CMS comparison Ghost vs Squarespace

Ghost vs Squarespace

Ghost is an open-source traditional CMS that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. Squarespace is a closed-source site builder that runs on the vendor's cloud. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 13.

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Ghost Traditional · Open source · 10 of 28 built in
Squarespace Site builder · Closed source · 9 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Ghost on 29 Sept 2026, Squarespace 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 Squarespace feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Ghost Traditional	Squarespace Site builder
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).	Hosted website builder with templates, a visual editor, blogging and commerce. Squarespace runs the hosting.
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	Squarespace website plans on version 7.1 SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor	Ghost Foundation (non-profit) ghost.org	Squarespace, Inc. squarespace.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.	No self-hosting Vendor cloud
Built with	Node.js, JavaScript, Handlebars themes	Hosted SaaS, custom CSS and JavaScript on Core and higher plans
Database	MySQL	Managed by Squarespace
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 Basic $19, Core $29, Plus $49, Advanced $99 per month billed annually in the US. 14-day free trial.
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.	Limited Custom post types in template.conf, only with Developer Mode on version 7.0. 2 3
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Not available	Not available Fixed page and collection types. No custom fields in the editor. 2
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 Editors add and reorder sections and blocks.
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.	Plugin or add-on Weglot extension. Without it, editors duplicate pages per language. 4 5
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 Squarespace serves uploaded images in generated sizes.
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in Content API and Admin API. 12	Limited Commerce APIs for products, orders and inventory on Core and up. No API for pages. 1 6
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Not available	Not available
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	Limited Commerce events only, through the Webhook Subscriptions API. 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
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	Paid tier Page drafts need a Premium or Enterprise plan. Blog posts can be drafts on any plan. 8
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Built in Scheduled publishing only.	Limited Blog posts only. 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	Not available Undo and redo within an editing session only. 10
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in	Built in Editing happens on the rendered page.
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
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	Limited Enterprise Draft editor role drafts pages for an admin to publish. No custom stages. 8 11
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Not available	Not available
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
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	Not available Fixed contributor permission types. 11
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Not available	Not available
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	Paid tier Premium and Enterprise plans. OpenID Connect through Entra ID, SAML through Google. 17 18
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	Not available
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Not available	Limited Each site needs its own plan. Enterprise teams manage several sites from one account. 11
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.	Not available
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 Squarespace Extensions, a directory of third-party tools. 12
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Not available Member signup forms only.	Built in Form blocks store submissions. 13
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 Customer accounts on all plans. Member sites for gated content. 1 14
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content.	Not available	Built in Squarespace AI writer. Monthly AI credits vary by plan. 1 15
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	Not available The official MCP server covers domain search only. It can't reach site content. 16

Ghost sources

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

Squarespace sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Squarespace website plans on version 7.1.

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

Where they differ

Ghost and Squarespace get a different status on 13 of the 28 features and the same status on 15. Ghost has 10 built in on its baseline edition, Squarespace has 9. 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). Squarespace is closed source (Proprietary).
Self-hosting: Ghost can be self-hosted. Squarespace cannot be self-hosted.
Free option: Ghost has a free option. Squarespace has no free option.

Built in on Ghost, a different answer on Squarespace 5

REST API Ghost: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
Webhooks Ghost: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
Scheduled publishing Ghost: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
Version history Ghost: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Audit log Ghost: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.

Built in on Squarespace, a different answer on Ghost 4

Visual editing Ghost: Not available. Squarespace: Built in.
Plugin marketplace Ghost: Limited. Squarespace: Built in.
Form builder Ghost: Not available. Squarespace: Built in.
AI writing assistant Ghost: Not available. Squarespace: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 4

Content model in code Ghost: Not available. Squarespace: Limited.
Localization Ghost: Not available. Squarespace: Plugin or add-on.
Drafts Ghost: Limited. Squarespace: Paid tier.
Multiple sites Ghost: Not available. Squarespace: Limited.

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