Ghost
Open source publishing platform for serious writers
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Self-host free, managed from $9/mo
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.
What's good
- Open source (MIT license)
- Built-in memberships and payments
- Fast and clean
Watch out for
- Self-hosting needs technical skills
- Smaller plugin ecosystem than WP