Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Ghost VS OneSignal

Compare Ghost VS OneSignal and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

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.

OneSignal logo OneSignal

Customer engagement platform used by over 1 million developers and marketers; the fastest and most reliable way to send mobile and web push notifications, in-app messages, emails, and SMS.
  • Ghost Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-10
  • OneSignal
    Image date //
    2024-09-12

Ghost

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

OneSignal

$ Details
freemium $9.0 / Monthly (Plus usage-based costs. (Growth Plan). )
Startup details
Country
United States

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.

OneSignal features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    OneSignal offers a user-friendly interface and straightforward setup process, making it accessible even for those with limited technical knowledge.
  • Multi-Platform Support
    The service supports a wide range of platforms including iOS, Android, and web browsers, allowing for comprehensive push notification campaigns.
  • Free Tier
    OneSignal provides a generous free tier that includes many features, which is highly beneficial for startups and small businesses with budget constraints.
  • Automation Capabilities
    Offers robust automation features like automated messaging, segmentation, and personalized notifications, enhancing user engagement.
  • Analytics
    Provides detailed analytics and reporting, allowing users to track the performance of their notifications and optimize campaigns.
  • Integrations
    Supports integration with various platforms and services such as WordPress, Shopify, and Google Analytics, making it versatile and adaptable to different needs.

Possible disadvantages of OneSignal

  • Data Privacy Concerns
    There have been concerns about data privacy and security, as OneSignal collects user data which may not be ideal for companies with strict data compliance needs.
  • Limited Customization
    While OneSignal offers many features, some users find the customization options for the appearance and behavior of notifications to be limited.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    Though it's easy to get started, employing some of the more advanced features and API capabilities may require a steeper learning curve.
  • Cost for Premium Features
    While the free tier is generous, access to advanced features and higher usage limits requires a paid subscription, which might be cost-prohibitive for very small businesses.
  • Dependence on Third-Party Service
    Relying on a third-party service for critical user engagement features can be risky, particularly if there are service outages or changes in terms of service.
  • Notification Fatigue
    Without careful management and user segmentation, there's a risk of overwhelming users with notifications, which could lead to reduced engagement or app uninstalls.

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 OneSignal

Overall verdict

  • Overall, OneSignal is a highly regarded tool in the realm of push notification services and is generally recommended for both small businesses and large enterprises looking for an effective communication channel with their users.

Why this product is good

  • OneSignal is often considered a good platform because it provides robust and user-friendly solutions for web and mobile push notifications, in-app messaging, and email marketing. Its ease of integration, rich set of features, powerful analytics, and flexible pricing options (including a free tier) make it a popular choice for developers and marketers alike. OneSignal also offers support for multiple platforms and easy segmentation of audiences to tailor messages effectively.

Recommended for

  • Mobile app developers seeking reliable push notification services with multi-platform support.
  • Marketers wanting to engage users through targeted push notifications and in-app messaging.
  • Businesses of all sizes looking for affordable and scalable communication solutions.
  • Teams that want detailed analytics to track user engagement and campaign performance.

Ghost videos

Why I Moved My Blog From WordPress to Ghost

More videos:

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

OneSignal videos

OneSignal Product Demo

More videos:

  • Review - Send Push Notifications Through Wordpress Using OneSignal
  • Demo - OneSignal: Product Demo/Overview

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Ghost and OneSignal)
Blogging
100 100%
0% 0
Mobile Push Messaging
0 0%
100% 100
CMS
100 100%
0% 0
Web Push Notifications
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 OneSignal

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

OneSignal Reviews

Best WordPress Push Notification Plugins For Publishers
Looking for OneSignal alternatives?Check out this in-depth OneSignal comparison guide to make the right choice.
Source: www.izooto.com
35 Best Free Push Notification Services and Tools (+ Open Source Push Notification Services to Consider)
OneSignal is a prominent notification aggregator. Users will be able to send push notifications across different platforms, as well as SMS and emails, making it a well-rounded tool for all messaging. OneSignal offers many capabilities including A/B testing, API service, analytics, segmentation, and personalization. On the free tier, developers can send 1 push message, email,...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ghost should be more popular than OneSignal. 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 / 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
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OneSignal mentions (28)

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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Ghost and OneSignal, 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.

iZooto - Engage your mobile and desktop web users with intelligent web push notifications.

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

PushCrew - Push Notifications for Websites

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.

Firebase - Firebase is a cloud service designed to power real-time, collaborative applications for mobile and web.