Drip
Ghost
| Feature | Drip | Ghost |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $39/mo | Free / from $9/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.5 / 5 |
| Best For | ecommerce-stores, dtc-brands, shopify-merchants, online-retailers | professional-bloggers, independent-publishers, news-sites, creators |
| Founded | 2013 | 2013 |
| Visual Workflows | ✓ | ✗ |
| Email Campaigns | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sms Marketing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Revenue Attribution | ✓ | ✗ |
| Behavior Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Segmentation | ✓ | ✗ |
| A B Testing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Publishing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Newsletters | ✗ | ✓ |
| Memberships | ✗ | ✓ |
| Seo | ✗ | ✓ |
| Themes | ✗ | ✓ |
| Integrations | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hosting | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Drip Pros
- Deep e-commerce integrations (Shopify, WooCommerce)
- Visual workflow builder with revenue attribution
- Advanced segmentation based on purchase behavior
- Pre-built automation playbooks for common e-commerce flows
✗ Drip Cons
- Expensive compared to general email tools
- No free plan available
- Primarily focused on e-commerce (limited for other use cases)
✓ Ghost Pros
- Open-source and self-hostable (free)
- Native membership and paid subscription support
- Fast and SEO-friendly by default
- Clean writing experience without bloat
✗ Ghost Cons
- Themes require code knowledge to customize
- Smaller plugin ecosystem than WordPress
- Self-hosting requires technical maintenance
The Verdict
Drip is built for ecommerce stores and dtc brands, with a focus on visual-workflows and email-campaigns. Ghost targets professional bloggers and independent publishers and leads with publishing and newsletters.
On pricing, Ghost is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $9/mo compared to $39/mo for Drip. That $30/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Ghost has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Drip requires a paid subscription from day one.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.