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How to Self-Host a Blog with Ghost

Ghost is a powerful publishing platform that rivals WordPress in features while being simpler and faster. Here's how to self-host it.

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Why Ghost?


Ghost is a modern publishing platform built for creators. Unlike WordPress, which tries to be everything, Ghost focuses on writing, newsletters, and memberships.


Key Features

  • Beautiful, distraction-free editor
  • Built-in newsletter system (no Mailchimp needed)
  • Membership and subscription support
  • SEO tools and social sharing built in
  • Fast — static site generation for published content
  • Themes and custom branding

    • Ghost vs WordPress


    | Feature | Ghost | WordPress |

    |---------|-------|-----------|

    | Focus | Publishing | Everything |

    | Speed | Very fast | Varies |

    | Newsletter | Built-in | Plugin required |

    | Memberships | Built-in | Plugin required |

    | Plugins | Limited | 60,000+ |

    | Security | Minimal attack surface | Frequent vulnerabilities |

    | Resource usage | Moderate | Can be heavy |


    Self-Hosting Ghost on TinyPod


    Deploy

    1. Find Ghost in the TinyPod app catalog

    2. Set CPU to 0.5 cores, RAM to 512 MB

    3. Click deploy


    Initial Setup

    Access your Ghost instance and create your admin account at your-site.com/ghost. Configure:

  • Site title and description
  • Your author profile
  • Custom theme (or keep the default Casper theme)

    • Configure Email

    For newsletters, set up SMTP:

  • MAIL_FROM=noreply@yourdomain.com
  • MAIL_TRANSPORT=SMTP
  • MAIL_OPTIONS__HOST=smtp.mailgun.org
  • MAIL_OPTIONS__PORT=587

    • Custom Domain

    Add your custom domain in TinyPod dashboard. Ghost will serve your blog at your domain with automatic SSL.


    Content Strategy Tips


    For SEO

  • Write long-form content (1,500+ words)
  • Use proper heading hierarchy (H1, H2, H3)
  • Add meta descriptions to every post
  • Internal link between related posts

    • For Newsletters

  • Enable newsletter signup on your site
  • Create a welcome email for new subscribers
  • Publish consistently (weekly or biweekly)
  • Segment members by interest

    • For Memberships

  • Offer free content to build audience
  • Gate premium content behind paid memberships
  • Use Ghost's built-in Stripe integration for payments

    • Resource Requirements


  • CPU: 0.5 cores
  • RAM: 512 MB
  • Storage: 5 GB minimum
  • Database: MySQL (provided by TinyPod)

    • Ghost runs efficiently and can handle significant traffic on modest hardware.