Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Ghost VS Searx

Compare Ghost VS Searx 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.

Searx logo Searx

Open source metasearch engine
  • Ghost Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-10
  • Searx Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-25

Ghost

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

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.

Searx features and specs

  • Privacy
    Searx does not track your searches or log any user information, safeguarding privacy.
  • Customizable
    The platform allows users to configure their own instances and adjust the settings according to their preferences.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, Searx encourages transparency and community contributions, improving security and innovation.
  • Multiple Sources
    Searx aggregates results from various search engines and databases, providing a more comprehensive search result.
  • Ad-Free
    Searx does not display ads in its search results, offering a cleaner user experience.

Possible disadvantages of Searx

  • Performance
    Aggregating searches from multiple sources can result in slower performance compared to dedicated search engines.
  • Reliability
    Searx instances can suffer from downtime or availability issues, especially those run by volunteers or smaller providers.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    Searx might not offer some of the advanced features and functionalities available in proprietary search engines like Google.
  • Quality Variability
    Search result quality can vary depending on the sources selected and the instance configuration.
  • User Interface
    The interface may not be as polished or user-friendly as some of the major search engines.

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 Searx

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Searx is considered a good choice for those who prioritize privacy and want unbiased search results. It offers flexibility and transparency, being an open-source platform that can be customized and self-hosted.

Why this product is good

  • Searx is appreciated for being a privacy-focused metasearch engine that aggregates results from multiple search engines without tracking user activity. It advocates for user privacy and provides unbiased search results by not catering to any single engine's algorithm.

Recommended for

  • Users concerned about online privacy and data tracking
  • Individuals looking for an open-source and customizable search engine
  • Those interested in non-biased search results by amalgamating multiple engines
  • Tech-savvy users who may want to self-host their own private search engine

Ghost videos

Why I Moved My Blog From WordPress to Ghost

More videos:

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

Searx videos

Searx.me: an open source, privacy respecting alternative to Google Search

More videos:

  • Review - DeGoogleing // Duck Duck Go amd Searx
  • Review - TOP 5 privacy search engines - Best Google Search Alternatives - DuckDuckGo, Startpage, Qwant, Searx

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Ghost and Searx)
Blogging
100 100%
0% 0
Search Engine
0 0%
100% 100
CMS
100 100%
0% 0
Internet Search
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Ghost and Searx. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

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

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

Searx Reviews

The best private search engines for secure browsing
Searx is a free, privacy-focused metasearch engine. It doesn’t share users’ IP addresses and search history with the search engines it uses. Searx also blocks cookies and protects against tracking HTTPS headers, pixels, and malicious scripts. Moreover, it prevents search result filtering according to your search habits, so it is very handy if you want to minimize third-party...
Source: nordvpn.com
12 Google Alternatives: Best Search Engines To Use In 2019
It retrieves search results from numerous sources that include famous ones like Google, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Wikipedia, etc. SearX is an open-source Google alternative and available to everyone for a source code review as well as contributions on GitHub. You can even customize it as your own metasearch engine and host it on your server.
Source: fossbytes.com
8 Privacy Oriented Alternative Search Engines To Google in 2018
If you are fond of utilizing Torrent clients to download stuff, this search engine will help you find the magnet links to the exact files when you try searching for a file through searX. When you access the settings (preferences) for searX, you would find a lot of advanced things to tweak from your end.
Source: itsfoss.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ghost should be more popular than Searx. It has been mentiond 189 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 (189)

  • Project of the Week: Ghost 👻
    Ghost is a leading open-source publishing platform designed for modern creators, journalists, and businesses. Founded in 2013 as a non-profit organization, Ghost has grown to become a powerful alternative to traditional blogging platforms, with over 49,000 GitHub stars and a thriving ecosystem of themes and integrations. The platform focuses on providing beautiful, fast, and professional publishing tools, enabling... - Source: dev.to / 5 days ago
  • Save Hours Managing Ghost with These Python Scripts
    I run the blog at Developer-Service.blog with a self-hosted Ghost instance. - Source: dev.to / 28 days ago
  • Indie Hacking with Open Source Tools: Innovating on a Budget
    Modern publishing tools like Ghost accommodate sleek content presentation. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Indie Hacking Success Stories with Open Source Licenses
    Ghost: This open source blogging platform, available at Ghost, was kickstarted by a simple yet powerful idea—empowering writers with an elegant, customizable tool. The project’s MIT licensing has fostered a thriving community that collaborates to push the platform forward. Ghost’s journey demonstrates that when developers and users work together, innovation thrives. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Learning in public
    The other big option is to post blogs or notes. It's pretty simple to start a blog right here on Dev.to, or on Hashnode, two blogging platforms specifically for coding. There's also a great community platform on Codedex.io where you can write blog posts, although you do need to complete a few lessons to "unlock" the community features. In these cases, there's already an audience and community on the site, so it's... - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
View more

Searx mentions (40)

  • Just a reminder that WhatsApp is also owned by Facebook
    Meaning, you can go to public instances like searx.me,. Here's the documentation on how to start it up. But , you dont have to trust Searx that they are good people nor do you have to trust their data habits like DDG. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Instead of lashing out at duckduckgo for doing what they think is best, ask the deeper question of why we’re all still using centralized services and being disappointed when they behave in a predictably centralized way.
    Consider a future where something like https://searx.me/ is as ubiquitous as Tor. Source: about 3 years ago
  • DDG, once a hero has now fallen.
    For those looking for a replacement for Duckduckgo; I would highly recommend using Searx. It's an open source privacy respecting search engine with many decentralized private instances you can swap between. The link I sent is the primary instance, but here is a link with dozens more, and my own private instance. Source: about 3 years ago
  • DuckDuckGo is out. I guess I'll try Brave Search.
    The most based solution: Https://searx.me. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Uh oh.. What will the vaccinated think of this news?
    Searx.me and Startpage.com are the best search engines right now that are anti-censorship and anti-bias. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Ghost and Searx, 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.

DuckDuckGo - The Internet privacy company that empowers you to seamlessly take control of your personal information online, without any tradeoffs.

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

Google - Google Search, also referred to as Google Web Search or simply Google, is a web search engine developed by Google. It is the most used search engine on the World Wide Web

SquareSpace - Squarespace is the easiest way for anyone to create an exceptional website. Pages, galleries, blogs, e-commerce, domains, hosting, analytics, 24/7 support - all included.

StartPage - Startpage search engine, the new private way to search Google. Protect your Privacy with Startpage!