Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Ghost(Pro)

Ghost is an open-source publishing platform for professional creators and organizations to build websites, publish posts, and grow an audience. It combines a modern editor and theme system with built-in memberships, subscriptions, and email newsletters.

Key Features

• Content editor and publishing workflow for posts and pages
• Theme-based website building with custom templates
• Membership management with free and paid tiers
• Paid subscriptions and revenue features for publishers
• Built-in email newsletters for publishing to subscribers
• Admin interface and APIs for integrating external apps and workflows

Use Cases

• Run an independent blog, magazine, or newsroom with subscriptions
• Publish company content marketing with newsletters and lead capture
• Create a membership-driven creator site with paid tiers

Ghost is well-suited for modern publishing where content, audience, and monetization are managed in one place. It can be extended via themes and APIs to fit many publishing workflows.

Halo is an open-source website builder and content management system for creating blogs, knowledge bases, and business websites. It focuses on an efficient editing experience, structured configuration, and a plugin/theme ecosystem for long-term maintainability and growth.

Key Features

• Rich text and Markdown editing with embeddable content elements
• Theme templates and plugin-based architecture with one-click enable/disable
• RESTful API for integrations and secondary development
• Site logs and basic status monitoring capabilities
• Built-in backup and restore for site data
• Data migration tooling from other platforms
• Multiple storage strategies, including local storage and S3-compatible object storage
• Authentication options designed for flexible access control
• Optional AI capabilities via plugins (assisted writing and knowledge-base Q&A)

Use Cases

• Personal or team blogs with a fast publishing workflow
• Knowledge base sites with search and interactive Q&A extensions
• Company websites that need modular content and easy customization

Halo is a solid choice for users who want a modern, extensible CMS with a strong ecosystem of themes and plugins, plus integration-friendly APIs. Its modular design supports everything from simple blogs to more complex content-driven sites.

WordPress is an open-source content management system (CMS) used to create and manage websites, blogs, and web applications. It combines an admin dashboard with a theme system and a powerful plugin architecture to extend functionality.

Key Features

• Block-based editor for creating and arranging pages and posts
• Theme system for site design and layout customization
• Extensive plugin ecosystem to add features such as stores, SEO, forms, and analytics
• Built-in media library for managing images and other uploads
• User roles and permissions for multi-user site management
• Import tools and administrative update workflows

Use Cases

• Personal or professional blogs and publishing sites
• Small business and marketing websites with customizable themes
• Content-driven sites extended via plugins (e.g., newsletters, analytics, ecommerce)

Limitations and Considerations

• Extensibility via third-party plugins/themes can introduce performance and security risks if not curated and maintained
• Major updates may require testing for plugin/theme compatibility in complex deployments nWordPress is a mature, widely adopted platform suited to everything from simple blogs to complex content sites. Its flexibility comes from themes and plugins, making it adaptable to many use cases when managed with good maintenance practices.

WriteFreely is a minimalist publishing platform built for writers, emphasizing a distraction-free writing and reading experience. It supports Markdown-based posts and can be run efficiently on small servers thanks to its Go-based architecture.

Key Features

• Clean, distraction-free editor with autosaving
• Markdown-based publishing with a minimalist reading experience
• ActivityPub federation so people on compatible networks can follow and share posts
• Multi-blog support from a single account (useful for pen names or separate publications)
• Drafts, post pinning to create static pages, and hashtag-based organization
• OAuth 2.0 support for integrating with existing identity providers
• Internationalization support, including right-to-left and non-Latin scripts
• Runs as a static binary with built-in SQLite support and optional MySQL support

Use Cases

• Personal blogging with a clean, privacy-minded writing experience
• Organization/internal publishing for sharing updates and knowledge
• Community publishing sites that interconnect with the broader fediverse

WriteFreely is well-suited to creators who want simple publishing, optional federation, and a lightweight stack that is easy to operate and scale from small deployments upward.

Microweber is a drag-and-drop website builder and content management system (CMS) for creating websites, blogs, and online stores. Built on the Laravel framework, it provides a visual editing experience alongside a full admin panel for managing content and products.

Key Features

• Live drag-and-drop page building with real-time text editing
• Admin panel for managing pages, posts, products, and categories
• Built-in e-commerce capabilities for running an online shop
• Template and layout system for quickly composing pages
• Extensible module approach for adding site functionality
• Supports multiple database backends via PDO (including MySQL and SQLite)

Use Cases

• Launch a small business website with visual editing and custom layouts
• Run a lightweight online store with product and category management
• Create and maintain a blog or content-driven site without coding

Limitations and Considerations

• Requires a PHP environment and compatible database setup; features depend on server extensions being available
• Advanced customization typically involves working with themes/modules and the Laravel-based codebase

Microweber fits users who want a traditional CMS combined with a modern visual editor and integrated e-commerce. It is suitable for both non-technical site owners and developers who want a Laravel-based platform they can extend.

BroadcastChannel is an Astro-based site that renders posts from a public Telegram Channel as a microblog-style website. It is designed for fast delivery and indexability, exposing standard feeds and sitemaps for syndication and search engines.

Key Features

• Uses a Telegram Channel as the publishing backend (no separate CMS required)
• SEO-oriented output, including a sitemap endpoint
• RSS and JSON Feed endpoints for syndication
• Minimal client-side JavaScript (server-rendered output)
• Environment-based configuration for channel, locale/timezone, navigation links, and basic SEO controls
• Optional comments toggle and header/footer HTML injection

Use Cases

• Publish a lightweight personal microblog powered by Telegram posts
• Provide an RSS/JSON feed for a channel’s updates on a standalone site
• Create a simple “channel to website” presence for communities or curated link/news channels

Limitations and Considerations

• Requires a public Telegram Channel and settings that allow public access to channel content
• Content availability depends on Telegram’s public rendering and any platform restrictions on certain channels

BroadcastChannel is a good fit when you want a static-like microblog experience while keeping Telegram as the primary publishing workflow. It combines a modern web framework with feed and SEO features to make Telegram content easier to browse and subscribe to outside the app.

Publify is a Ruby on Rails–based multi‑user blogging and web publishing platform (originally known as Typo). It provides a classic blog engine, theming and plugin APIs for extending site behavior and presentation. (github.com)

Key Features

• Multi‑user blogging engine with posts, pages and short messages (micro‑posts). (github.com)
• Plugin API and widgets system for extensibility and custom widgets. (publify.github.io)
• Custom themes and included theme examples (repository contains a bootstrap theme). (github.com)
• Text filters supporting Markdown/Textile/SmartyPants and @mention/#hashtag linking. (publify.github.io)
• Advanced SEO capabilities and multilingual translations for many languages. (publify.github.io)

Use Cases

• Small teams or individuals who want a traditional multi‑user blog or magazine site with theme and plugin support. (github.com)
• Developers who need a Rails‑native publishing engine to customize or extend via plugins and themes. (github.com)
• Organizations that prefer an open‑source, self‑hosted publishing stack with classic blog features and SEO options. (publify.github.io)

Limitations and Considerations

• The public demo is ephemeral and is reset regularly (demo resets hourly), so data there is temporary and not suitable for long‑term testing. (publify.github.io)

Publify is a mature, Rails‑native publishing tool focused on traditional blogging workflows, theming and plugin extensibility. Its codebase and docs are hosted in the project repository and it is distributed under an open‑source license. (github.com)

Ech0 is a compact, open-source self-hosted platform for publishing short posts, notes and links. It focuses on low resource usage, fast deployment and federated connectivity so individuals can publish and share while keeping data locally controlled.

Key Features

• Atomic lightweight architecture: tiny memory footprint and small binaries, single-file SQLite storage for low maintenance.
• Federated protocols: ActivityPub support to interoperate with Fediverse services (Mastodon, Misskey, etc.).
• Simple deployment: official Docker images and Docker Compose manifests for one-command startup.
• Modern web UI: Vite-powered frontend with a Markdown-first editor, responsive layout and PWA support.
• Multiple management interfaces: Web UI, CLI and TUI for administration, backup and snapshot restore.
• Authentication & integrations: OAuth2 / OIDC support and Passkey (WebAuthn) login options for third-party and secure auth.
• Media & storage: built-in music/video card parsing and native S3-compatible storage integration for object media.
• Real-time monitoring and webhooks: WebSocket-based resource panel and webhook hooks for automation.
• Built-in features: todo management, tagging/filters, RSS, token management and open APIs for extensions.

Use Cases

• Personal publishing: run a small personal blog, notes or micro-post stream with full data ownership.
• Federated social presence: publish posts that appear in the Fediverse and follow/interact with other ActivityPub actors.
• Lightweight team or community hub: shared lightweight knowledge/announcements for small groups or communities.

Limitations and Considerations

• Scaling: single-file SQLite is excellent for low-cost self-hosting but may be a constraint for very high-traffic or large multi-user deployments.
• Federation completeness: some federation-related features and extended Fediverse endpoints require configuration or may be progressively implemented; advanced federation workflows may need extra setup.
• Feature scope: while rich for a lightweight system, Ech0 prioritizes minimalism over enterprise features (e.g., complex RBAC or large-scale analytics).

Ech0 provides a focused, low-friction way to publish and federate personal content. It is suited for individuals and small communities that value data sovereignty and simple operations while requiring federated connectivity.

Bludit is a lightweight, database-free content management system for building websites and blogs. It stores content as JSON files, making setup and backups simple while keeping performance responsive on modest hosting.

Key Features

• Flat-file storage using JSON (no database required)
• Web-based admin panel for managing pages and posts
• Theme system for customizing site appearance
• Plugin system to extend functionality
• Markdown and HTML content support, including editor options
• SEO-oriented features suitable for search engines and social sharing

Use Cases

• Personal or company blogs that need quick deployment and low maintenance
• Small websites on shared hosting where databases are undesirable
• Lightweight CMS projects that benefit from file-based backups and portability

Limitations and Considerations

• Flat-file storage can be less suitable for very large sites with heavy write activity
• Feature set depends heavily on available plugins and themes

Bludit is a solid choice when you want a traditional CMS experience without operating a database. Its file-based approach, theming, and extensibility make it practical for straightforward publishing and small-to-medium websites.

HTMLy is an open-source, databaseless blogging platform and flat-file CMS written in PHP. It stores content as files instead of using a database, focusing on simplicity, low resource usage, and fast performance at scale.

Key Features

• Flat-file content storage (no database required)
• Web-based admin dashboard for publishing and managing posts
• Content discovery by date, type, category, tag, and author
• Built-in full-text search, archives, categories, tags, and sitemap
• Scheduled posts, custom fields, and menu management
• One-click update and built-in backup support (requires PHP ZIP)
• Two-factor authentication (2FA)

Use Cases

• Personal or technical blogs on shared hosting or low-resource servers
• Small to medium websites that prefer file-based content management
• Simple publishing workflows where portability and low ops overhead matter

Limitations and Considerations

• Requires writable content and cache directories, which may need careful server permission setup
• Feature expansion is primarily core-based rather than plugin-heavy, which may limit extensibility compared to larger CMS ecosystems

HTMLy is a practical choice for users who want a lightweight PHP blog/CMS without managing a database. It combines a flat-file approach with a built-in admin UI and core blogging features to stay fast and operationally simple.

Known is an open-source social publishing platform that lets individuals or groups publish posts, notes, photos, and other media to a site you own. It emphasizes IndieWeb compatibility and multi-user collaboration, with a simple, responsive interface.

Key Features

• Bookmarklet: Easily post to your site, save links, and respond to comments from any page on the web
• #Tags: Use hashtags to categorize content
• Responsive Layout: View, edit, and post to your site from any device
• Decentralized Indieweb: Sites can respond to each other, bookmark each other's content, and leave comments
• Email Notifications: Get updates whenever someone responds to a post
• Feeds: Access updates via RSS, XML, JSON, or KML
• Multi-Author: Invite an unlimited number of collaborators
• HTML & Rich Text Editor: Write in HTML or use a WYSIWYG editor
• Custom URL: Bring your own domain to own your site
• Static Pages: Create static pages like about or contact
• Privacy: Private spaces and access controls
• Custom JavaScript & CSS: Extend the site with custom scripts and styles

Use Cases

• Personal or multi-user sites for publishing posts, photos, and media with open syndication across Indieweb networks
• Education: classroom spaces and course projects with LTI integration and data ownership
• Community sites and collaborative spaces where multiple authors publish and discuss content

Limitations and Considerations

• This section intentionally omitted as there are no major Known-specific limitations highlighted here; refer to official documentation for deployment considerations when self-hosting.

Conclusion

Known provides a self-hosted, open-source publishing platform that supports multi-user collaboration, Indieweb interoperability, and ownership of content, suitable for personal sites, classrooms, and communities.

Automad is a flat-file content management system and template engine designed for building websites without a database. Content is stored as human-readable files, while Automad still provides core features like searching, tagging, and caching for fast page rendering.

Key Features

• Flat-file storage (no database required), suitable for version control workflows
• Browser-based admin dashboard for content, settings, uploads, and theme management
• Block editor for composing pages/posts from reusable content blocks
• In-page edit mode for editing content while browsing the site
• Multi-layer caching engine for high performance on limited hardware
• Flexible template language and PHP extension mechanism for advanced customization
• Optional headless mode exposing content via a read-only JSON API
• Package ecosystem for installing themes and extensions

Use Cases

• Personal sites, portfolios, and blogs that benefit from a lightweight stack
• Small business or brochure sites needing a simple editorial workflow
• Headless content backend for custom frontends consuming a JSON API

Automad is a strong fit when you want a database-free CMS with a modern editing experience, templating built in, and the option to switch between monolithic and headless setups as needed.

Textpattern CMS is a lightweight, fast content management system written in PHP, designed for building websites and blogs with clean, controllable markup. It uses a tag-based templating language and keeps the core lean while remaining extensible through plugins.

Key Features

• Browser-based administration interface with a deliberately uncluttered, accessible UI
• Tag-based template language for layouts, pages, and reusable components
• Plugin ecosystem to extend core functionality
• Multi-language admin interface with extensive localization
• Supports authoring content with Textile; Markdown support is available via plugins
• Designed to keep generated HTML clean and under your control

Use Cases

• Personal or editorial blogs with structured content and custom templates
• Lightweight CMS for small-to-medium business or brochure websites
• Custom-designed sites where precise control over markup and presentation matters

Limitations and Considerations

• Some functionality (for example Markdown authoring) may require installing plugins

Textpattern CMS is a mature, long-running project focused on simplicity, performance, and clean site building. It suits teams and individuals who want a traditional CMS with strong template control and an extensible plugin ecosystem.

Haven is a privacy-first, self-hosted private blog application designed for sharing with a limited audience. It is implemented as a Ruby on Rails web application and provides a web interface for writing, user management, and reading feeds. (github.com)

Key Features

• Markdown editor with live preview and built-in image upload handling
• Private RSS feeds with unique secure links per user
• Built-in RSS reader (personal feed) to follow other Havens without ads or algorithms
• Multi-user roles (subscribers and publishers) so multiple people can publish without sharing credentials
• Low-bandwidth optimizations: image downscaling and compact page output; minimal client-side JavaScript

(havenweb.org)

Use Cases

• Private family or friends blog where the owner controls accounts and access
• Small community or group site with multiple authorized publishers (e.g., clubs, classrooms)
• Personal micro-journal with private RSS access and an aggregated personal feed

(havenweb.org)

Limitations and Considerations

• Not designed for public, SEO-driven blogs or large public audiences (no public signup option by design)
• Demo environment is limited: demo accounts and some administrative/customization features are restricted and demo accounts may be purged periodically

(havenweb.org)

Haven can be deployed via Docker and Docker Compose and commonly uses a PostgreSQL database in production; the project provides a Dockerfile and a docker-compose setup demonstrating a Rails service plus Postgres. Managed hosting and deployment scripts (AWS/Heroku notes) are also mentioned in the project resources. (git.siteop.biz)

WonderCMS is an extremely small flat-file content management system for building and editing websites and blogs. It stores content in a JSON-based file database, avoiding a traditional relational database and keeping setup simple.

Key Features

• Flat-file storage using a JSON database file (no MySQL/PostgreSQL required)
• Minimal footprint (designed to run from a very small set of files) with a simple 1-step install
• In-place (inline) editing for quick page updates
• Theme and plugin installer/updater to extend functionality
• One-click updates and one-click backups/restore workflow
• Clean URLs and basic per-page SEO fields (title, keywords, description)
• Privacy-oriented approach (no built-in tracking, minimal cookies)

Use Cases

• Personal sites, landing pages, or small business websites needing a simple CMS
• Lightweight blogs where a database-backed CMS is unnecessary
• Rapid deployments on basic shared hosting or simple PHP servers

Limitations and Considerations

• Intentionally minimal feature set; complex workflows may require plugins or custom theme code
• Flat-file storage can be less suitable for very large sites or high-concurrency editing

WonderCMS is well-suited for users who want a fast, compact CMS with straightforward publishing and minimal operational overhead. Its flat-file approach, small footprint, and theme/plugin ecosystem make it a practical option for simple sites and blogs.

Chyrp Lite is a minimal, responsive blogging engine written in PHP designed for simple self-hosted blogs and small publishing sites. It provides a lightweight core with an extensible system of "Feathers" (content types) and modules to add functionality without heavy complexity.

Key Features

• Lightweight PHP core with a responsive, accessible HTML5 frontend and Twig templating for easy theme development
• Support for multiple content Feathers: text, photo, quote, link, video, audio, and multi-file uploader
• Bundled modules for tagging, categories, comments, likes, caching, sitemap generation, post views, and webmention handling
• Supports plain text, Markdown, or raw markup entry formats and syntax highlighting for code snippets
• Database-agnostic using PDO with support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite
• Simple administration console and rights model for user and visitor management
• Docker-compatible deployment with example docker-compose configuration for quick setup

Use Cases

• Run a minimal personal blog or tumbleblog with fast, low-overhead hosting requirements
• Publish a small multimedia site using Feathers for images, audio, and video without a heavy CMS
• Build a highly customizable simple publishing platform by extending functionality with modules and custom Twig themes

Limitations and Considerations

• Not intended for very high-traffic or enterprise-scale sites out of the box; heavy scaling requires external caching, reverse proxies, or infrastructure changes
• Smaller module/ecosystem compared to major CMS platforms; advanced plugins and integrations may be limited
• No built-in federation or ActivityPub support; webmention support is available but federated social features are absent
• Requires PHP 8.1+ and common extensions (mbstring, PDO, cURL), and administrators should secure installer/upgrade scripts after use

Chyrp Lite is suitable for users who want a small, standards-focused blogging engine that is easy to inspect and customize. Its modular design and Twig-based themes make it straightforward to adapt for simple personal or small-site publishing needs.

Roadiz is a PHP CMS built around a polymorphic node/content schema that lets you model arbitrary content types and organize them hierarchically. It provides both a traditional themable back office and API-first features for headless deployments.

Key Features

• Polymorphic node system for flexible content schemas and structured content modelling
• Built on Symfony (Symfony Flex) using Doctrine ORM for data persistence
• API-first architecture with API platform integrations to expose headless endpoints
• Decoupled theming with Twig-based templates allowing multiple themes per repository
• Administrative back office focused on usability and content editing workflow
• Extensible bundle ecosystem (search bundle integrations such as Solr are available)
• Developer tooling: Docker-based development environment, composer-based PHP workflow, and entity/model generators

Use Cases

• Create headless content APIs for single-page applications or mobile apps
• Build content-heavy websites with custom content types and complex relationships
• Publish themable marketing or institution websites that require multiple themes and editorial workflows

Limitations and Considerations

• The v1.x repository is legacy and receives only security updates; active v2+ development moved to a monorepo and newer packages
• Some functionality is delivered via optional bundles; specific integrations (search, auth, markdown) may require additional configuration or separate packages

Roadiz is suitable for teams that need a highly customizable CMS with strong developer tooling and both traditional and headless delivery options. Evaluate the v2+ ecosystem for up-to-date packages and recommended project skeletons.

Mataroa is a minimalist blogging platform designed for writers who want a distraction-free space. It is a Django-based web app that uses Markdown for post content, supports per-user subdomains, and provides export and subscription features aimed at text-first publishing.

Key Features

• Markdown-native editor and rendering with Python-Markdown and support for code highlighting, tables, and footnotes
• Per-user subdomain model for blogs and optional custom domain support (premium)
• Export capabilities to static site formats (Hugo, Zola) and EPUB book export
• RSS feeds and email newsletter/subscription delivery; backend analytics (no third-party trackers)
• Image hosting and basic image CRUD for posts
• API endpoints with API key based authentication for integrations and imports/exports
• Docker Compose development setup and PostgreSQL-backed persistence; Caddy provided for webserver configuration
• Focus on privacy: no ads, no client-side tracking, and minimal front-end JavaScript

Use Cases

• Personal or micro-blogs for writers who prefer a minimal, text-focused publishing environment
• Small publications or journals that need simple subscriptions, exports, and basic analytics without tracking
• Migrating content to a portable platform with easy export to static site generators or EPUB for backups

Limitations and Considerations

• Intentionally minimal feature set: no themes, no custom CSS, and limited extensibility by design
• No federation support (ActivityPub) or rich JS editors; some integrations (e.g., ActivityPub, rich math rendering) are unimplemented or intentionally avoided
• Certain features (custom domain, post-by-email) are paid/premium on the hosted offering

Mataroa is suited for users who want a privacy-focused, low-complexity blogging platform that emphasizes writing and data portability. It prioritizes minimalism over customization and tradeoffs simplicity for ease of writing and exportability.

fx is a compact, self-hostable microblogging and blogging server written in Rust. It focuses on quick publishing and editing of Markdown posts with a small runtime footprint and simple administration.

Key Features

• Lightweight Rust server designed to run with minimal memory and disk usage
• Write posts in Markdown with built-in syntax highlighting
• Inline math support using LaTeX-style syntax
• Upload files and images for embedding in posts
• Built-in search for finding posts
• Follow RSS feeds via a blogroll/follow list
• Simple backup API that exports site data as plain-text archives
• Docker and Docker Compose friendly; stores data in a local SQLite database
• API endpoints for basic site management and automated backups

Use Cases

• Personal public notebook for quick notes, recipes, code snippets, or micro-blogs
• Teacher or support knowledge base for reusable answers and shareable links
• Lightweight publishing platform for POSSE-style syndication to external social platforms

Limitations and Considerations

• No built-in federation (ActivityPub) or distributed social networking support, so it does not natively interoperate with Mastodon/Bluesky networks
• Designed primarily as a single-site, single-account blogging service with a SQLite backend; not intended for high-scale multi-user installations

fx is aimed at users who want a minimal, fast place to publish and retrieve short-form content without the complexity of larger platforms. Its small footprint and simple backup/export options make it suitable for personal sites and small deployments.

PluXml is a lightweight content management system that stores all content in XML files rather than a database, aimed at blogs and small websites. It provides a user-friendly backoffice, multi-user roles, themes and plugins to extend functionality while remaining portable and easy to deploy.

Key Features

• Flat-file storage: content, configuration and metadata are stored in XML files (no database required)
• Multi-user backoffice with permission levels for collaborative editing
• Article, page, category, tag and archive management with RSS feeds
• Built-in comments management and moderation tools
• Media manager for images and documents with basic image resizing (GD required)
• Customizable themes and plugin system to extend features
• URL rewriting support for clean URLs (requires webserver rewrite support)
• Translations available in multiple languages

Use Cases

• Personal or family blogs that need a simple, low-maintenance CMS
• Small business brochure sites or microsites with basic content and media
• Portable or offline sites that must be moved or served from removable storage

Limitations and Considerations

• Not intended for very large sites: flat-file storage can slow with very large numbers of entries or heavy concurrent writes
• Limited advanced query, reporting, and scaling features compared to database-backed CMS platforms
• PHP version and extension constraints: specific PHP versions and PHP GD/XML extensions are required; URL rewriting depends on webserver configuration

PluXml is suitable when simplicity, portability and minimal hosting requirements are priorities. It provides a compact CMS feature set for blogs and small sites while remaining extensible via themes and plugins.