Ghost
Professional publishing — newsletters, memberships, and monetization.
MIT-licensed alternative to WordPress and Substack. Handlebars themes, SEO built-in, Stripe integration for paid memberships, and Admin API for headless.
Beehiiv is a proprietary, hosted newsletter platform built for growth-focused publishers, with built-in referral and monetization tools. As with other hosted newsletter services, your content, subscriber list, and growth data live on Beehiiv's platform under its pricing tiers.
Ghost is an open-source alternative for publishers who'd rather self-host their newsletter and membership infrastructure and own their subscriber data outright.
FAQ
Is there a free, open-source alternative to Beehiiv?
Yes. Ghost is open source and free to self-host, though you'll still need to cover your own hosting and payment processing costs.
What's the best open-source alternative to Beehiiv?
Ghost is the strongest open-source option for newsletters and memberships, trading some of Beehiiv's built-in growth tooling for full ownership of your platform and data.
What are the top open-source alternatives to Beehiiv?
Browse all open-source alternatives to Beehiiv above, or explore the full Content & CMS category for more options.