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Medium vs Ghost
Comparing Medium and Ghost to help you pick the right Blogging Platforms for your needs.
| Feature | Medium | Ghost |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web |
| Editorial rating | ★ 4 / 5 | ★ 4.2 / 5 |
| Starting price | $0 | $9/month |
| Community votes | 28 | 15 |
Medium Pros & Cons
- Built-in distribution to 100M+ readers without building an audience from scratch
- Clean, distraction-free reading and writing experience
- Monetization through Partner Program based on reading time
- No technical setup required
- Medium controls the distribution algorithm and can reduce reach without notice
- Own brand subordinated to Medium platform branding
- 30% revenue cut on Partner Program earnings
- Building owned audience is limited compared to self-hosted alternatives
Ghost Pros & Cons
- Self-hosting option avoids Substack-style platform fees on subscription revenue entirely, keeping 100% of paid subscriber income
- Clean, writing-focused editor purpose-built for publishing, without the general-purpose page-builder complexity of tools like WordPress
- Built-in membership and paid subscription infrastructure means newsletter monetization doesn't require bolting on a separate third-party tool
- Open-source codebase means no platform lock-in or risk of a company shutting down and taking a publication's infrastructure with it
- Strong, fast performance out of the box, reflecting Ghost's focused architecture built specifically around content publishing
- Smaller theme and plugin ecosystem than WordPress, given Ghost's narrower, more focused scope as a publishing-specific platform
- Self-hosting requires real technical setup (server provisioning, maintenance, updates) most individual writers won't want to handle themselves
- Hosted plans, while convenient, still involve a recurring subscription cost on top of any payment processing fees for paid memberships
- Less suited to general-purpose websites with complex, varied page layouts than more flexible, broader CMS platforms
Verdict: Medium vs Ghost
Medium and Ghost both serve the Blogging Platforms category well, but suit different priorities. Ghost carries the stronger editorial rating (4.2 / 5), Medium supports more platforms (3 vs 1). Based on community engagement, Medium is currently the more widely adopted choice (28 votes), but the better fit ultimately depends on your specific pricing, platform, and feature requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Which is cheaper, Medium or Ghost?
- Medium and Ghost use a similar pricing model (both freemium), so the cheaper choice depends on which specific plan tier and feature set you need rather than the base pricing model.
- Is Medium or Ghost rated higher?
- Ghost has the higher editorial rating at 4.2 out of 5, compared to Medium's 4 out of 5. This is Kreemhunt's own staff rating, not a public user aggregate — review the pros and cons below for specifics that matter to your use case.
- Which platforms do Medium and Ghost support?
- Medium is available on Web, iOS, Android. Ghost is available on Web. Medium covers more platforms overall, which matters if your team works across a wider range of devices and operating systems.
- Can I switch from Medium to Ghost (or vice versa)?
- Most blogging platforms tools, including Medium and Ghost, support data export in standard formats, making migration possible though rarely fully automatic. Expect to manually verify that custom configurations, integrations, and historical data transfer correctly, and budget time for the team to adjust to workflow differences between the two products.
- Should I choose Medium or Ghost?
- Medium and Ghost both serve the Blogging Platforms category well, but suit different priorities. Ghost carries the stronger editorial rating (4.2 / 5), Medium supports more platforms (3 vs 1). Based on community engagement, Medium is currently the more widely adopted choice (28 votes), but the better fit ultimately depends on your specific pricing, platform, and feature requirements.