Why I (Originally) Chose Ghost for My Email Newsletter

When I decided to publish a newsletter, I debated between using Revue, Substack, Ghost, or ConvertKit. I ended up going with Ghost. Here are 6 reasons why.

When I decided to do this whole newsletter thing, I debated between using Revue, Substack, Ghost, or ConvertKit.

I ended up going with Ghost (update: I started there, then tried ConvertKit for a single issue and now I’m on Substack…final answer).

Here are 6 reasons why:

1) The CMS/Writing Experience

As a content management system, Ghost is a delight to work with. Anyone who has used WordPress then tried Ghost will really understand how much more pleasant the latter is.

2) The Built-In Elements/Cards

When writing a post or creating a page, you can add "cards" of all sorts: bookmarks, callouts, product cards, header cards, and more. These styling options help spruce things up.

3) The Email/Publishing Flexibility

With Ghost, you can create posts that only get sent via email. Or, ones that get published only. Or both. I like that flexibility. You may not want to send emails for everything.

4) You Can Automate Things

Ahhhh, automation. What a beautiful thing. With built-in integrations and with Zapier, I can do all sorts of fun stuff. Gather subscribers via Revue, then create subscribers in Ghost (for example).

5) You Can Build a Whole Website

As opposed to something like Substack (which does offer you a pseudo- website), with Ghost you can use one of dozens of gorgeous themes to create a professional, on-brand website.

6) Native Comments and the Explore Feature

Ghost recently added the ability for members to leave comments (without needing third-part extensions) and they also now have an Explore feature, for discoverability.

There you have it! Those are some reasons I chose Ghost.

PS: I'm using Gloat Hosting, where the well-known Dan Rowden (@dr) manually creates the site. The experience so far has been great :)