Hosting Ghost on a Custom VPS vs Ghost(Pro)

Introduction

Ghost is one of our favorite content management systems for blogs and publications. It's fast, focused, and offers a fantastic writing experience. When implementing Ghost for our clients, one of the first decisions we face is whether to use the official Ghost(Pro) hosting service or to set up Ghost on a custom VPS.

In this article, we'll compare these two approaches across several dimensions to help you make the right choice for your specific needs.

Cost Comparison

Ghost(Pro) Pricing

Ghost(Pro) offers several tiered plans:

• Starter ($9/month): 1 staff user, up to 500 members
• Creator ($25/month): 2 staff users, up to 1,000 members
• Team ($50/month): 5 staff users, up to 1,000 members
• Business ($199/month): 10 staff users, up to 2,000 members

Self-Hosted VPS Costs

For a self-hosted Ghost installation, you'll need:

• VPS: $5-20/month (DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr)
• Domain: ~$10-15/year
• SSL Certificate: Free with Let's Encrypt
• Email Service: $10-30/month for transactional emails (Mailgun, SendGrid)
• Time Cost: Initial setup (2-4 hours) + maintenance

For a basic setup, self-hosting can cost as little as $6-7/month plus your time, making it significantly cheaper than Ghost(Pro) for simple blogs.

Feature Comparison

Ghost(Pro) Features

• Automatic updates and security patches
• Managed backups
• CDN included
• Email sending included
• Staging sites (on higher tiers)
• Priority support
• 99.9% uptime guarantee

Self-Hosted Features

• Complete control over server configuration
• No member limits
• Ability to modify Ghost's code
• Custom server-side scripts and integrations
• Direct database access
• Freedom to add other services on the same server
• Choice of hosting provider and location

Setup & Maintenance

Ghost(Pro) Setup

Setting up on Ghost(Pro) is straightforward:

1. Sign up for an account
2. Select your plan
3. Configure your publication details
4. Connect your domain
5. Start publishing

The entire process takes about 10-15 minutes, and you don't need any technical knowledge.

Self-Hosted Setup

Setting up Ghost on your own VPS involves more steps:

1. Provision a VPS with at least 1GB RAM
2. Set up a non-root user with sudo privileges
3. Install Node.js, MySQL/MariaDB, and Nginx
4. Install Ghost-CLI
5. Configure DNS for your domain
6. Use Ghost-CLI to install Ghost
7. Configure SSL with Let's Encrypt
8. Set up mail sending (Mailgun, SendGrid, etc.)
9. Configure backups

This process typically takes 1-3 hours, depending on your technical expertise.

Ongoing Maintenance

Ghost(Pro) Maintenance

Minimal to none. The Ghost team handles all updates, security patches, backups, and server issues.

Self-Hosted Maintenance

With a self-hosted setup, you'll need to:

• Update Ghost regularly (typically once every 1-2 months)
• Apply server security updates
• Monitor server health
• Manage backups
• Troubleshoot any issues that arise

Expect to spend 1-2 hours per month on maintenance tasks.

Customization & Control

Ghost(Pro) Customization Limits

With Ghost(Pro), you can customize:

• Themes and design
• Member flows and newsletters
• Integrations via the Ghost API

However, you cannot:

• Modify Ghost's core code
• Install custom server-side scripts
• Access the database directly
• Add server-level integrations

Self-Hosted Freedom

With self-hosting, you have complete control:

• Modify any part of Ghost's codebase
• Add custom server-side functionality
• Install additional services alongside Ghost
• Direct database access for custom queries or migrations
• Custom server-level optimizations

Performance & Scaling

Ghost(Pro) Performance

Ghost(Pro) is built on a highly optimized infrastructure with:

• Global CDN for fast content delivery
• Optimized server configurations
• Automatic scaling for traffic spikes

For most publications, Ghost(Pro) will provide excellent performance without any configuration.

Self-Hosted Performance

With self-hosting, performance depends on:

• Your server specifications
• Server location relative to your audience
• Your configuration optimizations
• Whether you add a CDN like Cloudflare

With proper configuration, a self-hosted Ghost instance can match or exceed Ghost(Pro) performance, but it requires more effort and expertise.

Our Recommended Approach

Choose Ghost(Pro) if:

• You want the simplest possible setup
• Technical maintenance isn't your strength
• Your publication fits within the member limits
• You don't need custom server-side functionality
• You value guaranteed uptime and support

Choose Self-Hosting if:

• You need complete customization freedom
• You have technical knowledge or access to it
• You need to exceed Ghost(Pro) member limits
• You want to run additional services on the same server
• Budget is a primary concern

Our Hybrid Approach

At LaPage Digital, we often implement a hybrid approach for clients:

1. Start with Ghost(Pro) for simplicity if the publication is new
2. Migrate to a self-hosted setup when more customization is needed or when the publication outgrows Ghost(Pro) limits
3. Alternatively, use our managed hosting service where we handle all the technical aspects of self-hosting while you get the benefits of customization

Conclusion

Both Ghost(Pro) and self-hosted Ghost are excellent options, but they serve different needs:

• Ghost(Pro): Simplicity, reliability, and peace of mind at a higher cost
• Self-Hosted: Maximum flexibility and control at a lower cost, but with added technical responsibility

If you need help deciding or setting up either option, our team at LaPage Digital specializes in Ghost deployments and can guide you through the process.