Ghost
Notion Sites
| Feature | Ghost | Notion Sites |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $9/mo | Free / from $10/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4 / 5 |
| Best For | professional-bloggers, independent-publishers, news-sites, creators | knowledge-bases, documentation-sites, portfolios, simple-landing-pages |
| Founded | 2013 | 2024 |
| Publishing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Newsletters | ✓ | ✗ |
| Memberships | ✓ | ✗ |
| Seo | ✓ | ✗ |
| Themes | ✓ | ✓ |
| Integrations | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Page Publishing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Custom Domains | ✗ | ✓ |
| Navigation | ✗ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
| Seo Settings | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Notion Sites Pros
- Publish websites directly from Notion pages
- No separate tool or coding required
- Custom domains and themes available
- Inherits Notion flexible content blocks
✗ Notion Sites Cons
- Limited design customization compared to website builders
- SEO capabilities are basic
- Performance depends on Notion infrastructure
The Verdict
Ghost is built for professional bloggers and independent publishers, with a focus on publishing and newsletters. Notion Sites targets knowledge bases and documentation sites and leads with page-publishing and custom-domains.
Pricing is close: Ghost starts at $9/mo versus $10/mo for Notion Sites — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Ghost edges out on user ratings (4.5 vs 4). While both are well-regarded, that gap reflects real differences in user satisfaction worth considering.
Feature-wise, Ghost offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Notion Sites takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Bottom line: Ghost has a slight overall edge — but if publish websites directly from notion pages matters most to you, Notion Sites may still be the right call.