Ghost vs Mailtrap
Side-by-side plans, pricing, and feature gates for Ghost and Mailtrap, verified . Ghost is primarily content marketing; Mailtrap is primarily deliverability.
Plans side by side
Every published plan from each vendor, with the headline monthly anchor price. Some prices scale with subscriber count or seats; full detail lives on each tool's page.
Ghost
- Starter
Personal publishing on Ghost(Pro), billed yearly
$18/mo - Publisher
Paid subscriptions, custom themes, integrations
$29/mo - Business
Higher limits, priority support, early access
$199/mo - Custom
Enterprise: unlimited members, dedicated IP, SLA
Custom
Mailtrap
- Free
4,000 emails per month for hobby projects and early validation
Free - Basic
Entry paid Email API tier scaling from 10k to 100k emails per month
$15/mo - Business
Best value
$85/mo - Enterprise
1.5M+ emails per month with priority support and custom contracting
Custom
Limits at the entry paid tier
Compares Starter (Ghost) against Basic (Mailtrap). Both are the lowest-priced non-free, non-custom plan on each side.
| Limit | Ghost | Mailtrap |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | 1,000 members | · |
| Emails / month | Unlimited | 100,000 emails (entry $15 covers 10k; scales to $30 at 100k) |
| Team seats | 1 | 3 |
When Ghost wins
- Independent publishers who want to own their stack and keep migration optionality
- Paid-newsletter operators trying to avoid Substack's 10% revenue share at scale
- Publications that need staff seats, custom themes, and a real CMS rather than just an email tool
Where Ghost is the wrong fit
- Hobbyists who refuse to pay anything ever; Substack or Buttondown's free tiers fit better
- Podcast-first creators; Ghost is text and email native, not an audio platform
- Teams that need deep CRM, lead scoring, or marketing automation; this is a publishing tool, not a marketing-automation suite
When Mailtrap wins
- Dev teams that want one vendor for both email testing and production sending
- SaaS startups under 100k/month Email API volume who can ride the Basic tier ramp
- Teams that need a dedicated IP without paying for SendGrid Pro or higher
Where Mailtrap is the wrong fit
- Marketing-only teams (use Mailchimp or Kit)
- Buyers who want flat predictable per-tier pricing (Postmark is more predictable)
- Enterprises needing voice or SMS in the same platform (use Twilio or SendGrid)
Common questions
- Is Ghost cheaper than Mailtrap?
- At the entry tier, Mailtrap starts at Free versus Ghost at $18/mo. Mailtrap is cheaper at the entry. Pricing scales differently above that, so check the full plan grid.
- Does Ghost or Mailtrap have a free plan?
- Only Mailtrap has a permanent free plan. Ghost only offers a free trial.
Ghost: https://ghost.org/pricing/ · Mailtrap: https://mailtrap.io/pricing/
Last verified . Pricing changes between refreshes; confirm at the vendor before purchasing.