Ghost vs PublicCMS
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted content management systems options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Ghost | PublicCMS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 55,413 | ★ 2,097 |
| First released | 2013 | 2015 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Substack, Medium | WordPress |
What are Ghost and PublicCMS?
Ghost
Ghost is a powerful open-source publishing platform built on Node.js, designed for professional bloggers, publications, and creators. It includes native membership, subscription, and email newsletter features alongside a fast, modern editor.
- Built-in membership and paid subscriptions
- Native email newsletters
- Fast modern editor
- SEO-optimized by default
PublicCMS
PublicCMS is an open-source content management system written in Java that generates static pages for high performance and supports managing multiple sites. It is aimed at organizations needing a fast, template-driven publishing platform.
- Static page generation
- Template-driven
- Multi-site support
- High performance
Ghost vs PublicCMS: key differences
Ghost is written in TypeScript, while PublicCMS is built with Java. Licensing differs — MIT for Ghost versus Apache-2.0 for PublicCMS. Ghost is the more established project (first released 2013), while PublicCMS arrived in 2015. Ghost has the considerably larger community, at 55,413 GitHub stars versus 2,097. Ghost lists first-class Docker deployment; PublicCMS does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Ghost if…
- Excellent for newsletters and memberships
- Clean, fast publishing experience
Watch out for
- Plugin ecosystem smaller than WordPress
- MySQL recommended for production
Choose PublicCMS if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Active community (2.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
Frequently asked questions
Is Ghost or PublicCMS better?
Ghost is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider PublicCMS if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Ghost and PublicCMS free and open-source?
Yes. Ghost is licensed under MIT and PublicCMS under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ghost and PublicCMS with Docker?
Ghost: yes. PublicCMS: check the project docs for container support.