Best open-source alternatives to Substack

Ghost is an open source publishing platform built as a headless Node.js CMS. It is aimed at publishers, creators, and teams that want a professional, modern system for running a website or publication while connecting to other tools through its API. The project offers both a self-hosted route and a managed Ghost(Pro) service. For self-hosting, the README points users to a CLI-based quickstart for local or production installs, along with documentation for hosting, updates, themes, development, and contributing. The README also highlights automatic SSL setup for production installs and access to the Content API for custom integrations.

listmonk is a self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager intended for users who want to run email list infrastructure on their own servers. It is presented as a fast, feature-rich application that ships as a single binary and uses PostgreSQL for persistence. The project offers two documented deployment paths: Docker via a sample docker-compose file, and a direct binary installation flow that includes configuration generation and database installation or upgrade steps. A live demo and installation documentation are linked from the README, making it straightforward for operators to evaluate and deploy. The repository also notes that the backend is written in Go and the frontend uses Vue with Buefy.

WriteFreely is a minimalist publishing platform designed for writers, small communities, and organizations that want a simple way to publish text online. It focuses on a clean writing experience rather than a complex content-management interface, and it supports both public and private writing use cases. The project can be deployed as a static Go binary with built-in SQLite support or connected to MySQL/MariaDB for broader deployments. It also supports federation through ActivityPub, OAuth 2.0-based account connection, multiple blogs per account, hashtags, static pages, and localized interfaces in many languages. A hosted deployment option is available through Write.as for users who want managed installation and maintenance.

phpList is an open source email marketing platform aimed at people and organizations that need to create, send, manage, and analyze newsletter and campaign mailings. The README presents it as a self-hostable system that can also be used through a hosted service, making it suitable both for users who want full control over their own server and for those who prefer a managed account. The project provides a web-based administration interface and a command-line interface, with capabilities such as analytics, audience segmentation, personalization, bounce handling, and campaign scheduling. It also supports subscriber import/export, plugins, Amazon SES integration, and RSS-driven mailings. The README indicates that data can be migrated between self-hosted and hosted deployments, and it is available in multiple languages.

Keila is an open source newsletter platform intended as an alternative to services such as Mailchimp and Sendinblue. It is aimed at people and organizations that want to manage newsletter campaigns and sign-up forms, either through a hosted cloud offering or by self-hosting the application. The project supports sending campaigns through a user’s own email inbox for smaller newsletters, or through SMTP and several email delivery providers for larger deployments. The README also points to a screenshot of the campaign editor, suggesting a web-based interface centered on composing and managing newsletters. A hosted trial is available, and the project provides installation documentation for running it on a private server.

Mataroa is a Django-based blogging platform designed around per-user subdomains, letting each account operate its own blog under a dedicated hostname. It appears aimed at self-hosters and developers who want a lightweight publishing system with traditional blog features rather than a general-purpose social platform. The project includes blog post management, comments, RSS, newsletter-related features, billing/subscription handling, import/export workflows, image management, and analytics pages. The README also documents local development, Docker-based setup, PostgreSQL usage, and operational tasks such as database backup and server migration, indicating that the repository is meant both for running the service and for contributing to its codebase.