WordPress hosting for publications moving off Ghost.
Ghost exports a single JSON document, stores content as structured data rather than HTML, and sends its own newsletters. None of those three assumptions holds in WordPress.
What a Ghost publication needs on the way out.
The posts are the straightforward part. The audience and the billing behind it are what need planning.
A JSON export, not WordPress XML
Ghost produces one JSON document containing posts, tags and authors. Nothing imports it directly, so it is translated rather than uploaded.
Structured content converted to blocks
Ghost stores content as structured data rather than HTML. A naive conversion flattens cards and embeds into plain paragraphs, which is only obvious once it is published.
Paid members and the billing behind them
Members are the part that cannot simply be re-imported. The subscription relationship has to be carried deliberately, and that is planned before anything moves.
Flat URLs preserved
Ghost URLs carry no date or category segment, so matching them means choosing a WordPress permalink structure that behaves the same way.
Newsletters rebuilt
Ghost sends email itself; WordPress does not. A publication that emailed every post needs that capability chosen and tested before launch.
The audience matters more than the archive.
Posts can be re-imported if something goes wrong. A broken billing relationship with paying members cannot, which is why that part is planned first.
- Membership and billing approach agreed before the move
- Content converted and reviewed on a temporary domain
- Cutover at a time you choose
- Ghost site left live until you confirm
Member pages, which cannot be cached.
A paid publication serves most of its value to signed-in readers, and no page cache helps there. What decides it is the object cache and the database.
What this move needs that a host migration does not
Ghost is a narrower product than WordPress, so several things it did for you become explicit choices here.
| Setting | What we do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Export format | Ghost JSON translated into posts, tags and authors | Ghost produces a single JSON document rather than WordPress XML, so no standard importer will take it without translation. |
| Content format | Structured content converted to blocks rather than pasted as HTML | Ghost stores structured data, and a naive conversion silently flattens cards and embeds into plain paragraphs. |
| Members and subscriptions | Migrated to a membership plugin with the billing relationship planned first | Paid members are the one part of a Ghost site that cannot be re-imported if it goes wrong, because the money is attached to it. |
| URL structure | Flat /slug/ addresses preserved by permalink choice | Ghost URLs carry no date or category segment, so keeping them means picking a WordPress structure that does the same rather than redirecting everything. |
| Newsletter sending | Replaced explicitly and tested before launch | Ghost sends email as part of the product; WordPress does not, so a publication that emailed its posts loses that capability unless it is rebuilt. |
Simple, transparent pricing.
Every plan includes free migration, daily backups, SSL and 24/7 support.
- 1 WordPress site
- 10 GB NVMe disk
- Free SSL
- Daily backups
- One-click deployment
- Support tickets
- 5 WordPress sites
- 50 GB NVMe disk
- Free SSL
- Daily backups
- One-click deployment
- Priority support tickets
- 20 WordPress sites
- 200 GB NVMe disk
- Free SSL
- Daily backups
- One-click deployment
- Dedicated support
Questions, answered.
Ghost exports JSON. Can WordPress import that?
What happens to my paid members?
Will my post formatting survive?
Can I keep my URLs exactly as they are?
Ghost sends my newsletter. What replaces it?
Move off Ghost without risking the paying audience.
Free migration, structured content converted properly, and billing planned before anything switches.