Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Ghost VS A+

Compare Ghost VS A+ and see what are their differences

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Ghost logo Ghost

Ghost is a fully open source, adaptable platform for building and running a modern online publication. We power blogs, magazines and journalists from Zappos to Sky News.

A+ logo A+

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  • Ghost Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-10
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Ghost

Website
ghost.org
$ Details
paid Free Trial $36.0 / Monthly (100k views/month, 2 users)
Startup details
Country
United Kingdom

Ghost features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Ghost offers a clean and intuitive interface that makes content management straightforward, even for those without technical expertise.
  • Speed and Performance
    Ghost is built on modern technology like Node.js which makes it faster and more efficient compared to some traditional CMS platforms.
  • SEO Optimized
    Ghost comes built-in with SEO features like clean URLs, meta tags, and sitemaps which help in improving search engine rankings.
  • Customizable Themes
    Ghost supports a variety of themes that can be easily customized to fit the branding and functionality needs of a website.
  • Markdown Support
    Content creation in Ghost is made easy with Markdown support, allowing writers to focus on text rather than formatting.

Possible disadvantages of Ghost

  • Limited Plugin Ecosystem
    Compared to WordPress, Ghost has a more limited selection of plugins, which might restrict some functionalities users are looking for.
  • Higher Hosting Costs
    Ghost's official hosting is relatively expensive, making it less suitable for users on a tight budget.
  • Technical Knowledge Requirement
    While Ghost is user-friendly, setting it up on a custom server can require a higher level of technical knowledge compared to some other platforms.
  • Less Community Support
    The user community for Ghost is smaller compared to more established platforms like WordPress, which can make it harder to find support and resources.
  • Limited Ecommerce Capabilities
    Ghost is primarily a publishing platform and lacks the more advanced eCommerce functionalities that other CMS platforms might offer out of the box.

A+ features and specs

  • Positive Content Focus
    A+ built its brand around uplifting, feel-good news and stories, offering a refreshing alternative to typically negative mainstream news cycles.
  • Strong Social Media Presence
    The platform gained significant traction on social media platforms like Facebook, where its shareable, inspiring content resonated with a broad audience.
  • Notable Backing and Credibility
    Founded by Ashton Kutcher, the site had celebrity backing which helped it gain initial visibility, funding, and media attention.
  • Diverse Content Categories
    A+ covered a range of topics including social good, entertainment, and human interest stories, appealing to users looking for varied light content.
  • Community Engagement
    The site encouraged sharing and community interaction around positive stories, fostering a sense of connection among readers.

Possible disadvantages of A+

  • Uncertain Current Status
    The website's availability and content have been inconsistent over the years, with reports of relaunches, ownership changes, or reduced activity, making it unreliable as a consistent source.
  • Limited Hard News Coverage
    Because of its focus on positive stories, A+ lacked in-depth coverage of critical, investigative, or hard-hitting news topics that some readers seek.
  • Reliance on Viral Content Model
    The platform's business model depended heavily on social media virality, which made it vulnerable to changes in platform algorithms and shifting user engagement trends.
  • Perceived Lack of Depth
    Critics have noted that some content prioritized shareability over journalistic depth or nuance, potentially oversimplifying complex issues.
  • Monetization Challenges
    Like many digital media startups, A+ faced difficulties in building a sustainable revenue model, which may have contributed to instability or reduced operations.

Analysis of Ghost

Overall verdict

  • Ghost is a highly regarded platform for serious bloggers and publishers who want a minimalistic yet powerful content management system. It is especially beneficial for those who prefer a distraction-free writing environment with the capability to scale and customize as their needs grow.

Why this product is good

  • Ghost is a popular open-source platform designed for professional bloggers and publishers. It is known for its clean design, speed, and ease of use. Ghost offers robust features for content creation, management, and distribution while focusing on providing an optimal writing experience. Additionally, Ghost is built on modern technology stacks and offers flexibility through themes and integrations. It also supports membership and subscription models, making it ideal for those looking to monetize their content.

Recommended for

  • Professional bloggers
  • Content creators looking for a minimalist interface
  • Publishers seeking to monetize their content
  • Developers looking for an open-source platform
  • Organizations that require a fast and reliable CMS
  • Writers who value a focused writing experience

Analysis of A+

Overall verdict

  • A+ (aplus.com) is a solid choice for users looking for a straightforward, feature-rich platform, offering good value for its price point, though it may not be the most advanced option for highly specialized or enterprise-level needs.

Why this product is good

  • User-friendly interface that makes it accessible even for beginners
  • Competitive pricing compared to similar tools in its category
  • Reliable customer support with quick response times
  • Regular updates and feature improvements based on user feedback
  • Good balance between functionality and simplicity

Recommended for

  • Small business owners looking for an easy-to-use solution
  • Freelancers and solo entrepreneurs on a budget
  • Users who prioritize simplicity over advanced customization
  • Teams needing a quick-to-implement tool without steep learning curves
  • Anyone seeking reliable customer support alongside core functionality

Ghost videos

Why I Moved My Blog From WordPress to Ghost

More videos:

  • Review - Ghost review - CMS for creators to build a membership

A+ videos

No A+ videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Ghost and A+)
Blogging
100 100%
0% 0
Software Marketplace
0 0%
100% 100
CMS
100 100%
0% 0
Software Recommendations
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Ghost and A+

Ghost Reviews

Comparing 9 WordPress alternatives & competitors in 2024
Ghost specializes in creating a monetized blogging platform. Based on their subscription status, readers can create user profiles, sign up for newsletters, and browse your entire blogging calendar. The platformโ€™s singular focus on blogging makes it great for individuals and small teams, but it lacks features like real-time collaboration that are necessary for larger companies.
Source: webflow.com
19 Best WordPress Alternatives in 2025
Ghost is known for its simplicity and focus on content creation. It's a great option for writers and creators who want a clean and distraction-free environment to publish their work.
Source: www.pixpa.com
7 Best Buy Me a Coffee Alternatives
If you donโ€™t already have a website, Ghost may be an appealing option as a Patreon alternative. However, customizations are limited, and youโ€™ll need to choose a pre-built design from the theme library. There are a few themes available, but most are priced from around $80 to $150. The Ghost API also gives you a way to publish content you create on the platform to another...
Source: wpforms.com
Top 10 Web Content Management Systems
Ghost is here as one of the first entries that can be classified as a pure headless CMS. Ghost is not only one of the best headless CMS options, but it also does so while being focused primarily on the blogger community. So if you have or are thinking about starting a large blogging operation featuring many different presentation layers, then Ghost is definitely for you....
Source: cloudzy.com
25+ Medium Alternative Platforms for Publishing Articles
Ghost open-source blogging and the indirect medium alternative platform. Its interface makes blogging easy for users, but also offers SEO tools and other plugins that are built into the platform. This makes it simple for users to publish high-quality content without technical difficulties.
Source: forgefusion.io

A+ Reviews

We have no reviews of A+ yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ghost seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 196 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Ghost mentions (196)

  • Local Journalism Is How Democracy Shows Up Close to Home
    Digital production has lowered the cost, and the Ghost platform in particular is a great value for small publishers, bundling together the blog, newsletter and subscriptions in one package, even now including ActivityPub federation. And Ghost themselves a non-profit org that doesn't mark up the Stripe transaction fees! One local news outlet recently switched to that, saving about %5 on Patreon fees and a second is... - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Bye Bye Big Tech: How I Migrated to an Almost All-EU Stack (and Saved 500โ‚ฌ/Year)
    Https://ghost.org โ€” Open-source run by a non-profit headquartered in Singapore. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Ask HN: Looking for Headless CMS Recommendation
    If you're hell-bent on headless, I can personally recommend 11ty (https://www.11ty.dev/) and hugo (https://gohugo.io/). That said, for non-technical admins, you probably want a user interface. For that, Ghost (https://ghost.org/) and Grav (https://getgrav.org/). Or Wordpress! - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Typepad Is Shutting Down
    They should provide an option to move to https://ghost.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Build an analytics agent to analyze your Ghost blog traffic with the Vercel AI SDK and Tinybird
    In this post, I'll show you how to build an agent with sufficient contextual understanding of underlying analytics data - and the tools to query it - so that you can have a chat with your data (any data!). Specifically, I'll build a simple analytics agent for a blog - hosted on the open-source publishing platform Ghost. The agent will tell us which content is performing the best, and why. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
View more

A+ mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of A+ yet. Tracking of A+ recommendations started around Jul 2026.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Ghost and A+, you can also consider the following products

WordPress - WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.

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Slant.co - Slant is a collaboratively edited resource that helps you quickly make decisions.

Blogger - Publish your passions, your way. Create a unique and beautiful blog. Itโ€™s easy and free.

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