Ghost

Ghost is a website, a letter, and a membership desk. You write a post. It can go on the site, in email, or both. People join as free members. On Publisher and up, they can pay you through your own Stripe account. Ghost takes none of that. It is not a host for the show files. 404 Media still runs a separate premium audio feed as a member perk. You still publish the public show where the files live.

It fits a weekly host or a writer-host who wants a real site and paid members without giving a cut to the platform. Casey Newton's Platformer left Substack for Ghost and wrote that the move dropped Substack's 10 percent take. It does not fit someone who only needed a blast after Tuesday's episode. It does not fit a network sales desk.

What repeats among independent publishers is ownership. Ghost is open source and funded by its users. The homepage names 404 Media, Platformer, Tangle, and The Lever. Creators on the same page include Gone With The Wynns. The bargain is you own the list and the brand, and you do not sit inside a recommendation network.

The later pain is the ladder. Official cards put paid subscriptions on Publisher, not Starter. The Ghost forum lit up in July 2025 when Starter lost paid tiers for new customers. Old accounts were grandfathered. Self-host is free software, but you run the server and the sending. Hosted Ghost is a monthly bill that also rises with member count on the bigger plans.

Run the 14-day trial. If you will charge people, start on Publisher. Connect Stripe. Put the show's episode notes on the site and send the letter from the same post. Keep the public audio on your host. Use member-only posts for extras. Ghost(Pro) says you can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel anytime.

Ghost is a publishing business in a box, not a podcast host and not a cheap blast tool. Zero platform cut is why people move. Publisher is the door if money is the job. If you only needed tags and a send button, people already stay in Mailchimp.