Ghost vs Tina CMS
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?
Ghost
Professional publishing platform for blogs and newsletters
VS
Tina CMS
Git-backed content management with visual editing
| Feature | Ghost | Tina CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 54,707 | ★ 13,714 |
| First released | 2013 | 2021 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Substack, Medium | Contentful, Sanity |
Why pick each one
Choose Ghost if…
- Excellent for newsletters and memberships
- Clean, fast publishing experience
Choose Tina CMS if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 13.7k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Ghost or Tina CMS 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 Ghost and Tina CMS free and open-source?
Yes. Ghost is licensed under MIT and Tina CMS under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ghost and Tina CMS with Docker?
Ghost: yes. Tina CMS: yes.