Ghost is a free, open-source Medium alternative for publishing a blog and newsletter on your own web address. On Medium your posts and readers live on someone else’s platform; with self-hosted Ghost you own both.
| App | Good for | Code | Import from Medium | Ease of use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ghost | Writers, creators and small publishers who want a blog, newsletter and paid memberships in one place | Code Open source | Import from Medium Yes | Some setup |
 WordPress | Any kind of website, with the widest choice of themes, plugins and people who can help | Code Open source | Import from Medium Partly | Easy |
Medium is a blogging platform where anyone can publish stories, and members pay a monthly fee to read beyond a few free articles. Writers in its Partner Program earn a share of membership revenue based on reading time.
Writers look for an alternative to own their work and their readers. On Medium your stories sit on Medium's domain and design, the paywall and its earnings follow Medium's rules, and changes to recommendations or payouts can cut your reach or income overnight. You cannot set your own subscription price. A self-hosted blog such as Ghost or WordPress puts your writing on your own domain, lets you build an email list you keep, and lets you charge readers directly if you want to.
Publish a blog and paid newsletter on a site that you own.
The closest replacement if you write regularly and want readers to subscribe. Ghost gives you your own publication with a clean editor, an email newsletter and optional paid memberships at a price you set.
Build a website, blog or shop with themes and thousands of add-ons.
The most flexible choice. WordPress can be a simple blog or a whole website, with thousands of themes and plugins, but it has more settings to learn and no newsletter built in.
Download your Medium archive from its settings; it contains every story as an HTML file. Ghost can import a Medium export directly. For WordPress, copy posts across, which is quick for a small blog, or use a community import tool. Add a link from your Medium profile to your new site so readers can follow you.
Start with Ghost. If you want something simpler, try WordPress. Both are free and open source.
Yes, and you set the price. Ghost has paid memberships built in, with payments going to your own Stripe account. On WordPress you add a membership plugin.
Medium's recommendations bring some readers, and you lose those. Your own site is found through search, your newsletter and social media, and every reader you gain is yours to keep.
Yes, the apps are free. To run them you need Cloudgate and a server. Use hosted Cloudgate, which can also provide the server, or install Cloudgate on a server of your own for free. Cloudgate's plans and prices are at cloudgate.octabyte.io/pricing. One server can run several apps.
No. Cloudgate installs the app on your server and gives it a secure web address. You use it in your browser.
