Is Ghost free to use?

The Ghost core software is open source and free to self-host on your own server. Ghost(Pro), the managed hosting service, is a paid subscription. Medium is free to write on but takes a different trade: your audience lives on Medium's platform.

Can I move my Medium articles to Ghost later?

Yes. Export your Medium stories, clean up the Markdown, and paste them into Ghost via Formatio. Ghost renders clean semantic HTML into native cards, so images, quotes, and embeds come across.

← All platform comparisons

Medium vs Ghost

A practical comparison for writers choosing between a hosted discovery network and a fully-owned, open-source blog.

Format for Medium Format for Ghost Open Formatio

Side-by-side

	Medium	Ghost
Best for	Reaching readers without running anything	Owning your blog, design, and mailing list outright
Ownership	Content lives on Medium's platform and rules	Full ownership: your domain, your data, your design
Cost	Free to publish	Open source (self-host) or a paid Ghost(Pro) plan
Discovery	Built-in recommendations and topic pages	You drive it: SEO, newsletter, your own audience
Monetization	Partner Program payouts	Native paid subscriptions with no platform cut
Maintenance	None	Self-hosting means updates and backups; Ghost(Pro) handles them
Formatting tips	Absolute URLs, separate title, no footnotes	Card-friendly HTML, figure captions, embed URLs on their own line
Formatio copy default	Rich HTML	Rich HTML

Choose Medium if…

You want to publish today with zero setup or maintenance
You rely on recommendation-driven discovery for new readers
You would rather trade ownership for reach while growing

Markdown to Medium converter →

Choose Ghost if…

You are building a publication you fully control and can migrate anywhere
You want memberships or paid subscriptions without a platform cut
You already have (or plan to grow) an audience you bring with you

Markdown to Ghost converter →

Use both: draft on Medium, own on Ghost

A proven combo: keep the canonical version on Ghost where it builds your domain's SEO, and republish to Medium for discovery. With Formatio you can:

Write once in the editor
Switch to Ghost → copy rich HTML → paste into the Koenig editor
Switch to Medium → checklist → copy rich HTML → set the canonical URL to your Ghost post

Try Formatio free →

Medium vs Ghost

Side-by-side

Choose Medium if…

Choose Ghost if…

Use both: draft on Medium, own on Ghost

Related comparisons