Ghost VS MODx

Compare Ghost VS MODx and see what are their differences

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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.

MODx

modx is a free, fast & flexible, ajax and seo content management system

Landing page //
2022-10-10

Landing page //
2023-10-22

Ghost

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

Edit details

MODx

Website: modx.com
Pricing URL: Official MODx Pricing
$ Details
Startup details
Country: United States

Edit details

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.

MODx features and specs

Flexibility
MODx offers a high degree of flexibility, allowing users to create both simple and complex websites without being restricted by predefined structures.
Scalability
MODx is designed to handle anything from small personal websites to large, enterprise-level applications, making it a scalable solution.
Customizability
It allows extensive customization through templates, snippets, and plugins, catering to specific needs and preferences.
Strong Community
MODx boasts an active and supportive community, offering a wealth of resources, extensions, and forums for troubleshooting and advice.
Performance
MODx is optimized for performance, often resulting in faster page load times compared to other content management systems.

Possible disadvantages of MODx

Learning Curve
New users may find MODx's flexibility comes with a steeper learning curve compared to other more rigid CMS platforms.
Limited Pre-made Templates
While highly customizable, MODx has fewer pre-made templates and themes available, which might require more upfront development work.
Documentation
Although improving, some users have found the documentation to be less comprehensive, making it harder for beginners to get started.
Smaller Plugin Repository
Compared to larger CMS platforms like WordPress, MODx has a smaller repository of plugins and extensions.
Developer-Oriented
MODx is highly developer-oriented, which might be overwhelming for non-technical users looking for a simple, out-of-the-box solution.

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 MODx

Overall verdict

MODx is a robust content management system that appeals to developers and users looking for flexibility and customization. However, its ecosystem might not be as large as some of the more popular CMS options like WordPress or Joomla.

Why this product is good

Community

MODx has an active community providing support and extending its functionality through plugins.
Flexibility

MODx offers a high degree of flexibility, making it suitable for custom-built sites.
Scalability

It is scalable and can be used for anything from small personal blogs to large enterprise websites.
User friendly

It has a user-friendly interface that is easy for both developers and content editors.

Recommended for

Developers who need a customizable platform.
Businesses looking for a reliable and scalable CMS.
Users with specific and complex website requirements.
Organizations that require a CMS with a focus on security and performance.

Ghost videos

+ Add

Why I Moved My Blog From WordPress to Ghost

MODx videos

+ Add

Yamaha MODX review: Everything you need to know

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Ghost and MODx)

MODx

Blogging

92 92%

Blogging

8% 8

CMS

91 91%

CMS

9% 9

Blogging Platform

89 89%

Blogging Platform

11% 11

Website Builder

100 100%

Website Builder

0% 0

User comments

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

Reviews

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

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 platform’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 don’t already have a website, Ghost may be an appealing option as a Patreon alternative. However, customizations are limited, and you’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

MODx Reviews

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

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ghost seems to be a lot more popular than MODx. While we know about 196 links to Ghost, we've tracked only 4 mentions of MODx. 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 500€/Year)
Https://ghost.org — Open-source run by a non-profit headquartered in Singapore. - Source: Hacker News / 8 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 / 12 months ago
Typepad Is Shutting Down
They should provide an option to move to https://ghost.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 12 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 / about 1 year ago

MODx mentions (4)

What are people using these days to build commercial small scale websites?
I’ve found https://modx.com/ to be alright for me with some basic sysadmin skills. Source: almost 4 years ago
What are people using these days to build commercial small scale websites?
Been a while since I used it but I loved MODx for this type of usecase: https://modx.com/. Source: almost 4 years ago
Simple client for blogging (but not too simple)
Another I like that's open source is mod5 https://modx.com/ but it's not so much blogging. Source: about 4 years ago
what can I do to improve my website speed?
I've also heard good things about ModX and I used to use Perch (but that requires a license per site). Source: over 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Ghost and MODx, 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.

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

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.

Blogger - Publish your passions, your way. Create a unique and beautiful blog. It’s easy and free.

Joomla - Joomla! is the mobile-ready and user-friendly way to build your website. Choose from thousands of features and designs. Joomla! is free and open source.

ProcessWire - ProcessWire is a PHP5-based open source CMS/CMF built to save you time and make development fun at any scale. It works the way you do.