CMS Made Simple vs Ghost
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted content management systems options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
CMS Made Simple
Flexible CMS for small and medium business sites
VS
Ghost
Professional publishing platform for blogs and newsletters
| Feature | CMS Made Simple | Ghost |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 20 | ★ 54,707 |
| First released | 2004 | 2013 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Joomla | WordPress, Substack, Medium |
Why pick each one
Choose CMS Made Simple if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Ghost if…
- Excellent for newsletters and memberships
- Clean, fast publishing experience
Frequently asked questions
Is CMS Made Simple or Ghost better?
Neither is universally better. Ghost has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are CMS Made Simple and Ghost free and open-source?
Yes. CMS Made Simple is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Ghost under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run CMS Made Simple and Ghost with Docker?
CMS Made Simple: check the project docs for container support. Ghost: yes.