Mailpiece vs Ghost
Mailgun not required. Spooky, we know.
We think most newsletters don't need a publishing house behind them. Ghost is a fine one, open source like us, but if all you do is write to people who asked to hear from you, you're running memberships, tiers and themes to send an email.
With Ghost
A publication, with members
- Write in their editor, pick a theme
- Run free and paid members, tiers and offers
- Count opens and clicks unless you turn it off
- On their cloud, the plan rises with members
With Mailpiece
A newsletter, the same for everyone
- Ask your agent to write it, or write it yourself
- Everyone who asked gets the same issue
- No tracking. Readers say if they liked it
- Free, on your own server, sent how you choose
A week with each
open the editor and choose which tier sees the post
tell your agent what this week's issue is about
look after members, tiers, offers and a theme
look after a list of people who asked to hear from you
check who opened and who clicked
hear from readers who say they liked it
send through the one mail service it supports when you host it yourself
send through the mail provider you already use
upgrade your plan as members come in, on their cloud
keep the list on your own server
Side by side
- Ghost is built for paid memberships, and its own hosting bills as members come. In Mailpiece, you just write, with no members, tiers or themes to look after.
- On Ghost, you write in its editor, or wire your agent to its API yourself. In Mailpiece, you connect your agent once, and it drafts, sends you a test, schedules and publishes.
- On Ghost, your list lives in its cloud, or in yours once you set up a server and Mailgun for it. In Mailpiece, it lives on your server.
- On Ghost, your readers are tracked by default. In Mailpiece, they're left alone.
- As your list grows, Ghost's cloud plan grows with it. In Mailpiece, nothing changes.
- On Ghost, your day goes to members and tiers. In Mailpiece, you write, test and send.
Moving from Ghost
Install Mailpiece, export your members from Ghost and import them, then connect the mail provider you want to send with. Your next issue goes out from Mailpiece. Your old posts, your theme, your tiers and your paid members stay with Ghost: Mailpiece takes no payments, so keep the site up for as long as they need it.
Who should stay on Ghost?
A publication with paid memberships and tiers, several writers, a theme of its own and a site that is more than a newsletter. Ghost does all of that well, and Mailpiece doesn't try to.
Ghost is open source too. Why switch?
Both can run on your own server, though Ghost takes real work to host yourself: a server set up for it, and Mailgun for the newsletter. Ghost is a whole publication; Mailpiece is just a newsletter, written from your agent, mailed through the provider you choose, with nobody tracked. If you don't need memberships, that is a lot less to run.
Move your newsletter this afternoon
Install Mailpiece on a server, import your list, connect your sender, and send your next issue from it.