CompareGhost alternativeUpdated October 2026
When posts aren’t enough. Your own website and app.
Ghost is built for publishing. Drate is for creators who sell more than posts: a website and app made around you, with members-only video, courses, passes and a community.
Why creators leave Ghost.
Built for publishing only.
Ghost says it’s focused on one thing: publishing. Its plans list no courses.
100 MB a file.
Ghost’s Publisher plan caps every upload at 100 MB, and Business at 250 MB, so long videos have to live somewhere else.
Free readers raise your price.
Ghost counts every free or paid account as a member. Publisher is $29 a month billed yearly for 1,000 members, $46 for 2,500 and $63 for 5,000.
What you get on Drate.
Your own app, too.
None of Ghost’s plans include an app for your members. On Drate Pro, they get your own iOS and Android app, in your look, beside a website on your own domain.
Video, courses and passes.
Upload members-only videos up to 500 MB each, group lessons into courses, and sell fixed-length passes beside your posts.
Free readers don’t raise your price.
Drate’s price doesn’t grow with your audience. Regular is $9 a month, you pay 5% of membership sales, and Pro adds your own app for $12 a month.
$5 a month, not $29.
What you pay before your first paid member.
- Drate
- $5a month on Drate Regular, billed yearly, then 5% of membership sales
- Ghost
- $29a month for Ghost(Pro) Publisher, billed yearly, 0% fee
How switching works.
Drate is a website and app, not an email newsletter: members read your posts on your site or in your app. Paid members move by joining on your Drate site, so switching is something you invite them to. Keep Ghost running while they do.
Start your site.
Pick a starting point, add your name and choose your look. Your site is ready in minutes, and nothing is public until you publish.
Set up your memberships.
Recreate your Ghost tiers as monthly or yearly memberships, and add passes if they suit your work.
Bring your work over.
Post your best writing and video for members, and group lessons into courses.
Invite your readers.
Tell your list about your new site in your next newsletter. Members join on your site and cancel on Ghost when they switch.
Side by side.
Everything below is included in Drate’s Regular plan unless it says otherwise.
| Feature | Drate | Ghost |
|---|---|---|
| Your home | ||
| Your own website, domain and look | Included | Included |
| Your own iPhone and Android app | On Pro | Not offered |
| Memberships & content | ||
| Monthly & yearly memberships | Included | Included |
| Fixed-length passes | Included | Gifts only |
| Members-only posts, video & downloads | Included | 100 MB uploads on Publisher |
| Courses & content library | Included | Tag collections |
| Members community feed | Included | Post comments |
| Paid coaching & bookings | Included | Not offered |
| Discord roles by membership | Included | Post alerts, no roles |
| Keep Patreon connected | Included | CSV import or Zapier |
| Merch | ||
| Merch store | Included | Via Shopify embeds |
| Print on demand, no inventory | Included | Not offered |
| Money | ||
| Monthly price | $9 or $12 | $29 to sell, billed yearly |
| Fee on membership sales | 5% on every plan | 0% |
| Who pays you | Your Stripe, directly | Your Stripe, directly |
Ghost details are from its public pricing and help pages, checked October 2026. Prices exclude payment processing, which applies on every platform. Plans change, so check the latest before you decide.