Substack Alternatives: Own Your Newsletter and Audience with Self-Hosted Ghost

Substack made it easy to start a paid newsletter. But as your audience grows, the costs add up: 10% of subscription revenue to Substack, plus Stripe's processing fees. On $5,000/month in subscriptions, you're paying $500 to Substack alone—every month.

More importantly, you don't own your platform. Substack controls your publication URL, your recommendation algorithm placement, and can change terms at any time. Several prominent writers have already been affected by content moderation decisions.

This guide compares newsletter platforms and explains how self-hosted Ghost lets you own everything while keeping the features that matter.

Platform Comparison

The Revenue Math

Let's calculate the real cost of each platform at different revenue levels:

Ghost costs are hosting only. Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction applies to all platforms including Substack.

At $5,000/month in subscription revenue, Substack takes $500/month ($6,000/year). Ghost on DanubeData costs €7.99/month (€95.88/year). That's a $5,904 annual difference.

What You Get with Ghost on DanubeData

Native Newsletter System

Ghost includes a full newsletter system—no third-party email service needed:

• Send newsletters to your subscriber list directly from Ghost
• Segment by membership tier (free, paid, specific tiers)
• Track open rates and click-through rates
• Every post can publish as both a web page and an email
• Custom email templates

Stripe Integration for Paid Subscriptions

• Connect Stripe in minutes—no code required
• Create free, monthly, and yearly subscription tiers
• Ghost handles the paywall, member authentication, and content gating
• Members sign in with magic links (no passwords)
• You keep 100% of revenue minus Stripe processing fees

Full Website and Blog

Unlike pure newsletter tools, Ghost is a complete publishing platform. You get:

• A public website with your custom domain
• Customizable themes (Handlebars-based)
• SEO features: structured data, sitemaps, meta tags
• Public, members-only, and paid-only content
• Static pages for About, Contact, etc.

Data Ownership

Your content, subscriber list, and membership data live on your server in Germany. You can:

• Export everything at any time (JSON export, database dump)
• Move to another Ghost host or self-host without losing data
• No platform risk—Ghost is open source under MIT license
• Full GDPR compliance with EU data residency

Migrating from Substack to Ghost

1. Export from Substack: Settings → Export → Download archive
2. Deploy Ghost on DanubeData: Create a managed Ghost instance (2 minutes)
3. Import content: Ghost Labs → Import → Upload Substack export
4. Import subscribers: Members → Import → Upload subscriber CSV
5. Connect Stripe: Settings → Membership → Connect to Stripe
6. Set up domain: Add your custom domain in DanubeData dashboard
7. Redirect old URLs: Set up 301 redirects from Substack to your new site

The entire migration typically takes less than an hour. Ghost's built-in importer handles Substack's format natively.

When to Stay on Substack

Substack isn't always the wrong choice. Consider staying if:

• You're just starting out: Substack's free tier and built-in discovery network help new writers find readers
• Discovery matters more than revenue: Substack's recommendation system can drive subscriber growth
• You don't want to manage anything: Zero setup, zero configuration—just write
• Revenue is low: 10% of $50/month is only $5—negligible

When to Switch to Ghost

• You're earning $500+/month: The revenue share becomes significant
• You want your own brand: Your domain, your design, your platform
• SEO matters: Content on your domain builds your search presence, not Substack's
• GDPR compliance: You need EU data residency for your subscriber data
• Platform risk concerns you: Open source means no deplatforming risk
• You want more than a newsletter: Ghost is a full publishing platform

Ghost Hosting Options

DanubeData's managed Ghost gives you unlimited members, automated backups, custom domains, and EU data residency at a lower price than Ghost(Pro)'s most limited plan.

Start your Ghost publication and own your newsletter.