Carrd vs Ghost: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Carrd and Ghost to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Carrd
6/10
Carrd is a no-code builder for responsive one-page websites, landing pages, portfolios and link-in-bio pages, aimed at individuals and small businesses.
Ghost
6.9/10
Open-source publishing platform that combines a website, newsletters, and paid memberships for independent publishers, creators, and media businesses.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6/10 | 6.9/10 |
| Analytics | 3/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 10/10 | 7/10 |
| Customization | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 4/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 3/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 4/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 4/10 | 5/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | Contact for pricing |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Free | Contact for pricing |
| Features | ||
| Landing Pages | ||
| A/B Testing | Not listed | |
| Email Marketing | Not listed | |
| Segmentation | Not listed | |
Carrd vs Ghost cost by team size
| Team size | Carrd | Ghost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeFree | Contact for pricing |
| 5 users | FreeFree | Contact for pricing |
| 10 users | FreeFree | Contact for pricing |
| 25 users | FreeFree | Contact for pricing |
| 50 users | FreeFree | Contact for pricing |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Carrd
- Has a free plan (Ghost does not)
- Higher Cost score (10/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (9/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for agencies (6/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for startups (8/10 vs 6/10)
Why choose Ghost
- Higher Scalability score (7/10 vs 3/10)
- Higher Analytics score (6/10 vs 3/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (5/10 vs 2/10)
- Better fit for mid-market (5/10 vs 3/10)
Pros & Cons
Carrd
Pros
- It is very cheap. Paid plans start at $9 a year, and 10 sites with custom domains cost $19 a year.
- Non-developers can publish a responsive one-page site quickly, a point reviewers on Capterra and SpotSaaS praise consistently.
- Templates, including free ones, are widely described as clean and attractive.
- Forms connect to Mailchimp and Sendy for signups and to Stripe for payments.
- Site-count tiers up to 1,000 sites make it economical to run many separate pages.
Cons
- Each site is limited to a single page, so it is not suited to complex or dynamic websites.
- It has no built-in email sending, contact management or segmentation, so marketing campaigns need other tools.
- Custom domains, forms and analytics are missing from the cheapest Pro Lite plan.
- Some reviewers find multi-column layouts and snapping behaviour awkward to edit.
- It is run by a very small team, which limits support capacity and the pace of new features.
Ghost
Pros
- Ghost takes no percentage of membership revenue, unlike Substack's 10% fee, so publishers pay only the plan price and Stripe fees.
- Website, newsletter, and paid memberships work together without plugins.
- The open-source core can be self-hosted for free, and APIs and webhooks support custom builds.
- More than 100 listed integrations, including Zapier, Stripe, Mailchimp, and privacy-focused analytics tools.
Cons
- Email features are basic: segmentation is limited and there is no built-in A/B testing or SMS.
- Email delivery depends on Mailgun, which users say can be costly or unreliable when self-hosting.
- Lower plans get email-only support with no weekend coverage, and Trustpilot reviews complain about billing and refunds.
- The Starter plan excludes paid subscriptions, custom themes, and integrations.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Ghost scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 6.9/10 against 6/10 for Carrd. The largest gap is in Scalability: 3/10 for Carrd and 7/10 for Ghost.
Carrd has a free plan; Ghost does not list one.
Ghost is the better fit for enterprise: we rate it 5/10 for them, against 2/10 for Carrd.
