Ghost is what serious independent publishing looks like. A fast, beautifully themed site, newsletters sent from your own domain, paid memberships with zero platform fees, comments, and a clean editor, all open source and portable. Ghost(Pro) hosting removes the ops, and the whole thing respects the writer and the reader.
Cardel provides a home for your craft. Share and sell your work, grow your audience, and bring your community together on a site of your own. Cardel is not a paid-subscription publishing system; there is no paywall or recurring billing, and you cannot self-host it.
Ghost monetises by membership. Cardel monetises by Shop items and bookings through Stripe.
Ghost sends email and stops. Cardel sends and receives on your domain, runs campaign workflows, and gathers replies, reader chat, and forms in one Messaging Center.
Ghost is publishing-first. Cardel adds Showcase pages, a video catalog, scheduling, and a brand kit alongside the blog.
Choose Ghost when writing is the business and you want paid subscriptions with no platform cut, on open-source software.
Choose Cardel when you want your site, audience, shop or bookings, and inbox on your domain and you are not selling a subscription.
You are the Forgemaster. Cardel is your forge. What you build is yours.
Cardel is a home for your craft: a site of your own with a blog, newsletter, shop, community, and one inbox. It can replace Ghost when you want your work, audience, and sales in one place. The feature list below shows where the two overlap and where they part.
Yes. Cardel pages can link out to other products, so you can keep Ghost for what it does best and bring the rest of your work to Cardel.
You don't pay for Cardel until you publish. Choose Starter, Pro, or Business when your site goes live. Ghost sets its own prices, so check their pricing page below for current plans.
Start with Get Started, set up your site, and bring your work over at your own pace. You do not have to move everything on day one.
Compare features
A check means that capability is available. Ghost is marked only when the offer is comparable, not the same product.
* Note: This table does not capture every feature of Cardel or Ghost, and is not intended as a comprehensive list. We keep this page current, but Cardel or Ghost may add or remove features that are not shown here.
Compare plans, prices, and what it costs to get started.
Cardel
Build at no cost, then choose Starter, Pro, or Business when your site goes live.
Ghost
See what Ghost charges on their pricing page.
Forge your community
Looking for a Ghost alternative? Bring your work to a site of your own.
See how Cardel compares with other products.
