Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Ghost VS Web.com

Compare Ghost VS Web.com and see what are their differences

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.

Web.com logo Web.com

Web.com has 30 years of experience helping over 3 million small businesses succeed online.
  • Ghost Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-10
  • Web.com Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-12-14

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.

Web.com features and specs

  • User-Friendly
    Web.com offers a straightforward drag-and-drop interface, making it easy for users with little technical experience to create and manage their website.
  • Customizable Templates
    The platform provides a variety of customizable templates, allowing users to personalize their website to match their branding and style.
  • Comprehensive Solutions
    Web.com offers a range of services beyond website building, including domain registration, web hosting, SEO, and e-commerce solutions, providing a one-stop-shop for online presence needs.
  • Customer Support
    24/7 customer support is available via phone, chat, and email, which is beneficial for resolving issues quickly and efficiently.
  • Integrated Marketing Tools
    The platform includes built-in marketing tools such as SEO support, email marketing, and social media integrations to help drive traffic and engage visitors.

Possible disadvantages of Web.com

  • Pricing
    Web.com can be more expensive compared to some of its competitors, especially when considering additional services and features beyond the basic plan.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    While suitable for beginners, the platform may lack more advanced features that experienced developers might need, potentially limiting scalability for complex projects.
  • Template Flexibility
    Although there are many templates, some users have reported that they find the templates to be less flexible and harder to modify than those offered by some other website builders.
  • Website Performance
    Some users have experienced slower loading times and less reliable performance, which can impact user experience and SEO rankings.
  • Contract Terms
    Web.com has been known to have long-term contracts with auto-renewal clauses, which can be inconvenient and potentially costly for users looking to switch services.

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 Web.com

Overall verdict

  • Web.com can be a good choice for individuals or small businesses looking for an all-in-one solution to establish their online presence. However, users seeking advanced features or more competitive pricing might explore other options.

Why this product is good

  • Web.com is a website hosting and design company known for offering a variety of services such as domain registration, website building, and online marketing. It caters to small businesses and entrepreneurs who may not have technical expertise, providing user-friendly tools and customer support.

Recommended for

  • Small business owners
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Individuals looking for basic web hosting and design services
  • Users preferring professional support for online marketing tasks

Ghost videos

Why I Moved My Blog From WordPress to Ghost

More videos:

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

Web.com videos

Web.com - Website Builder Review - Top10.com

More videos:

  • Review - Web.com Hosting: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
  • Tutorial - Web.com Website Builder Quick Start Guide: How to Create a Website
  • Tutorial - Web.com Website Builder Review & Tutorial
  • Review - Web.com Website Builder Review: Is Web.com Worth It?
  • Review - Web.com Website Builder - Do It Yourself - REVIEW and Walkthrough
  • Review - Web.com Review (2023)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Ghost and Web.com)
Blogging
100 100%
0% 0
Website Builder
84 84%
16% 16
CMS
96 96%
4% 4
Blogging Platform
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Ghost and Web.com. 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 Web.com

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

Web.com Reviews

16 Best Web Design Software in 2022 [Essential Guide]
Web.com Pros Here are the highlights of Web.com’s pros: The ability to build your website on a smartphone or tablet with the builder’s GoCentral app. The option to build a site from scratch using a blank template, rather than starting with a premade template like most other builders.
15+ Best Web Design Software of 2022 (Ranked and Reviewed)
With its DIY website builder, you can create a website in minutes, even if you have no prior knowledge of web design. Web.com has a nice list of templates to choose from which should make getting your website up and running even faster.
How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform in 2021 (Compared)
Web.com pricing starts at $1.95 per month for their website starter plan which comes with their drag & drop site builder, blogging platform, hundreds of beautiful templates, thousands of free stock images, and a free domain.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ghost should be more popular than Web.com. It has been mentiond 188 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 (188)

  • 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 / 23 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
  • Using GitHub as a Free Content Management System
    Under a lot of other circumstances, I’d have simply used a hosted solution like Ghost, but I really wanted to embrace the file-over-app philosophy, especially After the recent controversies surrounding certain software products suddenly ceasing support. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
View more

Web.com mentions (46)

  • New site redirect
    Hi all, I'm building a new site via Google Sites to replace my pre-existing web.com site. I would like the URL to remain the same. What do I need to do to redirect to the new Google Site once finished? Thanks in advance! Source: over 1 year ago
  • Just bought a domain name, how do I connect it to my html code?
    I'm not sure how to connect the html code to the domain name? I don't see an interface from web.com (purchasing site) other than their expensive website building packages. I don't want to pay that amount for developing the website as the point is to code the entire thing by hand. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Worst revival to make with?
    Web (yes I'm not kidding its web.com). Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Google Domains is going away, now owned by SquareSpace. Well that sucks.
    A good analogy is to look at Network Solutions. It's a horrible company that is owned by web.com. Web.com only cares about sales and marketing. The registrar aspects just a path to cross-sell you on bullshit services. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Google domains closing, selling all assets and domains to Squarespace!
    This sucks. What I liked about Google Domains is that price remained the same year after year. Most registers are owned by a couple companies (web.com or something?) and every renewal it is some jacked up artificial price. $12 for the first year and somehow it is $36+ for the next? All the registers should be price regulated. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Ghost and Web.com, 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.

WiX - Create a free website with Wix.com. Customize with Wix' website builder, no coding skills needed. Choose a design, begin customizing and be online today

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

Weebly - Weebly's free website builder makes it easy to create a website, blog, or online store. Find customizable templates, domains, and easy-to-use tools for any type...

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.

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.