Margin Notes › Guides › Substack alternative
A Substack alternative: moving your newsletter to Ghost
Substack is free to start and easy to use. Writers usually look for alternatives for three reasons: the fee on paid subscriptions, ownership of the site and list, and control over how it looks.
What Substack costs
Substack is free to publish on. When you charge for subscriptions, it keeps 10 % of that revenue, and the payment processor (Stripe) charges its own fees on top. You can read how it works in Substack's own explanation. Check current terms before you decide, because platforms change them.
What Ghost costs
Ghost is open-source software with no cut of your subscription income; you pay for the hosting. Stripe's processing fees still apply, as they do on any platform. With Margin Notes the hosting is 7.49 or 9.49 € a month (plus applicable VAT).
A worked example
Suppose you charge 5 € a month and have 100 paying readers. That is 500 € a month before payment fees.
| Substack | Ghost with Margin Notes (Standard) | |
|---|---|---|
| Platform cost on 500 € of subscriptions | 50 € (10 %) | 9.49 € (flat hosting) |
| Stripe fees | Charged | Charged |
Hosting costs less than Substack's share once you have about 19 paying readers at 5 € a month. Below that, Substack is cheaper, and that is a good reason to stay there while you are small.
What you gain by moving
- Ownership. Your site, your design, your own domain, your data.
- A flat price. Your costs do not grow with your success.
- One place for everything. Posts, pages, newsletter, memberships.
- Freedom to leave. You can export everything and run it somewhere else.
What you give up
- Substack's network. Recommendations and discovery inside Substack's own community do not come with you.
- Zero setup. On Ghost you make a few more decisions, such as a theme and an email provider.
- The app. Readers use your site and their inbox instead of Substack's app.
If most of your readers find you inside Substack, moving has a real cost. If most arrive from your own work, social media or search, it matters much less.
How the move works
- Export your posts and subscriber list from Substack.
- Import them into your Ghost site with Ghost's importer.
- For paying readers, connect the same Stripe account so existing subscriptions can usually carry over. This is the step to take slowly, and we will go through it with you.
- Set up your newsletter sending and send a test.
- Tell your readers, switch your links, and keep the old publication online with a note for a while.
We help with the move. Write to us with your publication address and roughly how many subscribers you have, and we will tell you what is involved and what it costs.
Questions
How much does Substack take from paid subscriptions?
Substack takes 10 percent of subscription revenue, and the payment processor charges its own fees as well. Check Substack's current terms before you decide.
Can I move my Substack subscribers to Ghost?
Yes. You can export your subscriber list and posts from Substack and import them into Ghost. Paying subscribers usually carry over if you connect the same Stripe account, but it needs care.
Will I lose my readers if I move?
Not if you tell them and keep the old address pointing to a note for a while. You do lose Substack's own recommendation network, which matters most if that is where your readers find you.
Is Ghost cheaper than Substack?
Once you have roughly 20 paying readers at 5 euros a month, a flat hosting fee of under 10 euros costs less than 10 percent of your subscription income. For free newsletters, Substack is free.
Questions first? Write to hello@marginnotes.me. A person answers.
Last updated 2026-10-30.