article

Ghost

bolt Auto-install

Open-source self-hosted blog & newsletter platform — a Substack alternative you own

language Web & CMS

rocket_launch Install open_in_new Website

info Overview

Ghost is a professional open-source publishing platform for blogs, newsletters and paid memberships — a modern, self-hosted alternative to Medium, Substack and WordPress that runs entirely on your own server. It pairs a beautiful, distraction-free editor with built-in email newsletters, native SEO and a fast, theme-able website, so you can publish, grow an audience and own every reader relationship.

Ghost turns your writing into a real business: sell paid subscriptions and memberships through Stripe, gate premium posts, run a members portal and connect a custom domain — with a full REST & Admin API for integrations. Valebyte deploys the full stack (the Ghost app plus its MySQL database) for you: one click, automatic HTTPS, all your content and subscribers on infrastructure you control.

check_circle Features

check Beautiful, distraction-free editor with dynamic cards and drafts
check Built-in email newsletters & membership emails
check Paid memberships & subscriptions via Stripe
check Native SEO, sitemaps, AMP and structured data out of the box
check Professional themes with full custom-theme support
check Members portal, tiers and gated premium content
check Custom domains and full REST & Admin API for integrations
check One-click deploy of the Ghost app & MySQL database with HTTPS

quiz Frequently Asked Questions

Is Ghost a good self-hosted Substack alternative? expand_more

Yes. Ghost gives you newsletters and paid memberships — the core of Substack — but self-hosted on your own server, with Stripe subscriptions, your own domain and no revenue cut taken by a platform.

Does it come with a database? expand_more

Yes. Valebyte deploys the complete stack — the Ghost app together with its own MySQL database — automatically, so there is nothing extra to install or configure.

How do I set up my admin account? expand_more

Visit /ghost on your new site to create the owner account on first launch. Ghost runs a short setup wizard — there is no preset password, you choose your own credentials.

How long does deployment take? expand_more

A few minutes. Valebyte pulls the Ghost and MySQL images, wires them together, issues an HTTPS certificate and starts them, then you open /ghost to create your owner account.

Can I run paid subscriptions and newsletters? expand_more

Yes. Ghost has native email newsletters and paid memberships built in. Connect Stripe to sell monthly or yearly subscriptions and gate premium posts to paying members.

Is my content and audience private and mine? expand_more

Yes. All your posts, themes, member list and subscriber data live on your own VPS and are never shared with a third party. You own the server, the content and the audience.