Ghost
Loops
| Feature | Ghost | Loops |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $9/mo | Free / from $49/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | professional-bloggers, independent-publishers, news-sites, creators | saas-companies, startups, product-led-growth, developers |
| Founded | 2013 | 2022 |
| Publishing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Newsletters | ✓ | ✗ |
| Memberships | ✓ | ✗ |
| Seo | ✓ | ✗ |
| Themes | ✓ | ✗ |
| Integrations | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Email Campaigns | ✗ | ✓ |
| Automation Loops | ✗ | ✓ |
| Transactional Email | ✗ | ✓ |
| Audience Segments | ✗ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
| Api | ✗ | ✓ |
| Templates | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Loops Pros
- Purpose-built for SaaS (not retrofitted from marketing)
- Beautiful default templates and editor
- Transactional and marketing in one platform
- Free plan with 1,000 contacts
✗ Loops Cons
- Newer platform with fewer integrations
- Limited advanced segmentation compared to mature tools
- Not suited for non-SaaS businesses
The Verdict
Ghost is built for professional bloggers and independent publishers, with a focus on publishing and newsletters. Loops targets saas companies and startups and leads with email-campaigns and automation-loops.
On pricing, Ghost is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $9/mo compared to $49/mo for Loops. That $40/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
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.