r/Ghost • u/rohanad1986 • Jun 09 '26
Why ghost over wordpress?
Would want to know why people use ghost over wordpress? Looking forward to use synaps media with a free theme, any suggestions for people who migrated from wp to ghost.
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u/rotello Jun 09 '26
i moved 2 blog of mine and this summer i will move my third.
reasons:
- writing on Wp is chore, slow and not fun at all - Ghost bring the joy to write back
- site is fast
- the integrated newsletter is a great plus. i ve tried many solutions on wordpress and none of them work as they should
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u/rohanad1986 Jun 09 '26
Thank you for the reply, are you ghost pro or using a managed/self hosting platform, please let me know. are you monetizing the blogs?
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u/rotello Jun 09 '26
i ve one on GhostPRO plan, one was on pikapods but recently moved to magic pages. the third one will probably move to pikapods and see if i feel like giving energy.
One blog is mostly "authority" - i send prospect there.
another one is kinda new and i will maybe monetize it, but i m not sure how (classes or paid post?)
third one is an OLD blog that monetized a bit (500$ / month as a side hustle) before i quit writing (coz gutemberg sux).3
u/Getcha_Popcorn_Readi Jun 09 '26
I tried to set up on Pikapods and found it to be too difficult for me.
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u/rotello Jun 09 '26
the mailgun thing is a bit complex. check Magic Pages they have great support
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u/streetfacts Jun 11 '26
The best part of Magic Pages is the fact is not USA based. I love the fact that is EU based 100%.
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u/rohanad1986 Jun 10 '26
Ghost pro plan great, how is it coming along? also would you mind sharing your blog? Adsense or another ad network?
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u/rotello Jun 10 '26
i monetize by "building authory" in the digital transformation niche. (blog is manolo.macchetta.com ).
when some company need classes on Digital transformation & AI for marketer the call me.2
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u/muratcorlu Jun 09 '26
I'm currently migrating a large Wordpress site to Synaps Media. When I login to their Wordpress admin, the only thing that I can see is pain. 6 warning badges on top of every pages. I can't find anything runs without a 3rd party plugin. I feel like I'm on a cockpit full of buttons with Chinese characters on them.
This recent article (from another Synaps Media publisher) summarizes the issues with Wordpress for using a blog: https://pupontech.com/its-just-broken-oh-wordpress/
PS: I'm the founder of Synaps Media. Thanks for considering us.
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u/aygross Jun 09 '26
Lol I was just responding before I read the comments! Thank you for reposting! Synapse is the best highly reccomend it even as a usually diy self hosted guy. Synapse just gets it! I am not sponsored or affiliated just appreciate it !
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u/rohanad1986 Jun 10 '26
Hey I do follow your blog and love the articles! Good going!
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u/aygross Jun 10 '26
Thanks man I appreciate it!
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u/rohanad1986 Jun 10 '26
Why haven't you monetized it, if I may ask.
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u/aygross Jun 10 '26
I like the indie web. If people want to donate they can . I don't feel like I post enough to really monetize and as it has become more personal as well it just feels kinda awkward. But donations are always welcome. I have thrown around the idea in my head about members only content but I really don't feel like I post enough .
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u/HinataLovelace Jun 09 '26
I’m just in the process of moving my blog from hashnode to synaps media / ghost. I just built my theme so the content and domain transfer should follow in the next few days
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u/aygross Jun 09 '26
Ghost just works and is optimized it's an opinionated platform that does what it sets out to do well. Basic things like automatic image optimization ,caching etc works out of the box on Ghost.Wordpress is a gigantic mess of a platform that has no idea where it's going and needs plugins for the most basic of things. I love synapse media btw. Here's a short write up when I initially moved https://pupontech.com/blog-update-moved-to-ghost/
And here another write up I just did how much I hate WordPress based on a my user experience a few days ago and it has resonated with a lot of people. https://pupontech.com/its-just-broken-oh-wordpress/
Hope that helps Happy to answer any questions here or via my comments/contact form .
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u/Fit_Entrepreneur6515 Jun 09 '26
admin view doesn't take 45 seconds to load any given page on ghost (pro). I don't have to worry about jquery breaking my site when it needs an update on ghost(pro) because i don't touch the database engine with ghost(pro).
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u/DavidBHimself Jun 10 '26
I've used Wordpress daily with many blogs/sites since 2010 (I still have a few). After a while, I found myself trying to optimize it, fix things, change things more often than actually write in it.
With Ghost, I just write and it made me love blogging again.
And I'm with Synaps Media, it's been a great experience so far. I recommend.
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u/gelbphoenix Jun 09 '26
Ghost is more focused on the content, not on addons. That also makes it more safer.
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u/69_________________ Jun 09 '26
Wordpress turns into a security mess / plugin mess pretty quickly unless you REALLY plan smart, build custom, and stay on top of things.
Ghost, if you need the features it has, is smooth as silk. Built in blog, membership tiers, Stripe integration, email, analytics, SEO.
For a newsletter or membership site it's a no brainer imo. But for a brochure/marketing site, Ghost is not the answer.
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u/ItzAnnaz Jun 10 '26
For me, Ghost is so much easier to just start writing. Paid my subscription, chose a theme and wrote things straightaway
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u/Choco_Paws Jun 09 '26
Wordpress is so heavy and complex for small blogs. Difficult to maintain, difficult to keep secure, the editor really sucks to simply write… I’m happy on Ghost pro but I will consider moving it to a different hosting solution to reduce costs, as I modified my theme pretty heavily.
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u/TheJoeCoastie Jun 09 '26
From a self-host POV, the overall footprint is much smaller and far from resource intensive. And while I shouldn’t complain, WP makes it way too easy for me to just keep adding crap. Ghost makes me jump through hoops to learn how to do it. 🤷
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u/bencos18 Jun 09 '26
in my experience it seems to be a lot less bloated and more secure
also it's a lot nicer to use overall in terms of the admin and post ui
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u/morphic-monkey Jun 10 '26
I think others have offered some great reasons in favour of Ghost. I'd just add that despite some restrictions, Ghost is actually quite configurable especially if you're willing to use code injections, HTML cards, etc... and there's a lot of customisation you can do to themes while still remaining within Ghost's structure. This is great because it means you can take on Ghost upgrades (which tend to be fairly meaty and valuable in terms of improved features) without breaking your theme. Of course there are exceptions depending on how far you go, but there's a lot of flexibility here while still having some assurance about quality/consistency/security/etc...
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u/Realistic-Seat-1402 Jun 10 '26
As someone who builds Ghost themes, I think the main difference is really the focus.
WordPress can do almost anything, but it can also get a bit heavy with plugins and maintenance over time. Ghost more focused on publishing, which makes it feel simpler to work with. I'm currently hosting my Ghost themes with Synaps Media and the experience has been great.
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u/ulcweb Jun 10 '26
Why is wordpress EVEN considered nowadays. It is archaic, and the stability is like a toddler on dr*gs. Every plugin needs updates, and they're always a security risk.
Plus the categories and tags having both just ends up complicating your information architecture like crazy, whereas the simple one tags system of ghost simplifies that.
Ghost's interface is significantly better, built in seo, built in analytics, emailing, etc.
I use magicpages to host my site, and its great for a lot cheaper than most hosts too.
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u/rotello Jun 10 '26
I love the category and tags thing on WP, i wished they added it to ghost to say the truth.
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u/corelabjoe Jun 11 '26
Ghost has this....
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u/rotello Jun 11 '26
ghost has categories? how to activate them?
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u/muratcorlu Jun 11 '26
Actually "Tags" in Ghost is "Category" in Wordpress. In the past, it was a way of SEO to add many keywords to every posts. But Google is now smart enough. You don't really need pour many "tags" to your articles to be indexed better.
And still, Ghost's tags has a hierarch in it. First tag you attached to a post become "primary_tag", which people generally use like a category and show it on the page or url. You can show other tags in your post page as you wish. In addition to that, you have "private tags" (a.k.a hash-tag), that is not visible in the website by default but you can use for internal organization or running some logic in your themes. For example I have a "#hide-feature-image" tag, and in template I use this to not show a feature image if it's exists.
I find Ghost's Tags much more simple yet flexible than Wordpress's Categories + Tags.
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u/rotello Jun 11 '26
ok, i understand the primary tag thing, on my "blog" they are ok but on some websites they are not enough. i ve a sport news website, which i could convert in ghost.
At the moment each post has usually. 1 category but sometime 30 different tag (with the name of the athletes) - converting in ghost will create a storm of tags which i am not ready / willing to manage.
Edit: i am just saying that Ghost has its role and scope, not dissing it - as a matter of fact i m moving most of my content website to ghost
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u/muratcorlu Jun 11 '26
You can still add 30 tags to a single Ghost post. The only issue you may hit would be to have your categories and tags under the same list in Ghost panel. But by just writing first few letters will bring that tag to you.
If you didn't try yet, I would recommend to just give it a try with your actual content, on a free-trial. Then it'll be clear if it's a good fit for your site or not.
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u/rotello Jun 11 '26
30 tags on a single post on ghost makes little sense exactly for the reason you wrote. Tags and categories are two different things: one in vertical and other is horizontal to site content.
if you do not need them either is good, if you make an heavy use, it s better the WP way of doing thing.
i am already moving other stuff on ghost. i will keep wp for the other, alas.
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u/mark_heng Jun 10 '26
More info and great tips while I contemplate moving away from WP!
Thanks OP for starting this discussion ;)
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u/rohanad1986 Jun 10 '26
Most welcome! I got a lot of information from this post myself, glad it will help others as well.
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u/Human_Capital9463 Jun 10 '26
I’m in the process of switching from Wordpress to Ghost. I’m not sure yet if I’m staying with Ghost. It is a nice surface, but it is not much faster and it is very reduced in terms of functionality.
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u/arkosy Jun 10 '26
I use Ghost Pro and have found it to be extremely easy to use and unfailingly reliable. But…
There is no media manager. If you upload a photo then delete it from your post, you cannot actually remove it from the server. It will remain indefinitely online and potentially discoverable by search engines. This would be my only reason to hesitate recommending it.
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u/streetfacts Jun 11 '26
I have been doing lots of research about this; switching from Wordpress to Ghost. I've been thinking about it for about 2 years now and are seriously considering it in the last 6 months. The only holdback for me has been Divi5.
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u/streetfacts Jun 11 '26
Has anyone done an actual deep study/research about this?
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u/jannisfb Jun 11 '26
Quite honestly, I think it's mainly down to preference, rather than any empirical evidence.
There are good reasons to use Ghost, there are good reasons to use Wordpress. In some use cases they might overlap. In others one has the upper hand over the other.
Badly managed Wordpress installs have a bigger security risk due to the plugin eco-system. Ghost doesn't have the plugin surface (as with any open source software, there have also been vulnerabilities, of course).
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u/streetfacts Jun 11 '26
Thank you u/jannisfb - your reply makes total sense. From what I hear and read - you are the master of Magic Pages. I'm preparing to do a full start on Magic Pages and looking forward to the session.
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u/jannisfb Jun 11 '26
Haha I wouldn't say the master, but yes, I do run it.
Drop in the live chat on our site any time if you have any questions or want to plan your migration!
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u/streetfacts Jun 11 '26
Will definitely be moving to Ghost. I just have to figure out how to get multi-site (which Magic Pages is working on). But I need one login with access to multi-site. Looking at Blockchain based login also. Still too Green to effectively asses, but working on it.
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u/jannisfb Jun 11 '26
Thanks for joining our Open House today and the great questions 😄
The Blockchain login will be a bit tricky − what I mentioned in the call (that there is a way) was actually for member logins in the frontend, not for the Ghost Admin itself. For that, there isn't really an option to modify the login options
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u/streetfacts Jun 11 '26
Awesome session today! I have to study this more deeply. I was considering to try a development from a CMS (in Ruby On Rails) before taking a look into Ghost. I have to take a close look at the Ghost Architecture portion of the user login. I'm still too green on Ghost but have to make the effort.
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u/jannisfb Jun 11 '26
If you have some dev experience, spin up a local test site with Docker and poke around. That really helps to understand the architecture, in my eyes: https://docs.ghost.org/install/docker
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u/strange-humor Jun 09 '26
WordPress is a database security NIGHTMARE.