There is no Outpost vs Ghost, it's Outpost PLUS Ghost.
Outpost works exclusively with the Ghost publishing system, because we believe it is the future of subscription-driven, newsletter-first publishing.
We think the independent creator community deserves powerful tools that are also independent. Ghost, a non-profit, builds open-source software that lets you bring on new members, charge subscribers, write posts, send newsletters, and more. There's no lock-in or tricks, or venture capitalists involved.
While Ghost is open-source software you can host yourself, the vast majority of our clients rely on Ghost(Pro)'s hosting service, which includes the cost of hosting your site, sending out all of your newsletters, and sending bulk communications to subscribers, at a wickedly cheap price.
Outpost augments any Ghost site, including those hosted on Ghost(Pro), on Magic Pages or self-hosted, with tools that help your business run smoother, get more subscribers, and convert more free subscribers to paid subscribers.
While our software is not open-source, we are a publishers cooperative with the mission in our corporate charter to provide low-cost, powerful tools to independent media outlets and indie creators of all stripes.
Like Ghost, Outpost does not build any features that lock you in, and we strive to make sure that the data we collect for you is portable so you can take it with you if you want to stop using Outpost or leave Ghost entirely.
Also like Ghost, we do not have VC investors, and so do not have incentives to make our service worse, grow unsustainably, or flip the company.
We've been around since 2021. We started from scratch with no funding, and we bring in enough revenue to be sustainable and pay fair wages.
If you're new to the Ghost world, we recommend checking out Ghost's website, or if you are Ghost-curious and want some advice or insight, please drop us a note at info@outpost.pub.
Image Credit: NASA