Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Ghost VS Elfsight

Compare Ghost VS Elfsight 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.

Elfsight logo Elfsight

All-in-One platform with 80+ widgets designed to solve any of your website tasks. Customizable Social Feeds, Reviews, Forms, Chats, and many more widgets to increase brand credibility, engage more customers, and skyrocket your sales!
  • Ghost Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-10
  • Elfsight Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-02-02

Elfsight is a SaaS service that provides customizable & coding-free widgets for your website to help you enhance it with social feeds, reviews, forms, and other e-commerce solutions.

Elfsight Apps can be embedded to any website platform: WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, Weebly, BigCommerce, Google Sites, Blogger, GoDaddy, Joomla and more.

Ghost

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

Elfsight

$ Details
freemium $5.0 / Monthly
Platforms
Wordpress Weebly Squarespace BigCommerce Joomla Prestashop Wix Elementor Webflow Shopify
Release Date
2013 June
Startup details
Country
Russia

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.

Elfsight features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Elfsight provides a user-friendly interface that allows for easy customization and implementation of widgets without requiring any coding knowledge.
  • Wide Range of Widgets
    Elfsight offers a diverse collection of over 80 widgets ranging from social media feeds to form builders, giving users plenty of options to enhance their websites.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Elfsight widgets are compatible with various platforms including WordPress, Shopify, and Wix, making it versatile for different types of websites.
  • High Customization
    Each widget comes with extensive customization options, allowing users to tailor the look and functionality to fit their brand's needs.
  • Responsive Design
    Widgets created with Elfsight are mobile-responsive, ensuring they look and perform well across different devices.
  • Customer Support
    Elfsight offers reliable customer support including comprehensive documentation, video tutorials, and direct customer service to assist users.

Possible disadvantages of Elfsight

  • Pricing
    While Elfsight offers a free trial, its pricing plans can become costly, especially for small businesses or individual users who need multiple widgets.
  • Limited Free Version
    The free version of Elfsight comes with limitations on the number and types of widgets available, which might not be sufficient for all users.
  • Loading Speed
    In some instances, adding multiple widgets from Elfsight can impact the website's loading speed, affecting overall performance.
  • Dependency on Third-Party
    Using an external service like Elfsight means relying on a third-party for updates and maintenance, which could be a concern for some users.
  • Customization Limitations
    Despite high customization options, certain advanced functionalities might still require additional coding or may not be supported at all.
  • Data Privacy
    As with any third-party service, there can be concerns around data privacy and security, particularly in how user data is handled and stored.

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 Elfsight

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Elfsight is considered a good choice for anyone looking to add interactive elements to their website quickly and easily. It offers a variety of widgets that are both versatile and reliable, backed by responsive customer support.

Why this product is good

  • Elfsight is a widget and app provider that helps website owners enhance functionality without coding. It offers a wide range of customizable widgets that can improve user engagement, such as Instagram feed, Google reviews, and chat functions. The platform is user-friendly, making it accessible for beginners, while offering enough customization to satisfy more advanced users. Many users appreciate its ease of integration with various website builders and content management systems.

Recommended for

  • Small to medium-sized businesses looking to enhance their website functionality without a developer.
  • Bloggers and content creators who want to increase engagement with interactive content.
  • E-commerce websites needing additional features like reviews, Instagram feeds, or support chat.
  • Web designers and developers looking for reliable third-party widgets to recommend to their clients.

Ghost videos

Why I Moved My Blog From WordPress to Ghost

More videos:

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

Elfsight videos

Elfsight Review - Honest Review and Product Demo

More videos:

  • Demo - Elfsight Review - Product Demo [2020]
  • Review - Elfsight Review - Plug & Play Widgets

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Ghost and Elfsight)
Blogging
100 100%
0% 0
Social Media Tools
0 0%
100% 100
CMS
100 100%
0% 0
Widgets
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Ghost and Elfsight. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

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

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

Elfsight Reviews

7 Best Elfsight Alternatives For Website Widgets & Social Media Embeds
Now you are well aware of the flaws of Elfsight and the best available alternatives for Elfsight. However, to pick a suitable tool and make a decision, it is important to look for features. To make your task easier, here are features to look for when selecting ElfSight alternatives.
Source: tagembed.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ghost seems to be a lot more popular than Elfsight. While we know about 196 links to Ghost, we've tracked only 2 mentions of Elfsight. 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 / 6 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 / 6 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 / 10 months ago
  • Typepad Is Shutting Down
    They should provide an option to move to https://ghost.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 10 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 / 11 months ago
View more

Elfsight mentions (2)

  • Is it possible to add interactive map/menu to personal Squarespace site?
    Try Elfsight apps โ€” looks like they have a restaurant menu you could customize? Source: about 3 years ago
  • Search Function
    I've tried a elfsight.com plug-in that uses Google's search API, however, since Google doesn't parse the data from caard pages, it is effectively useless. Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Ghost and Elfsight, 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.

EmbedSocial - EmbedAlbum tool allows users to embed their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter photo albums on their blogs or websites.

Medium - Welcome to Medium, a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you.

Taggbox - Taggbox helps brands in collecting social feeds, reviews, and user-generated content to curate and display them across websites, digital displays, and marketing touchpoints in an engaging and shoppable manner. Helping brands build trust & conversions

Drupal - Drupal - the leading open-source CMS for ambitious digital experiences that reach your audience across multiple channels. Because we all have different needs, Drupal allows you to create a unique space in a world of cookie-cutter solutions.

Curator.io - Curator is a brandable social media aggregator.