After months of beta testing, newsletter platform Ghost has released a new version of its software, Ghost 6, enabling publishers to share long-form content natively with the wider open social web. This means, alongside publishing to the web, RSS, and email, Ghost users can connect with services like decentralized X rival Mastodon, Meta’s Threads, Flipboard, WordPress sites integrated with ActivityPub, Surf, WriteFreely, and more.
Ghost also supports Bluesky publishing through an integration with Bridgy Fed, connecting the open social web, known as fediverse, to the ATmosphere. The former uses ActivityPub, while the latter employs the newer AT Protocol used by Bluesky and others.
Manton Reece, founder of Micro.blog, highlighted differences between his service and Ghost’s, noting that Micro.blog is developing direct AT Protocol integration, in contrast to Ghost’s bridging method.
ActivityPub has powered open, decentralized social media applications for some time, but interest has surged since Twitter’s acquisition by Elon Musk, as competitors to Twitter (rebranded as X) arose. Meta launched its alternative X in 2023 with Instagram Threads, which has been gaining on X in user numbers. WordPress, including its hosted version WordPress.com, now offers ActivityPub integration for follower connections on services like Mastodon. Other apps have joined the open social web, such as Flipboard’s flagship app and Surf, and Medium’s publishing platform.
Image Credits: Ghost
Ghost promoted the potential network effects of ActivityPub connectivity, allowing federated app users to follow a Ghost publisher’s posts and interact through liking, commenting, or reposting. This could broaden the publishers’ audience reach and readership expansion.
Ghost users can track other long-form content via an “Inbox” section, where they can follow articles on Ghost or WordPress. Additionally, publishers can post short-form content to the fediverse from Ghost’s admin screen, aiding audience growth and reader engagement.
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Image Credits: Ghost
Ghost 6’s release follows a controversy involving competitor Substack, which sent a push notification urging users to subscribe to a controversial newsletter. The platform had already lost authors over its hosting decisions, including Casey Newton of Platformer. Significant Ghost publications include 404 Media, Spyglass, David Sirota’s The Lever, Tangle, Jason Calacanis’s Inside, SFist, and others.
Image Credits: Ghost
While ActivityPub integration is a major feature of Ghost 6, the release includes numerous other improvements and additions. Notably, Ghost now incorporates a native analytics suite tracking performance, engagement, and conversions across web, newsletters, and subscriptions in real time.
The software also supports various payment methods, tips and donations, branded newsletters, personalized content, and more.
With this release, Ghost adjusted its Pro (hosted) plan pricing; the cheapest plans now start at $15 and $29 monthly, up from $9 and $25. However, large-scale Ghost publishers will experience reduced pricing.