It’s a golden era for writers. If you set out to start publishing, there’s an array of choices out there to host your blogs and newsletters, like Substack, Ghost and Buy Me a Coffee. You no longer have to worry about publishers and how you’ll make money, and focus on writing and maybe a little bit of personal branding and marketing.
But before you start, there’s a small, but impactful task at hand: Identifying which platform suits the way you work. Choosing the wrong one, may not just waste your time, but burn a hole in your pocket.
Ghost has made its name as a publishing platform. Their offerings will give you enough to function like a one-person publishing house. So, naturally, it comes at a cost.
Buy Me a Coffee is more writer-focused. You get a simpler setup to publish newsletters with close to no learning curve or upfront cost.
Both are great platforms, but made for different users, starting and scaling differently.
Read on, and we’ll discuss a few key points to help you decide, covering costs, setup, and day to day functioning.
Pay upfront or Pay as you earn:
| Plan | Monthly cost | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $18 | Publishing without paid memberships |
| Publisher | $29 | Paid memberships enabled |
| Business | $199 | Larger-scale publications |
The steepest difference is the cost. You need to spend at least $18/month, when billed monthly, to publish on Ghost. And, the fee isn’t all inclusive. So what you can access depends on the tier you’re subscribed to. For writers wanting to host paid memberships, the starting point is $29/month, with their Publisher tier. Regardless of which plan you start on, you’re committing to a certain amount monthly, from day 1. Even before you know you’ll make profit, or at least break even.
That’s definitely a giant leap of faith.
Buy Me a Coffee doesn’t charge a monthly fee. Instead, it takes a 5% platform fee from transactions.That means you don’t have a recurring platform cost when you’re not earning.Not just that, everything on the platform is yours to use, for free. If you’re still figuring out your audience, this gives you some room to start small and grow without adding another monthly expense.
A full publishing house or a simpler way to work:
Ghost is built to help you run a publication. You can create a website, choose a theme, publish posts and newsletters, manage members, offer paid subscriptions, and connect other tools to your site. There’s a lot you can do with it, but there’s also more to set up and manage.That makes sense if building and running your own publication is part of the plan.
But if you just want a place to publish your writing and give your audience a way to support you, you may not need all of that. Buy Me a Coffee keeps the setup much simpler. You create your page, add your content, and share the link with your audience. You can publish posts and newsletters, and add ways for people to support you without having to build an entire publication around it.
Everything comes with a limit:
Ghost’s pricing isn’t just about how much you pay. Your plan also determines how much you can use. The Starter plan gives you up to 1,000 members and 1 staff user. Move up to Publisher, and you still get 1,000 members, but can have up to 3 staff users. Business takes that to 10,000 members and 15 staff users. If you need more than that, you’ll have to move to a custom plan.
There are limits on individual file uploads too. Starter allows files up to 5MB, Publisher up to 100MB, Business up to 250MB, and Custom up to 1GB. You can upload as many files as you like, but the size of each file is tied to your plan.
And some features aren’t available on the lower plans at all. Paid subscriptions, tips and donations, and custom themes start from the $29/month Publisher plan. This means you’re not just choosing how much you want to spend. You’re also choosing how much of Ghost you can use.
With Buy Me a Coffee, you don’t have to keep upgrading your plan as you start using more features. There’s no monthly plan to move up through. You get access to the platform’s features from the start.
More ways to earn from your writing:
With Ghost, the main way to make money from your audience is through paid memberships. Readers can subscribe to your publication and pay you on a recurring basis. That works well if you already have an audience that’s ready to pay for regular access to your content.
But not every reader wants to or can sign up for a monthly subscription. Some might want to support something you wrote once, buy a resource, or contribute when they have the chance.
Ghost did add a one-time support option, but to use that, you’ll need to be on a subscription tier of Publisher or upwards.
On Buy Me a Coffee, you can accept one-time support, offer memberships, and sell digital products through your Shop. You can use one, or combine them depending on what you create.
For example, you could keep your posts and newsletters free, let readers send you a one-time payment if they enjoy your work, and sell an ebook or writing guide through your Shop.
Publishing on a schedule:
When people pay for a subscription, there’s naturally an expectation that they’ll keep getting something in return. That can work well if you’re publishing regularly and have a clear rhythm.
But not every writer works that way. Some:
- publish in bursts
- create irregularly
- work across formats
- only publish when there’s something meaningful
With Buy Me a Coffee, you don’t have to tie your income to a publishing schedule. People can support you because they like your work, whether you publish every week or only when you have something to share.
What does this mean for a writer?
At the end of the day, it comes down to how you want to work. If you enjoy building a publication, managing a website, and setting up a more structured membership business around your writing, Ghost gives you plenty of room to do that.
But if you’re looking for a simpler way to publish your work, build an audience, and let people support you along the way, Buy Me a Coffee takes a lot of that setup out of the picture. You can start with free posts and newsletters, see what your readers respond to, and add memberships or products when it makes sense for you. And because there’s no monthly subscription, you don’t have to figure everything out before you start.
For a writer who mostly wants to write, publish, and slowly figure out the rest, that can make things a little easier.
