Self-hosted alternatives to Substack
Want newsletter publishing with paid subscriptions without handing your data to Substack? These 20 self-hosted apps run on your own server (most are open source; licenses are listed below). Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $3.5/month.
About Substack: Newsletter and blogging platform with built-in paid subscriptions.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghost | Active | 55.7k | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Listmonk | Active | 24.1k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| WriteFreely | Active | 5.3k | AGPL-3.0 | – | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Keila | Active | 2.3k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Ech0 | Active | 2.1k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| phpList | Active | 881 | AGPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Haven | Active | 813 | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Chyrp Lite | Active | 498 | BSD-3-Clause | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Mataroa | Active | 375 | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| bloglite | Active | 337 | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| HTMLy | Maintained | 1.4k | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Known | Maintained | 1.1k | Apache-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Serendipity | Active | 229 | BSD-3-Clause | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| FlatPress | Active | 218 | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Postorius | Active | 94 | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Antville | Active | 90 | Apache-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| PluXml | Maintained | 233 | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Dotclear | Unknown | – | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Mailman | Unknown | – | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Sendy | Unknown | – | ⊘ Proprietary | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
The options in detail
1. Ghost
Just a blogging platform.
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. Latest release v6.75.0 (2026-11-04). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
2. Listmonk
High performance newsletter and mailing list manager with a modern dashboard.
Active Last commit 2026-11-03. Latest release nightly (2026-11-04). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
3. WriteFreely
Writing software for starting a minimalist, federated blog — or an entire community.
Active Last commit 2026-09-28. Latest release v0.17.2 (2026-08-10). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
4. Keila
Reliable and easy-to-use newsletter tool (alternative to Mailchimp and Sendinblue).
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release 0.40.2 (2026-11-04). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
5. Ech0
Lightweight federated publishing platform focused on personal idea sharing (documentation in Chinese).
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release v5.9.4 (2026-11-04). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
6. phpList
Newsletter and email marketing with advanced management of subscribers, bounces, and plugins.
Active Last commit 2026-10-19. Latest release v3.7.0-RC5 (2026-08-09). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
7. Haven
Private blogging system with markdown editing and built in RSS reader.
Active Last commit 2026-10-03. Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
8. Chyrp Lite
Extra-awesome, extra-lightweight blog engine.
Active Last commit 2026-10-31. Latest release v2026.03 (2026-11-01). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
9. Mataroa
Naked blogging platform for minimalists.
Active Last commit 2026-11-02. Latest release v1.5 (2026-01-03). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
10. bloglite
Micro-blog tool offering built-in syntax highlighting, mobile publishing and more (alternative to Twitter, Bluesky).
Active Last commit 2026-10-31. Latest release v3.1.0 (2026-10-24). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
11. HTMLy
Databaseless PHP blogging platform. A flat-file CMS that allows you to create a fast, secure, and powerful website or blog in seconds.
Maintained Last commit 2026-01-25. 1 release in the past year. Latest release v3.1.1 (2025-11-03). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
12. Known
Collaborative social publishing platform.
Maintained Last commit 2026-04-12. Latest release 1.6.4 (2026-03-01). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
13. Serendipity
Highly extensible and customizable PHP blog engine using Smarty templating (s9y).
Active Last commit 2026-09-12. Latest release 2.6.1 (2026-07-22). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
14. FlatPress
Lightweight, easy-to-set-up flat-file blogging engine.
Active Last commit 2026-11-03. 4 releases in the past year. Latest release 1.5.1 (2026-03-24). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
15. Postorius
Web user interface to access GNU Mailman.
Active Last commit 2026-11-02. Latest release v1.3.13 (2024-09-21). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
16. Antville
Feature-rich blog hosting software which can host tens of thousands of blogs.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release 1.6.0 (2025-03-01). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
17. PluXml
XML-based blog/CMS platform.
Maintained Last commit 2026-08-03. Latest release v5.10.0.rc4 (2026-09-12). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
18. Dotclear
Take control over your blog.
Unknown Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
19. Mailman
Manage electronic mail discussion and e-newsletter lists.
Unknown Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
20. Sendy
Email newsletter application that lets you send bulk emails via Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) or other SMTP services.
Unknown Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
Why self-host instead of Substack?
- Own your data — it lives on a server you control, with backups you decide on.
- Predictable cost — a small VPS often replaces per-seat pricing for a whole team or family.
- No lock-in — open-source licenses let you keep running the software even if a vendor disappears.
The trade-off: you are responsible for updates, backups and security. Pick an app marked Active (a commit in the last 90 days) and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
Browse related categories
Other alternatives guides
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