CMS comparison Ghost vs Progress Sitefinity

Ghost vs Progress Sitefinity

Ghost is an open-source traditional CMS that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. Progress Sitefinity is a closed-source enterprise DXP that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 17.

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Ghost Traditional · Open source · 10 of 28 built in
Progress Sitefinity Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 22 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Ghost on 29 Sept 2026, Progress Sitefinity on 29 Sept 2026. Plans and releases can change after those dates.

WAYF is an official Payload partner and top contributor. Every platform in the table is classified by the same published definitions, and each answer lists the vendor page it came from.

Feature comparison

Built inPaid tierPlugin or add-onLimitedNot available

Ghost vs Progress Sitefinity feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Ghost Traditional	Progress Sitefinity Enterprise DXP
Overview
What it is	Open-source Node.js publishing platform with built-in newsletters, memberships and paid subscriptions. Self-hosted or run on Ghost(Pro).	Progress's .NET CMS and DXP for websites, run self-hosted or on the Sitefinity Cloud PaaS, with ASP.NET Core and Next.js renderers.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Ghost 6, self-hosted open source and Ghost(Pro) Version 6.65.0, released 22 Sept 2026	Sitefinity CMS 15.4 DX edition, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud Version 15.4.8639, released 29 Sept 2026
Vendor	Ghost Foundation (non-profit) ghost.org	Progress Software progress.com
Licence	Open source MIT	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	Self-hosting Vendor cloud Ghost(Pro) Starter allows only the default theme and no custom integrations.	Self-hosting Vendor cloud
Built with	Node.js, JavaScript, Handlebars themes	.NET, ASP.NET Core and Next.js renderers
Database	MySQL	Microsoft SQL Server
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	Free to start Free to self-host. Ghost(Pro) Starter $18, Publisher $29, Business $199 per month, billed yearly.	No free option Pricing on request. DX and DX+Enterprise editions, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud.
Content modelling
Content model in code You define content types in files in your repository, review them like any other code and apply them from there. Imperative migration scripts alone count as limited.	Not available Fixed model of posts, pages, tags and members.	Built in Export for deployment writes module and field changes to files for source control. 3
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Not available	Built in Module Builder.
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in Fixed set of editor cards plus reusable snippets. 10	Built in Page editor widgets.
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language.	Not available One content language per site.	Built in Multilingual content per item.
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service.	Built in Ghost generates theme-defined image sizes automatically. 5	Built in Resize through URL parameters and thumbnail profiles. 4
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in Content API and Admin API. 12	Built in OData REST web services. 5
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Not available	Built in GraphQL on the web services layer. 6
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in Via custom integrations. Not available on Ghost(Pro) Starter. 4 2	Built in Service hooks with a webhook action, available on all licences. 7
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no.	Built in Handlebars themes.	Built in ASP.NET Core, Next.js or legacy MVC renderers. 1
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then.	Limited Edits to a published post go live on Update. No pending draft. 13	Built in
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Built in Scheduled publishing only.	Built in Scheduled publish and unpublish per item. 9
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in Post history with one-click restore. 6	Built in Revision history.
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in	Built in
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it.	Not available The admin toolbar on the live site links to the editor. 9	Built in Page editor with widgets.
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Limited Contributors draft and Editors publish. No configurable stages. 7	Built in One or two approval levels, or a custom workflow. 8
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Not available	Not available Publishing and scheduling work per item. 9
Real-time co-editing Two or more editors can work on the same entry at once and see each other's changes live.	Not available	Not available Pages lock while another user edits them. 10
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Not available Fixed staff roles. 7	Built in 11
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Not available	Limited Module Builder types only, in the classic editing UI. Built-in content types have none. 12
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Paid tier Ghost(Pro) Custom plan only. Not in self-hosted Ghost. 2	Built in OpenID Connect and external providers such as Azure AD. 13
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log.	Built in History log of staff actions. 8	Paid tier DX + Enterprise includes Audit Trail. Progress sells it as an add-on for DX. 14 2
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Not available	Built in Multisite with shared content and per-site permissions. 15
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface.	Not available The admin app has no extension points.	Built in Custom fields, widgets and AdminApp extensions.
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Limited Theme marketplace only. Ghost has no plugin system. 2	Built in Sitefinity integrations directory. 16
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Not available Member signup forms only.	Built in Forms module with a drag-and-drop builder.
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Built in Members with free and paid tiers. 3	Built in Front-end users with registration and login widgets.
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content.	Not available	Plugin or add-on Sitefinity AI subscription for text generation and agents. 17
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Not available Community MCP servers only. 11	Plugin or add-on Sitefinity MCP Server, 15.4.8633 or later, needs a Sitefinity AI subscription. 18

Ghost sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Ghost 6, self-hosted open source and Ghost(Pro).

Progress Sitefinity sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Sitefinity CMS 15.4 DX edition, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud.

Considering more platforms? Compare Ghost and Progress Sitefinity with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Ghost and Progress Sitefinity get a different status on 17 of the 28 features and the same status on 11. Ghost has 10 built in on its baseline edition, Progress Sitefinity has 22. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Licence: Ghost is open source (MIT). Progress Sitefinity is closed source (Proprietary).
Free option: Ghost has a free option. Progress Sitefinity has no free option.

Built in on Ghost, a different answer on Progress Sitefinity 1

Audit log Ghost: Built in. Progress Sitefinity: Paid tier.

Built in on Progress Sitefinity, a different answer on Ghost 13

Content model in code Ghost: Not available. Progress Sitefinity: Built in.
Content model in the UI Ghost: Not available. Progress Sitefinity: Built in.
Localization Ghost: Not available. Progress Sitefinity: Built in.
GraphQL API Ghost: Not available. Progress Sitefinity: Built in.
Drafts Ghost: Limited. Progress Sitefinity: Built in.
Visual editing Ghost: Not available. Progress Sitefinity: Built in.
Approval workflows Ghost: Limited. Progress Sitefinity: Built in.
Custom roles Ghost: Not available. Progress Sitefinity: Built in.
Single sign-on Ghost: Paid tier. Progress Sitefinity: Built in.
Multiple sites Ghost: Not available. Progress Sitefinity: Built in.
Extensible admin UI Ghost: Not available. Progress Sitefinity: Built in.
Plugin marketplace Ghost: Limited. Progress Sitefinity: Built in.
Form builder Ghost: Not available. Progress Sitefinity: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 3

Field-level permissions Ghost: Not available. Progress Sitefinity: Limited.
AI writing assistant Ghost: Not available. Progress Sitefinity: Plugin or add-on.
Official MCP server Ghost: Not available. Progress Sitefinity: Plugin or add-on.

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