Ghost
Summary
An open-source blogging platform that provides its users with relevant tools to create their online publications.
Parent organisation: Ghost Foundation
Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation
Market share: Up & coming challenger
Pricing: Free-$1000+/organisation/month
Factors driving pricing: Additional features, More users (publishing-side), More audience (e.g. more subscribers, traffic), Ability to whitelabel or customise
Skills needed to set-up: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Skills needed to use: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Parent organisation: Ghost Foundation
Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation
Market share: Up & coming challenger
Pricing: Free-$1000+/organisation/month
Factors driving pricing: Additional features, More users (publishing-side), More audience (e.g. more subscribers, traffic), Ability to whitelabel or customise
Skills needed to set-up: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Skills needed to use: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Pros
Open Source alternatives available
Releases new features regularly
Transparent pricing model
Plain English TOS
Clear data policies
Allows data export
Allows data deletion
Cons
Lacks accessibility statement
Does not share diversity data
Full Product Data Collection
Data collected January-February 2020
| Product name | Ghost |
| Product URL | https://ghost.org/ |
| Parent organisation | Ghost Foundation |
| Workflow category | Production & formats |
| Date product founded | 2013 |
| Product description | An open-source blogging platform that provides its users with relevant tools to create their online publications. |
| What type of company or organisation is the product owned by? | Non-profit organisation |
| Is the company profit-making? | Not-for-profit model |
| How is this product funded? | Backed by a non-profit org or charity |
| What market share does the tool have? | Up & coming challenger |
| Is there an Open Source alternative in this product space? | Yes. WordPress, Grav, Jekyll, Drupal, Joomla |
| When did the company last release new features? | November 2019: Support for Google Pay payments |
| Have they shared details of the product roadmap? | No |
| Is there talk of the product raising further investment? | No |
| Is there talk of the product being acquired? | No |
| Have there been any newsworthy business issues or challenges in the last 12 months? | No |
| Is there a pricing model listed on the website? | Product is clearly listed as free |
| How clear & transparent is this pricing model? | Very: full pricing listed |
| What is the range of prices offered? | Free tier available. Basic: $36/organisation/month or $348/organisation/annum Standard: $99/organisation/month or $1,188/organisation/annum Business: $249/organisation/month or $2,388/organisation/annum Enterprise: Starting at $1,000/organisation/month |
| What factors drive higher pricing? | Additional features, More users (publishing-side), More audience (e.g. more subscribers, traffic), Ability to whitelabel or customise |
| What skills are needed to get this tool set up & usable? | Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it) |
| What skills are needed to USE this tool day-to-day? | Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it) |
| Does this tool use proprietary file formats for saving documents & outputs? | Defaults to common open standard file formats |
| Is the product reliant on 3rd-party APIs or interoperability to function? | No |
| Have there been any newsworthy technical issues in the last 3 years? | No |
| How clear is the Terms of Service for users (i.e. publishing customers)? | Simplified, plain English TOS |
| Does the product have a data collection & usage policy on its website? (Can be a GDPR statement)? | Yes, comprehensive. |
| Is their data policy “GDPR everywhere”? | Yes, GDPR compliant globally |
| Does the product require your audience to sign-in to use it? | N/A not an audience-facing tool |
| IF SIGN IN REQUIRED: Does audience sign-in use 3rd party platforms? | N/A not an audience-facing tool |
| Does the public product website mention how to export or transfer your data to another service? | Yes: Export/transfer publisher content, Yes: Audience can data export |
| Does the public product website mention how to delete your data? | Yes: for publisher data only |
| Have there been any newsworthy security breaches with this product in the last 3 years? | No |
| Does the company have an accessibility statement on its website? | No / cannot find |
| Does the company release information on the diversity of the workforce? | No |