Ghost vs WriteFreely
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Ghost
Professional publishing platform for blogs and newsletters
VS
WriteFreely
Minimalist federated blogging platform
| Feature | Ghost | WriteFreely |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Content Management Systems | Social Networks |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 54,707 | ★ 5,216 |
| First released | 2013 | 2018 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Substack, Medium | Medium, Tumblr |
Why pick each one
Choose Ghost if…
- Excellent for newsletters and memberships
- Clean, fast publishing experience
Frequently asked questions
Is Ghost or WriteFreely better?
Neither is universally better. Ghost has the larger community, while WriteFreely is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Ghost and WriteFreely free and open-source?
Yes. Ghost is licensed under MIT and WriteFreely under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ghost and WriteFreely with Docker?
Ghost: yes. WriteFreely: yes.