Compare ghost and dotclear on pricing, features, platforms, and ratings — both Content Marketing tools, Freemium (open-source self-hosted plus paid managed…
At a Glance
ghost
dotclear
Primary category
Content Marketing
Content Marketing
Rating
Not documented
Not documented
Pricing model
Freemium (open-source self-hosted plus paid managed hosting)
Free / Open Source
Starting price
Free (self-hosted); Ghost(Pro) from $18/month
Free
Free plan
Yes
Not documented
Free trial
Yes
Not documented
Platforms
Not documented
Web
Team collaboration
Not documented
Not documented
AI features
Not documented
Not documented
Public API
Yes
Not documented
Pricing Compared
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
ghost
Self-hosted (open source) — Free N/A
Starter (Ghost(Pro)) — $18/month Billed yearly
Publisher (Ghost(Pro)) — $29/month Billed yearly
Business (Ghost(Pro)) — $199/month Billed yearly
Custom (Ghost(Pro)) — Contact for pricing Custom
dotclear
Open Source (Self-Hosted) — Free N/A
Pros & Cons
ghost
Pros
Fully open source (MIT license) with a free self-hosting option and no vendor lock-in
Native paid membership and newsletter monetization without needing extra plugins
Nonprofit governance structure makes the platform structurally resistant to acquisition or shutdown
Lean, fast, publishing-focused architecture compared to general-purpose CMS platforms
Headless API supports fully custom frontends for developer teams
Cons
Less flexible than WordPress for building non-publishing websites (e-commerce stores, complex layouts)
Ghost(Pro) Business and Enterprise tiers are considerably pricier than many newsletter-only competitors
Smaller plugin/theme ecosystem than WordPress
Member limits on lower Ghost(Pro) tiers can require upgrading as an audience grows
dotclear
Pros
Completely free and open source with no paid tiers or licensing fees.
Lightweight and focused specifically on blogging rather than general-purpose site building.
Long-running, continuously maintained project with over two decades of development history.
Strong, active community and plugin ecosystem, especially in French-speaking regions.
Cons
Much smaller plugin, theme, and community ecosystem than WordPress.
Adoption and available support resources are heavily concentrated in French-speaking countries.
Requires self-hosting and basic server administration knowledge, unlike hosted blogging services.
Smaller global market share means fewer third-party tutorials and integrations in English.
Use Cases
ghost
Independent newsletter publishing — Writing and monetizing a paid email newsletter with native subscription billing.
Membership media sites — Running a publication with multiple paid membership tiers and gated content.
Developer-built headless blogs — Using Ghost as an API-driven content backend behind a custom-built frontend.
dotclear
Personal and independent blogging — Running a self-hosted personal blog with full control over data and hosting, without relying on a proprietary platform.
Multi-blog publishing networks — Managing several distinct blogs from a single Dotclear installation and admin login.
Podcast publishing — Distributing audio content and episode feeds natively alongside written blog posts.