Ghost
Wix
| Feature | Ghost | Wix |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $9/mo | Free / from $17/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | professional-bloggers, independent-publishers, news-sites, creators | small-businesses, beginners, restaurants, portfolios, local-businesses |
| Founded | 2013 | 2006 |
| Publishing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Newsletters | ✓ | ✗ |
| Memberships | ✓ | ✗ |
| Seo | ✓ | ✓ |
| Themes | ✓ | ✗ |
| Integrations | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Drag Drop Editor | ✗ | ✓ |
| Templates | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ecommerce | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Builder | ✗ | ✓ |
| Booking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Crm | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Wix Pros
- Easiest website builder for beginners
- 900+ designer-made templates
- AI generates entire sites from prompts
- All-in-one (hosting, domain, email)
✗ Wix Cons
- Cannot switch templates after building
- Sites can be slow to load
- Moving away is nearly impossible
The Verdict
Ghost is built for professional bloggers and independent publishers, with a focus on publishing and newsletters. Wix targets small businesses and beginners and leads with drag-drop-editor and templates.
On pricing, Ghost is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $9/mo compared to $17/mo for Wix. That $8/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.