đź“ť Content & Publishing Comparison

Ghost vs Sanity

A detailed comparison to help you choose the right tool for your needs.

Last updated: 2026-02-07

Ghost

Self-host free, managed from $9/mo

Strengths

  • + Open source (MIT license)
  • + Built-in memberships and payments
  • + Fast and clean

Weaknesses

  • − Self-hosting needs technical skills
  • − Smaller plugin ecosystem than WP
Visit Ghost →

Sanity

Free tier (3 users), Growth from $15/user/mo

Strengths

  • + Generous free tier with 100K API requests/mo
  • + Highly customizable content studio built with React
  • + Real-time collaboration and structured content with GROQ query language

Weaknesses

  • − Steeper learning curve than traditional CMS platforms
  • − Costs scale with API usage and number of users
Visit Sanity →

The verdict

Which one is right for you?

Choose Ghost if you want

  • → Open source (MIT license)
  • → Built-in memberships and payments
Try Ghost →

Choose Sanity if you want

  • → Generous free tier with 100K API requests/mo
  • → Highly customizable content studio built with React
Try Sanity →

In depth

About each tool

Ghost

Open source publishing platform for serious writers

Ghost is what WordPress wishes it still was — focused on writing. Founded by John O’Nolan (ex-WordPress core team) as a non-profit. Bootstrapped after getting rejected by YC twice. Now generated over $136M total, used by Apple, DuckDuckGo, Mozilla. You can self-host free or use their managed service.

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Sanity

Headless CMS with a real-time collaborative editing studio and flexible content modeling

Sanity is a headless CMS that separates content management from presentation, allowing you to deliver content to any frontend via API. Its open-source editing studio (Sanity Studio) is fully customizable with React components. Solo founders benefit from the generous free tier, but should be aware that costs can increase as traffic and team size grow.

View full details →

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