit to sell e-books, and coaching/consultations, just to name a few ideas.
Monetization category winner
When it comes to monetization Kit is great and superior to Ghost.
Kit offers you several ways to earn money online.
In my opinion, the Sponsor Network is a standout option that only a handful of other platforms have. So, with Kit you are well-served for monetization.
SEO
Let's see how they compare when it comes to SEO.
Ghost CMS SEO
Important SEO features checklist for Ghost:
- Custom domain: Yes, you can use a custom domain;
- HTTPS: Yes;
- URL slug customization: Yes
- Meta description customization: Yes;
- Sitemap: Yes;
- Canonical tags: Yes;
- Redirects: Yes;
- Robots.txt: Yes;
- Website speed: Ghost has good results in speed tests;
Ghost is great when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO) and has all the tools required for success, even if you ran a paywalled publication (pay-to-read).
For me, SEO is Ghost's greatest strength in the categories I analyze.
As someone who has used Ghost since 2021, it has been so easy to have my blog optimized for search engines without effort. As a consequence, I am getting more and more traffic as time goes by.
There's nothing missing on Ghost when it comes to SEO, so Ghost gets a great score in the SEO category.
Kit SEO
Important SEO features checklist for Kit:
- Custom domain: Yes;
- HTTPS: Yes;
- URL slug customization: No;
- Meta description: No;
- Sitemap: No;
- Canonical tags: No;
- Redirects: No;
- Robots.txt: No;
- Website speed: Good;
SEO isnāt exactly Kitās strongest suit.
Kit was (and is) mostly a newsletter tool. And for many years, it never had blogging capabilities.
As I write this, Kit is below average when it comes to blogging.
Their creator profiles are more like a Link-in-bio tool than a blogging option.
There are a lot of things missing with the creator profiles on Kit for them to be a valid alternative to Ghost or WordPress.
I don't know if Kit will ever become a great blogging tool with strong SEO. So, I recommend using ConvertKit paired with another blogging tool for the best SEO results.
SEO category winner
Ghost is clearly better when it comes to SEO than Kit. It's not even up for debate.
Ghost CMS has the complete set to optimize a website for search engines.
On top of that, it's easy to customize the little things when it comes to SEO.
While Kit misses a lot of features needed for SEO, and you cannot do anything about it (not even hack a way to do it yourself).
Growing tools
To finish let's see the tools to help grow.
Ghost CMS growing tools
Ghost's most important Growth tools checklist:
- Plugins/integrations: Yes;
- Automated email sequences: No;
- Referral program: Only using an integration;
- Subscriber segmentation: Yes;
- Custom sending domain: Yes;
- A/B testing (titles): No;
- RSS feed: Yes;
When it comes to Growth, Ghost is good but not great.
Ghost has a huge list of integrations, and these work as plugins and allow you to do several things, like:
- create your own referral program;
- create email automation;
- and more.
Those 2 examples (referral program and email automation) are 2 important things when it comes to 'Growth' that Ghost doesn't have by default, and why I give it a lower score.
Yet, in August 2022, Ghost released a discovery feature. This means more opportunities for more people to find publications from the Ghost main website.
Plus this has the potential SEO benefit of getting a link from a respected source (ghost.org).
Kit growing tools
Kit most important Growth tools checklist:
- Plugins/integrations: Yes;
- Automated email sequences: Yes;
- Referral program: Yes;
- Subscriber segmentation: Yes;
- Custom sending domain: Yes;
- A/B testing (titles): Yes;
- RSS feed: Yes;
Kit has fantastic tools to help newsletters grow!
From integrations with blogging tools; to having email automation to help make more money; or simply testing different newsletter titles to improve the open rate, Kit has them all.
That's a lot!
When I tell you Kit is really for newsletter growth, I'm serious.
You can also use Kit to create subscription forms to put on other websites. This will also help grow the newsletter by earning subscribers from a blog.
Kit even integrates with SparkLoop, which allows you to create a referral program for your own newsletter.
For those reasons, Kit gets a great score in this category.
Growing tools category winner
Kit wins when it comes to 'Growth'.
As an Email Service Provider, Kit has put a lot more focus on the little things that help newsletters grow (testing titles, referral program, and email sequences)
While on Ghost is possible to use integrations to overcome their 'flaws', Kit also has integrations and does a lot more things without using integrations.
Final Thoughts
Ghost and Kit are great tools for creators, but they have a lot of differences between them.
On one hand, Ghost is the better choice if your priority is blogging because they are superior for SEO, and you can use it as the only platform to publish content online.
Ghost is easy to use, has good writing experience, and has good monetization options.
On the other hand, Kit is the better option if you are looking "just" for a newsletter tool. They have advanced analytics and email automation, making them better as an email marketing platform.
So, preferring one or the other will depend, for the most part, if you already have a blog/ site.
This means that if you already have a blog, Kit will suit you better, or if you prefer a blog with newsletter capabilities, use Ghost.
- 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
