Frequently asked questions
Table of contents

Ghost members is a new feature which is currently in beta, meaning that it's still being actively developed and is not yet complete. We're continuously shipping improvements and new features at Ghost which you can follow over on GitHub, or on our Changelog. In the mean time, here are some useful answers to common questions about using members:

What type of content creators can use Ghost?

Ghost is super flexible and integrates with hundreds of external tools, which makes it possible to use by writers, bloggers, podcasters, video creators, community managers and more.

Can I use payment providers other than Stripe?

To begin with, Stripe is the only natively supported payment provider with Ghost. We're aware that not everyone has access to Stripe, and we plan to add further payment providers in future.

In the meantime, it is possible to disable free-member registration and create new members via an external provider, such as Patreon or PayPal. You can set up any third party payments system and create members in Ghost via API.

Why do I have to set up Mailgun? I want to use my own SMTP server

Ghost(Pro) users do not have to configure any mail, everything is done automatically. Self-hosted users will need a Mailgun account to use the newsletter feature. Delivering bulk email newsletters can not be done with basic SMTP. A bulk mail provider is a requirement to reliably deliver bulk mail. At present, Mailgun is the only supported bulk email provider, and is free for up to 600 emails per month, with very reasonable pricing beyond that. More info here

How do I customise the email templates?

To begin with, Ghost has simple fixed email templates which have been heavily tested and optimised to guarantee that they work as well as possible. In future we plan to make email templates more customiseable.

Is it possible to get around the login system using incognito mode, or disabling JavaScript?

No. Unlike several other platforms, Ghost access levels are set on the server. There's no secret way for people who are not members to access your content. The only way to allow anyone to view your posts is to set the access level to public.

Are there really no transaction fees?

Yes, really! 0% transaction fees. Your Ghost site is connected directly to your own Stripe account and we don't charge any transaction fees. Find out how this compares to other platforms.

How do I customise the email template?

Email newsletters sent from Ghost use an optimised HTML email template which delivers your content effectively and supports a wide range of content types that you'll find in our editor, such as images, embeds, code and more. We're working on making this template support all content types and email clients, to make sending emails from Ghost as hassle-free as possible.

I have ideas / suggestions / problems / feedback!

Great! We set up a dedicated forum category for feedback about the members beta, we appreciate your input!