Eleventy vs Ghost
| Tagline | A simpler static site generator with zero client-side JavaScript | Modern open-source publishing platform for blogs and newsletters |
| Category | Blogging & CMS | Blogging & CMS |
| Replaces | WordPress.com, Squarespace, Medium | Substack, Medium, WordPress.com |
| GitHub stars | 17k | 54k |
| Language | JavaScript | Nodejs |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Self-host difficulty | 2/5 Easy | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Manual Docker | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 1 month ago | 5 days ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Eleventy
- No built-in CMS or admin interface
- Smaller plugin ecosystem than Hugo or Jekyll
- Requires Node.js knowledge to configure advanced features
Ghost
- Membership and newsletter features require Stripe integration for paid tiers
- Plugin/theme ecosystem is much smaller than WordPress
- No built-in e-commerce beyond memberships and paid newsletters
- Self-hosted email delivery needs a transactional email provider (Mailgun, Postmark) configured separately
Bottom line
Choose Eleventy if you want the lower-effort setup; choose Ghost for the larger community and ecosystem. Ghost has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.