Ghost vs Squarespace: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Ghost and Squarespace 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.
Squarespace
6/10
Website builder and hosting platform with built-in e-commerce, SEO tools and a paid Email Campaigns add-on, aimed at small businesses, creatives and solo sellers.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.9/10 | 6/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 5/10 |
| 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 | 6/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 5/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 5/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | $25/mo Basic |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Contact for pricing | $25/mo Basic |
| Features | ||
| Email Marketing | ||
| Landing Pages | ||
| Segmentation | ||
| A/B Testing | ||
| E-commerce Features | Not listed | |
Ghost vs Squarespace cost by team size
| Team size | Ghost | Squarespace |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | Contact for pricing | $25/moBasic |
| 5 users | Contact for pricing | $25/moBasic |
| 10 users | Contact for pricing | $25/moBasic |
| 25 users | Contact for pricing | $25/moBasic |
| 50 users | Contact for pricing | $25/moBasic |
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 Scalability score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Customization score (8/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (5/10 vs 2/10)
- Better fit for content creators (9/10 vs 6/10)
Why choose Squarespace
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Support score (6/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for small business (9/10 vs 7/10)
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.
Squarespace
Pros
- Email Campaigns sits inside the site dashboard and can pull in blog posts and products, so there is no separate tool to connect.
- Email pricing is based on sends, not subscribers, which makes large lists that receive occasional newsletters cheap to host.
- The vendor pricing page lists unlimited bandwidth, unlimited storage, SSL and 24/7 support on every plan.
- Core and higher plans remove the store transaction fee and add code injection for extra customisation.
- There is a 14-day free trial that needs no credit card.
Cons
- Email Campaigns has no A/B testing of subject lines or content.
- Email segmentation only works with tags, without and/or conditions.
- Automations are single follow-up emails triggered by a sign-up, purchase or form submission, with no multi-step drips.
- There is no native CRM, so lead tracking needs third-party tools.
- Prices rose in 2025 and again in the US in July 2026, and Email Campaigns is billed on top of the website plan.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Ghost scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 6.9/10 against 6/10 for Squarespace. The largest gap is in Customization: 8/10 for Ghost and 6/10 for Squarespace.
No, neither Ghost nor Squarespace lists a free plan.
Ghost is the better fit for content creators: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 6/10 for Squarespace.
