> Source: https://meetrix.io/blogs/ghost-aws-marketplace/ > Markdown copy of that page. Cite the URL above, not this file. Development # Ghost Publishing Platform on AWS Marketplace by Meetrix - Deploy in Minutes [By Shalomi Umeshika](https://meetrix.io/blogs/authors/shalomi-umeshika/) • June 24, 2026 • 8 min read ## Running a Newsletter or Blog Without Handing It to a Platform Most publishing platforms eventually ask you for something. Substack takes 10% of every paid subscription. Medium decides how your posts get distributed and monetized. WordPress.com locks themes and plugins behind pricing tiers. None of that is a dealbreaker by itself - until you realize the thing you built isn't really yours. The **Ghost AMI on AWS Marketplace** by Meetrix skips that trade. Ghost is an open-source publishing platform built for writers who want a real editor, real newsletters, and real membership tools - and we packaged it so it launches ready to use on your own AWS account. Ready to get started? [Launch the Meetrix Ghost AMI on AWS Marketplace](https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-qisvfrxaln2ne). ## What is Ghost? Ghost is an open-source publishing platform built specifically for blogs, newsletters, and membership sites. It ships with a clean writing editor, built-in SEO, native email newsletters, and paid membership tools - the same features you'd otherwise pay Substack or Memberful for, except you're the one running it. It's not trying to be a general-purpose CMS. Ghost has one job: help writers and publishers write, send, and get paid for content, without bolting on a dozen plugins to get there. What Does Going Platform-Free Actually Save You? Substack takes 10% of every paid subscription, on top of payment processing fees. A newsletter with 500 paying subscribers at $5 a month loses roughly $3,000 a year to that cut alone. Run Ghost on a single AWS t3.small instance instead, and you're looking at around $20-30 a month in AWS costs, total, no matter how many subscribers you have. ## How Deployment Works Doing this by hand means provisioning an EC2 instance, installing Node and a database, then figuring out SSL on your own. Through the Marketplace, it's four steps - or follow our [Developer Guide](https://meetrix.io/blogs/ghost-developer-guide/) for the full walkthrough with screenshots: 1. **Launch from AWS Marketplace** Open the Meetrix Ghost listing, subscribe, and pick the CloudFormation deployment path. Ghost, its database, and every dependency come pre-installed - no Node version conflicts to untangle. 2. **Configure the CloudFormation Stack** Set a stack name, your admin email, and your domain. Pick an instance type - t3.small handles most blogs and newsletters fine. SSL sets itself up automatically once your domain is attached. 3. **Point Your Domain** Copy the public IP from the stack's Outputs tab and add it as a record in Route 53, or whatever DNS provider you use. Give it a few minutes to propagate. 4. **Create Your Admin Account and Start Writing** Visit yourdomain.com/ghost, set up your administrator account, and you're in the dashboard. Write your first post, pick a theme, or set up a newsletter - it's all right there. ## What Meetrix Brings to This Deployment - **We Already Wired the Database to the App** - The AMI ships with Ghost, its database, and the right Docker setup already connected. You skip the evening you'd otherwise spend debugging a connection string. - **SSL That Works on the First Try** - Point a Route 53 domain at the instance and SSL sets itself up. Using a different DNS provider? We give you a one-command script to generate it manually instead. - **People Who Have Actually Run a Ghost Site** - If something isn't loading right after launch, you're talking to someone who has debugged a Ghost container before, not someone reading from a script. - **It's Your AWS Account, Not a Shared Platform** - Your posts, your subscriber list, your membership data - all of it sits on infrastructure you control, not a vendor's shared servers. - **No Revenue Cut, No Subscriber Cap** - Ghost doesn't take a percentage of your paid memberships, and there's no subscriber limit pushing you onto a pricier tier. ## Who Is Ghost on AWS Right For? If you just want to type up a personal blog and never think about it again, a free Substack is honestly fine for that. This is a stronger fit if you're: - A writer or publisher who wants to drop Substack's cut on paid subscriptions - A newsletter operator tired of hitting a subscriber cap on a free or cheap plan - A small media team that wants its own AWS account behind the publication - A business running a content-driven blog that needs to look custom, not templated - A membership site operator who doesn't want a third party touching billing data - Someone migrating off WordPress who wants a faster editor without losing SEO control ## Ghost on AWS by Meetrix vs Alternatives | Feature | Ghost on AWS by Meetrix | WordPress (Self-Hosted) | Substack | Self-Hosted Ghost (Manual) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Hosting | Your AWS account, fully self-hosted | Your own server or host, set up by you | Substack's cloud | Your EC2 instance, set up by you | | Content & Subscriber Data | Total - posts and subscribers stay in your account | Total, if self-hosted correctly | Substack holds your subscriber list | Total, if you got the config right | | Deployment Time | Minutes via AWS Marketplace | Hours, plus plugin setup | Instant signup | Hours, more if Node trips you up | | SSL & Auth | Automated via Route 53, or one script otherwise | Manual, or a hosting plan that includes it | Handled by Substack | Manual - easy to get wrong | | Pricing Model | Just AWS compute costs - no revenue cut | Hosting cost plus paid plugins and themes | 10% of paid subscriptions, plus fees | Just AWS compute costs | | GDPR / Data Residency | Pick your AWS region, data stays put | Depends on your host | Substack's data processing terms apply | On you to configure correctly | | Support | Meetrix engineers, 24/7 | Hosting provider or plugin vendors | Substack support tiers | Community forums, or you fix it yourself | ## Resources [ Ghost - Developer Guide Step-by-step walkthrough of the full deployment: launching the AMI, setting up DNS and SSL, creating your admin account, and troubleshooting common issues. Meetrix.IO | Binuka Ranatunga ![Ghost Developer Guide](https://meetrix.io/blog-images/paas-dev-guides/ghost/ghost-image.png)](https://meetrix.io/blogs/ghost-developer-guide/) ## Video Guide ## How Teams Use This in Production Independent Media | North America $9,000saved per year ### Walking Away From Substack's Cut Without Losing Subscribers The problem A solo writer with 600 paying subscribers at $15 a month was watching 10% of every payment go straight to Substack, on top of card processing fees. The newsletter was already profitable - it just wasn't keeping as much of its own profit as it should have. What we did We deployed Ghost on a single EC2 instance, migrated the full subscriber list and post archive using Ghost's built-in Substack importer, and connected Stripe directly so payments went straight to the writer's own account. 0% of revenue lost to a platform cut Full post archive migrated cleanly Stripe payments now go direct > "I watched Substack take a slice of every subscription for two years. Now that slice just doesn't exist anymore. Same newsletter, same subscribers, more of the money is actually mine." _Independent Writer, Tech Newsletter, United States_ Digital Media | Western Europe 40%faster page loads ### Replacing a Plugin-Heavy WordPress Site With Something Simpler The problem A small media outlet's WordPress site had accumulated a dozen plugins over the years, for SEO, newsletters, and membership gating. The site had gotten slow and fragile, and updates kept breaking something. What we did We deployed Ghost on AWS, rebuilt their content structure around Ghost's native membership and newsletter features, and retired most of the plugins that used to handle those jobs separately. Page load times improved by 40% Plugin count dropped from 12 to near zero Membership and newsletter now native > "Every WordPress update used to make us nervous. We don't have that fear anymore, because there's nothing fragile left to break." _Managing Editor, Digital Media Outlet, United Kingdom_ B2B SaaS | Asia Pacific 3xmore posts per month ### Giving a Content Team an Editor They Actually Want to Use The problem A SaaS company's content team was publishing through a CMS built for engineers, not writers. Every post needed a developer's help to format correctly, so publishing was slow and writers avoided experimenting. What we did We deployed Ghost on AWS and connected it to their existing marketing site through a subdomain, so the writing team could publish independently without touching the main codebase. Publishing cadence tripled in two months Writers stopped needing developer help to post Zero changes needed to the main codebase > "Our writers used to wait on engineering just to fix a broken image embed. Now they just write and hit publish. That's the whole point of a CMS, really." _Head of Content, B2B SaaS Company, Singapore_ ## Frequently Asked Questions What is Ghost and how is it different from WordPress or Substack? Ghost is an open-source publishing platform built specifically for blogs, newsletters, and paid memberships. WordPress is a general CMS that can do those things once you bolt on enough plugins. Substack does newsletters and memberships too, but it's a hosted platform that takes a cut of your subscription revenue. Ghost gives you the focused feature set without the plugin sprawl or the revenue cut. Do I need to know Node.js or Docker to run this? No. The AMI handles the Node, database, and Docker setup for you. You might use SSH once in a while to check logs or generate SSL manually, but day-to-day publishing happens entirely through the Ghost admin panel in your browser. Can I migrate my existing WordPress or Substack content into Ghost? Yes. Ghost has built-in importers for WordPress and Substack exports, plus a general import format that most platforms can produce. Posts, tags, and authors usually come across cleanly. Images and custom formatting are worth a manual check afterward. Will Ghost handle a growing subscriber list and traffic spikes? Yes, within reason. A t3.small instance comfortably handles most blogs and newsletters. If you get a traffic spike or your list grows a lot, you resize the instance to a bigger type. There's no hard subscriber cap built into Ghost itself. ## Get Your Ghost Site Running on AWS Stop giving up a cut of your subscriptions just to run a newsletter. Deploy Ghost on AWS in minutes, set up by people who actually run publishing platforms for a living. 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