Ghost vs OneSignal: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Ghost and OneSignal 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.
OneSignal
7.1/10
OneSignal is a customer messaging platform for sending mobile push, web push, in-app messages, email and SMS to app and website users.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.9/10 | 7.1/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Customization | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Ease of Use | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | $19/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 OneSignal cost by team size
| Team size | Ghost | OneSignal |
|---|---|---|
| 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)
- Better fit for content creators (9/10 vs 3/10)
Why choose OneSignal
- Has a free plan (Ghost does not)
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Integration score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for startups (9/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (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.
OneSignal
Pros
- A free plan with unlimited push up to 1,000 MAU and 10,000 emails a month makes it cheap to start.
- Push, in-app, email and SMS run from one platform with cross-channel journeys.
- Reviewers on G2 and PeerSpot say the dashboard is easy for non-technical marketers to use.
- A broad integration catalog covers CDPs such as Segment, RudderStack and Hightouch, data warehouses, and analytics tools.
Cons
- PeerSpot reviewers call it expensive for large subscriber bases.
- Free and Growth plans cap segments at 6 and 10, and reporting history at 30 and 90 days.
- SMS pricing is not published and requires a sales conversation.
- Reviewers mention unclear documentation for advanced cases and limited in-app design options.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
OneSignal scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 7.1/10 against 6.9/10 for Ghost. The largest gap is in Customization: 8/10 for Ghost and 6/10 for OneSignal.
OneSignal 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 OneSignal.
OneSignal has A/B Testing, which Ghost lacks.
