Compare ghost and havenweb on pricing, features, platforms, and ratings — both Content Marketing tools, Freemium (open-source self-hosted plus paid managed…
At a Glance
ghost
havenweb
Primary category
Content Marketing
Content Marketing
Rating
Not documented
Not documented
Pricing model
Freemium (open-source self-hosted plus paid managed hosting)
Open Source / Freemium
Starting price
Free (self-hosted); Ghost(Pro) from $18/month
Free (self-hosted)
Free plan
Yes
Yes
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
havenweb
Self-hosted — Free N/A
Hosted — $5/month Monthly
Fully Managed — Custom Contact for pricing
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
havenweb
Pros
Completely free and open source, with no vendor lock-in
Genuinely private by design, with no public visibility option and no tracking or ads
Lightweight enough to run on very cheap hardware like a Raspberry Pi
Simple, focused feature set that avoids the complexity and spam issues of platforms like WordPress
Low-cost official hosting option for people who do not want to self-host
Cons
Requires comfort with Docker or a willingness to pay for hosting to get started
No built-in monetization tools, unlike public blogging platforms such as Substack
Small, independent project with no dedicated support team or enterprise SLA
Limited discovery: because it is intentionally private, there is no way to grow an audience beyond people you personally invite
Feature set is minimal compared to full-featured CMS platforms
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.
havenweb
Sharing family photos privately — A family member sets up Haven to post photos and updates that only relatives with an account can see, avoiding public social media entirely.
Private journaling for a small circle — A writer uses Haven to publish personal reflections or updates to a small group of trusted friends without exposing them to a public audience.
Ad-free alternative to social media — Privacy-conscious users replace public social feeds with a self-hosted Haven to control exactly who sees their posts and to avoid ads and tracking.