Ghost (Pro) vs Kit: real cost comparison
All-in monthly cost — platform fee, revenue share, and card processing — computed from each platform's own published pricing (last verified 2026-09-08).
Cost at three list sizes
| Scenario | Gross / mo | Ghost (Pro) | Kit | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting out — 1,000 subscribers, 50 paid at $8/mo | $400 | $55.60/mo | $29/mo | Kit |
| Growing — 5,000 subscribers, 250 paid at $10/mo | $2,500 | $210.50/mo | $162.50/mo | Kit |
| Established — 25,000 subscribers, 1,000 paid at $10/mo | $10,000 | $731/mo | $815.83/mo | Ghost (Pro) |
Assumes monthly billing for every paid subscriber; platform fees use annual-billed rates where cheaper. Run your own numbers in the calculator.
Ghost (Pro)
- Revenue share: 0%
- Processing: Stripe 2.9% + $0.30
- Paid plans: from $29/mo
Kit
- Revenue share: 3.5%
- Processing: Kit Commerce (processing bundled into revenueShare)
- Paid plans: free (platform monetizes via revenue share)
Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Rankings are data-driven; see methodology.
Fine print that changes the math
- Ghost (Pro): All bracket prices captured 2026-07-14 and re-verified 2026-09-08 (full ladder, 38/38 price points) by reading the pricing page's own product/price data (the Alpine membersSlider component's _products array, the same data Ghost drives checkout from) via tools/slider-capture, 1,000-100,000 members. Rendered card prices are NOT used: Ghost only binds a reactive price element to Starter, so the Publisher/Business cards keep displaying the annualized rate even when the toggle reads 'Billed monthly'.
- Ghost (Pro): Ghost counts 'members' (free + paid email subscribers); annualUsd here = advertised yearly-billed monthly rate × 12.
- Ghost (Pro): Ghost is open source — self-hosting is $0 platform fee + infra cost, an option no hosted-only platform has.
- Ghost (Pro): Starter tier's lack of paid-subscription support read from the pricing page feature list — re-verify if Ghost restructures plans.
- Kit: Creator/Pro bracket prices captured 2026-07-14 and re-verified 2026-08-04 by driving the pricing-page slider in headless Chrome (tools/slider-capture); brackets verified from 1,000 to 100,000 subscribers. Above 100k, contact-sales territory.
- Kit: Free plan capped at 10,000 subscribers, verified 2026-09-08 in three places on kit.com/pricing: the Free card ("Free—up to 10,000 subscribers"), the plan-comparison Subscribers row ("Up to 10,000"), and the page's own copy ("Our Free Plan is always available for you for up to 10,000 subscribers"). The prior stored value of 1,000 was a capture artifact — the slider sat at the 1,000-subscriber bracket, which sets the Creator/Pro column headers but not the Free plan's cap.
- Kit: Paid Recommendations earnings carry a separate 23.5% Kit fee.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ghost (Pro) or Kit cheaper for a paid newsletter?
For a 5,000-subscriber list with 250 paid subscribers at $10/month ($2,500/month gross), Kit costs $162.50/month all-in versus $210.50/month — based on each platform's published pricing as of 2026-09-08. The cheaper platform flips at roughly $10,500/month in paid-subscription revenue.
What fees does Ghost (Pro) charge?
Ghost (Pro) takes 0% of paid-subscription revenue, with paid plans from $29/month (annual billing).
What fees does Kit charge?
Kit takes 3.5% of paid-subscription revenue, with no monthly platform fee.
At what revenue does Ghost (Pro)'s flat fee beat Kit's 3.5% cut?
Holding a 5,000-subscriber list at $10/month per subscriber, the flat fee wins above about $10,500/month in gross paid-subscription revenue (1,050 paid subscribers). Below that, Kit's pay-as-you-earn model costs less in absolute dollars.
Sources
- https://ghost.org/pricing/ (accessed 2026-09-08)
- https://kit.com/pricing (accessed 2026-09-08)