Links checked 2026-10-14
Self-hosting Ghost
The self-hosted route instead of Substack, beehiiv.
The CLI does a lot of the work on the platform the project recommends. The parts that are genuinely yours are the mail provider, the payments configuration and the backup before each upgrade.
What it is
A publishing platform with the whole loop in it: a site, member accounts, paid subscriptions and newsletters. The project publishes self-hosting instructions through its CLI, and a container route it labels as a preview.
What you actually need
This is the reader's own hardware and configuration, not a price. We describe what a job needs; we do not put a figure on what self-hosting costs, because that depends on the provider, the term and the disk you choose.
- The server
- Ghost's installation documentation sets out the stack it officially recommends for production: Ubuntu, NGINX, a supported Node.js version, MySQL, systemd, a domain name, and a server with at least 1 GB of memory. The container route is documented too, and is labelled as a preview rather than the recommended path.
- How it installs
- The Ghost CLI on the Ubuntu stack the guide recommends, or the documented Docker setup. Local installs are covered for development.
- Data store
- MySQL, at the version the project's installation documentation lists for production.
- What grows
- The content directory holds images and themes, and the database holds posts and members. Images are the part that grows unexpectedly.
Before it is safe to expose
- A mail provider configured for member emails: self-hosting Ghost does not make you a mail server
- A domain and TLS, since members log in to it
- Payment provider keys if you take subscriptions
- A backup of the content directory and the database, and a note of the CLI upgrade path
The trade-offs, specifically for Ghost
- The recommended install path is Ubuntu. Other distributions are possible and are your own to work out.
- Member email depends on a mail provider you configure separately, so the deliverability question does not go away just because the site is yours.
- Taking money means payment provider keys and webhooks, which is configuration beyond the blog itself.
- Upgrades run through the CLI and are your responsibility; a failed upgrade means restoring from your own backup.
And the six things you own from now on
These are true of every tool in this section, including Ghost. They are also the reason to decide against self-hosting, which is a legitimate decision.
- You own the updates. Security releases have to be applied by you, on your schedule, and a project that stops publishing releases becomes your problem to notice.
- You own the backups, and a backup is not a backup until you have restored from it once.
- You own the uptime. There is no status page to watch and no support line to call when it stops answering.
- You own the security patches, the TLS certificate, the reverse proxy and the firewall in front of it.
- You are the on-call rota. The failure mode nobody plans for is being the only person who knows how the thing was set up.
- The hardware has a running cost and a lifetime. Disks fail, and the replacement is on you.
What you give up
- The managed hosting, backups and support of the hosted product
- A platform that handles email delivery for you
What you gain
- Posts, members and the subscriber list sit in a database you control and can move
- No platform sitting between you and the relationship with your readers
Elsewhere in the index
The box it runs on
Ghost's installation documentation sets out the stack it officially recommends for production: Ubuntu, NGINX, a supported Node.js version, MySQL, systemd, a domain name, and a server with at least 1 GB of memory. The container route is documented too, and is labelled as a preview rather than the recommended path. That machine is the purchase this page is really about, and it is the one number we will not invent for you: the right size depends on the provider, the term and the disk, so check it on the provider's own page.
Hostinger
Hostinger's VPS product is the closest fit to a self-hosted application: its own page advertises root access, Docker and NVMe storage, with data centres in several regions.
See Hostinger's plansRead Hostinger's published pricing ↗DigitalOcean
Virtual machines billed as you use them, with separate volumes, snapshots and object storage for the parts you want to keep outside the server.
See DigitalOcean's plansRead DigitalOcean's published pricing ↗Hetzner
Cloud instances and dedicated servers with rates published per instance size, so the cost of a bigger box is visible before you move.
See Hetzner's plansRead Hetzner's published pricing ↗What to check before you buy
- A virtual machine you have root on, not a website plan with a control panel bolted on top.
- Snapshots or automated backups, and where those backups are stored.
- Block storage or object storage for the data that will outgrow the server's own disk.
- What the monthly rate renews at, rather than the first-term rate on the signup page.
- Where the data centre is, if the data has a jurisdiction attached to it.
The “See plans” links go through our own /go/ redirect and some are affiliate links, which pay us if you sign up. The descriptions and trade-offs on this page are written from the project's own documentation and are unaffected. The plain pricing link under each provider is not an affiliate link. See our disclosure.
Frequently asked questions about self-hosting Ghost
Answers restate the notes on this page or point at the project's own documentation. Self-hosting moves work to you rather than removing it, and these answers say so.
What is Ghost?
A publishing platform with the whole loop in it: a site, member accounts, paid subscriptions and newsletters. We cover it as a replacement for Substack, beehiiv.
What do you need to run Ghost yourself?
The Ghost CLI on the Ubuntu stack the guide recommends, or the documented Docker setup. Local installs are covered for development. The requirements table on this page lists the server, the data store, what grows and what else to arrange first. Setup steps are at Ghost's installation documentation.
How hard is Ghost to run yourself?
We rate it Moderate. The CLI does a lot of the work on the platform the project recommends. The parts that are genuinely yours are the mail provider, the payments configuration and the backup before each upgrade.
What are the trade-offs of self-hosting Ghost?
Our notes list these costs. The recommended install path is Ubuntu. Other distributions are possible and are your own to work out. Member email depends on a mail provider you configure separately, so the deliverability question does not go away just because the site is yours.
What do you give up by running Ghost yourself?
You take on what Substack, beehiiv used to do for you. The managed hosting, backups and support of the hosted product. A platform that handles email delivery for you. Self-hosting moves that work to you rather than removing it.
What do you gain by running Ghost yourself?
Our notes list these. Posts, members and the subscriber list sit in a database you control and can move. No platform sitting between you and the relationship with your readers.