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You probably heard about Ghost CMS, a relatively new blogging platform that generated a lot of buzz on its launch. And you’re for sure familiar with WordPress, our favorite CMS that is used by almost 1/4 of all websites.

These blogging tools allow you to easily set up and run beautiful blogs or websites without advanced knowledge of web development. Moreover, you can use themes and plugins to create sites with awesome design and add some extra features like eCommerce, contact forms, social media sharing, widgets and much more.

So, which one is the best for your website: Ghost or WordPress? Let’s start with a little history.

About WordPress:

WordPress is an open source blogging tool and CMS launched in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg. It started as a simple publishing software, but turned into the most popular blogging platform on web, powering more than 23.4% of all websites. The latest version of WordPress (4.1) has been downloaded more than 16 Mln times. During the years, it became a powerful and robust system than can handle complex websites. Its system of themes and plugins allows you to create beautiful sites with reach functionality and customize them as you wish. WordPress initiated a whole community around it (and we’re really glad to be a part of it).

You should consider using WordPress if:

• You need a powerful CMS and extra features for your blog or site (eCommerce, multi language support, page builders, user management, sliders, etc.). This can be achieved using different plugins or custom development
• You are changing the design frequently and customizing it for you own needs. There are thousands of WordPress Premium Themes that you can buy, install and personalize your website in minutes
• You don’t want to spend a lot of time and effort on installation and set up. Most of hosting providers are offering 1-click auto-installation for WordPress
• You’re familiar with some web development and can handle customization works. WordPress provides a vast repository with documentation where you can learn how to use it and how to manipulate it. Also, there are lots of tutorials, articles, videos on web where you can learn about it
• You prefer a stable, flexible blogging platform with constant releases and updates, mobile support, extensive documentation and a vast community

About Ghost:

Ghost is an open source blogging platform that has a clear purpose: to make the process of writing and publishing simple and enjoyable. It was launched in 2013 by John O’Nolan – the former leader of WordPress UX team.  The project was successfully funded on Kickstarter and gathered £196,362. John wanted to provide a simple and beautiful CMS for users that are interested in one thing: blogging. The concept was born out of many frustrations that he met using complex systems like WordPress. Ghost is in its early days, but the team behind it is working hard and they already achieved some good results.

You should consider using Ghost if:

• You don’t need a complex website and you simply want to focus on content creation and publishing. Ghost provides a simple and beautiful dashboard with an intuitive editor (include your content and instantly preview it).
• You need a light and fast blogging system. Ghost is built with JavaScript and uses Node.js framework. This offers better load times and more flexibility for databases
• You run a blog or online publication and don’t need complex features and customizations. Simply install it, and they will take care about everything else (hosting, updates, backups, etc.)
• You like alternatives and open source projects. Ghost is registered as a non-profit organization, this means that the money will be used to make it better (not making shareholders rich)

Conclusion

Whatever platform you will choose, make sure you first understand your needs. Once you get used with one of them, you will for sure like it, as both WordPress and Ghost are great tools. Please tell us: which is your favorite one and why?

Image credits: tommasonervegna, kickstarter, wordpress