Ghost vs Loops: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Ghost and Loops to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Ghost
6.9/10
Open-source publishing platform that combines a website, newsletters, and paid memberships for independent publishers, creators, and media businesses.
Loops
6.8/10
Loops is an email platform for SaaS companies that combines marketing campaigns, event-triggered lifecycle automations and transactional email in one tool.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.9/10 | 6.8/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Customization | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | $49/mo Growth |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Contact for pricing | Free Free |
| Features | ||
| A/B Testing | ||
| Email Marketing | ||
| Segmentation | ||
| Landing Pages | Not listed | |
| SMS Marketing | Not listed | |
Ghost vs Loops cost by team size
| Team size | Ghost | Loops |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 5 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 10 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 25 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 50 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
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 Ghost
- Higher Customization score (8/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Security score (7/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for content creators (9/10 vs 3/10)
Why choose Loops
- Has a free plan (Ghost does not)
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Support score (6/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for startups (9/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for marketing teams (7/10 vs 5/10)
Pros & Cons
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.
Loops
Pros
- Marketing, lifecycle and transactional email share one contact record, so there is no data syncing between tools.
- Paid plans include unlimited sends and no seat fees, and unsubscribed contacts do not count toward the bill.
- Every feature, including split testing, is available on every plan, including the free one.
- The Goals feature measures conversions such as upgrades, not only opens and clicks.
- The REST API, SDKs and native Stripe, Clerk and Supabase integrations make event-triggered emails straightforward for developers.
Cons
- Reviewers say it fits ecommerce, agencies and newsletter-first businesses poorly.
- Automation and behavioural segmentation are shallower than Customer.io's.
- It sends email only, with no SMS or push channels.
- Costs rise steadily as the contact list grows.
- Free-plan emails carry Loops branding.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Ghost scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 6.9/10 against 6.8/10 for Loops. The largest gap is in Customization: 8/10 for Ghost and 6/10 for Loops.
Loops has a free plan; Ghost does not list one.
Ghost is the better fit for content creators: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 3/10 for Loops.
Loops has A/B Testing, which Ghost lacks.
