WordPress VS Ghost
WordPress has been the go-to for me for many years, but it's always been a bit of a hassle to keep up with its ever expanding list of security holes. And let's not forget that it needs a myriad of plugins to keep it somewhat secure, speedy and good-looking.
Ghost on the other hand is a relatively sleek and extremely straight forward service that does most of the work for you. Granted, since it's a NodeJS application it can't be thrown on any cheap web hosting like WordPress. But VPS aren't all that expensive these days either.
I've made a table with my Pro/Con arguments to make your decision easier:
| WordPress | Ghost |
|---|---|
| ✅ Tons of plugins and themes | ❌ Not as many plugins and themes |
| ✅ Can be hosted on normal web hosting | ❌ Needs a VPS |
| ✅ Easy to customize | ✅ Easy to customize |
| ❌ Needs a myriad of plugins for basic functionality | ✅ Comes with a rich base install that covers most requirements |
| ❌ Requires a lot of upkeep for base install and plugins | ✅ Very little upkeep required |
| ❌ Basic performance is lacking without plugins | ✅ Blazing fast even without additional caching |
| ❌ Installation takes quite a bit of time | ✅ Ghost even sets up nginx and letsencrypt for you (see below) |
The last point of ghost is what definitely sold me on it. Might be a bit petty, but I really appreciate a software taking care of a full install rather than leaving me to set up nginx, letsencrypt, systemd etc. on my own.
Just have a look at this beautiful install process:
/var/www/stukev$ ghost install
? Enter your blog URL: /
? Enter your MySQL hostname: localhost
? Enter your MySQL username: ghost
? Enter your MySQL password: [hidden]
? Enter your Ghost database name: stukev_prod
✔ Configuring Ghost
✔ Setting up instance
✔ Setting up "ghost" system user
? Do you wish to set up Nginx? Yes
✔ Setting up Nginx
? Do you wish to set up SSL? Yes
? Enter your email (For SSL Certificate) removed@removed.com
✔ Setting up SSL
? Do you wish to set up Systemd? Yes
✔ Setting up Systemd
? Do you want to start Ghost? Yes
✔ Starting Ghost
If you'd like to set up your own ghost install just head on over here, and you'll be up in no time. The only point I can still give WordPress it's that it's a super easy way for amateurs to set up websites. But as for blogging, we've got a new king, and it's Ghost.