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Scribd VS Ghost

Compare Scribd VS Ghost and see what are their differences

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Contents:
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  3. » Reviews
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Scribd logo Scribd

Unlimited books, audiobooks & comics. Unparalleled discovery. Any device. $8.99/month

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.
  • Scribd Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-16
  • Ghost Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-10

Scribd

Website
scribd.com
Pricing URL
-
$ Details
-
Edit details

Ghost

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

Scribd features and specs

  • Extensive Library
    Scribd offers a wide variety of content including books, audiobooks, magazines, and even documents from multiple genres.
  • Unlimited Access
    Subscribers get unlimited access to a rotating library of titles at a fixed monthly fee, allowing ample reading without purchasing each book individually.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The platform provides an easy-to-navigate interface with personalized recommendations and a customizable reading experience.
  • Cross-Device Syncing
    Scribd syncs your progress across devices, so you can start reading on your phone and continue on your tablet or computer seamlessly.
  • Offline Reading
    Users can download titles for offline reading, making it convenient for areas with limited internet access.

Possible disadvantages of Scribd

  • Rotating Library
    While Scribd offers unlimited access, some books may become unavailable over time due to the rotating nature of the library.
  • Limited Audiobook Selection
    Compared to dedicated audiobook services, Scribd's audiobook selection is not as extensive.
  • Regional Restrictions
    Certain books and content may not be available in all regions due to licensing agreements.
  • Monthly Fee
    Although comprehensive, Scribd does come with a monthly subscription fee, which might not be justifiable for infrequent readers.
  • Data Consumption
    Streaming or downloading large files such as audiobooks and high-resolution magazines can consume significant data, affecting users with limited internet plans.

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.

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

Scribd videos

+ Add

Is Scribd Worth It?

More videos:

  • Review - Scribd Review
  • Review - Audible vs Kindle Unlimited vs Scribd Review (and why I switched)

Ghost videos

+ Add

Why I Moved My Blog From WordPress to Ghost

More videos:

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

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Scribd and Ghost)

Scribd

Ghost

Digital Publishing
100 100%
Digital Publishing
0% 0
Blogging
0 0%
Blogging
100% 100
eBook Reader
100 100%
eBook Reader
0% 0
CMS
0 0%
CMS
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Scribd and Ghost. 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 Scribd and Ghost

Scribd Reviews

10 of the Best Ebook Readers for Windows, macOS, and Mobile
The reader itself is gorgeous to use and is available on iOS and Android. It’s a bright and modern app that includes a host of options to help you read content from the community. It’s not as in depth with regards to features as other solutions, but like Scribd, the experience trumps all.
Source: www.maketecheasier.com
Top 25 SlideShare Alternatives To Create & Share Online Presentations
With over 80million monthly active readers Scribd is the world’s most popular open platform for publishing and sharing documents of all types. You can upload your academic or business presentations to Scribd for free and share with anyone. Yes, you can embed your Scribd documents on your own website too.
Source: slidehelper.com
17 Powerful Issuu Alternatives Nobody Told You About (1 BIG winner)
When looking at the costs, Scribd is cheaper, so for anyone publishing a paid for magazine, it could be a consideration. However, the possibility to share isn’t there, and you can’t embed your publications on your website, although it is quite straightforward to load to services like Behance. But, if you are looking for something with an Issuu like PDF viewer, Scribd is not...
Source: pdfcatalogcreator.blogspot.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

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ghost should be more popular than Scribd. 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.

Scribd mentions (54)

  • “Manitoba Affidavit” 1870
    If you go to https://scribd.com and enter search term Lawrence Barkwell + Métis and change results to documents/articles, all of his 2,000+ research papers are there. He was the historian for the Louis Riel Institute and Gabriel Dumont Institute for over 20 years. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Complete plans for a 2-storey residential Building
    Look on scribd.com. They have several plan sets for residential structural buildings. Source: over 1 year ago
  • whats your opinion on elvis as an actor?
    Jerry Schilling speaks to this in his book, "Me and a Guy Named Elvis." Highly recommend this audiobook available for free on a trial basis at scribd.com. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • whats your opinion on elvis as an actor?
    There are several Elvis ebooks and audiobooks you can access for free with a 30-day trial at scribd.com. Registration requires a credit card but you can cancel before the first payment. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • f*cking scribd amex offers
    Get a $6 statement credit by using your enrolled eligible Card to make a single purchase of $11.99 or more online at scribd.com by 10/31/2023. Limit of 5 statement credits (total of $30). See terms. Source: about 2 years ago
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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 / 12 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 / about 1 month 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

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Scribd and Ghost, you can also consider the following products

Issuu - Issuu is the leading digital publishing platform delivering exceptional reading experiences of magazines, catalogs, and newspapers.

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.

Google Play Books - Google Play Books lets you search, preview, and buy millions of books using Google Book Search.

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

SlideShare - Discover, Share, and Present presentations and infographics with the world’s largest professional content sharing community.

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.

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