Constant Contact vs Ghost: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Constant Contact and Ghost to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Constant Contact
5.8/10
Email and SMS marketing platform with event registration, sign-up forms and basic automation, aimed at small businesses and nonprofits that want live support.
Ghost
6.9/10
Open-source publishing platform that combines a website, newsletters, and paid memberships for independent publishers, creators, and media businesses.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 5.8/10 | 6.9/10 |
| Scalability | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Customization | 5/10 | 8/10 |
| Security | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 8/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 4/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | $12/mo Lite | Contact for pricing |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $80/mo Premium | Contact for pricing |
| Features | ||
| A/B Testing | ||
| Email Marketing | ||
| Landing Pages | ||
| Segmentation | ||
| E-commerce Features | Not listed | |
| SMS Marketing | Not listed | |
Constant Contact vs Ghost cost by team size
| Team size | Constant Contact | Ghost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $12/moLite | Contact for pricing |
| 5 users | $80/moPremium | Contact for pricing |
| 10 users | $80/moPremium | Contact for pricing |
| 25 users | $80/moPremium | Contact for pricing |
| 50 users | $80/moPremium | Contact for pricing |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Constant Contact
- Higher Support score (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for small business (9/10 vs 7/10)
- Includes A/B Testing, which Ghost lacks
Why choose Ghost
- Higher Customization score (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Cost score (7/10 vs 4/10)
- Better fit for freelancers (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (5/10 vs 3/10)
Pros & Cons
Constant Contact
Pros
- Live phone and chat support plus one-to-one onboarding are included from the cheapest Lite plan.
- Event registration, ticketing and payment collection are built into every plan, so small organisations do not need a separate events tool.
- The drag-and-drop editor and templates suit non-marketers who need to send newsletters quickly.
- Nonprofits can save up to 30 percent by prepaying for a year.
Cons
- Prices climb steeply with list size, reaching about 160 dollars a month for Standard at 10,000 contacts.
- Custom and ecommerce automations are only on Premium. The lower plans get one or three prebuilt paths.
- A/B testing is limited to subject lines.
- The free plan was removed, and reviewers report billing and cancellation complaints.
- Reviewers describe the interface as dated and needing more clicks than newer competitors.
Ghost
Pros
- Ghost takes no percentage of membership revenue, unlike Substack's 10% fee, so publishers pay only the plan price and Stripe fees.
- Website, newsletter, and paid memberships work together without plugins.
- The open-source core can be self-hosted for free, and APIs and webhooks support custom builds.
- More than 100 listed integrations, including Zapier, Stripe, Mailchimp, and privacy-focused analytics tools.
Cons
- Email features are basic: segmentation is limited and there is no built-in A/B testing or SMS.
- Email delivery depends on Mailgun, which users say can be costly or unreliable when self-hosting.
- Lower plans get email-only support with no weekend coverage, and Trustpilot reviews complain about billing and refunds.
- The Starter plan excludes paid subscriptions, custom themes, and integrations.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Ghost scores higher on our Marketing criteria: 6.9/10 against 5.8/10 for Constant Contact. The largest gap is in Cost: 4/10 for Constant Contact and 7/10 for Ghost.
No, neither Constant Contact nor Ghost lists a free plan.
Ghost is the better fit for freelancers: we rate it 8/10 for them, against 5/10 for Constant Contact.
Constant Contact has A/B Testing, which Ghost lacks.
