Ghost vs Django CMS
When comparing Ghost vs Django CMS, the Slant community recommends Ghost for most people. In the question“What is the best open source alternative to WordPress for web-publishing?” Ghost is ranked 2nd while Django CMS is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose Ghost is:
Anyone can view code of Ghost since it's under a libre/open source license.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Open source
Anyone can view code of Ghost since it's under a libre/open source license.
Pro Extremely simple
It only does a few things and it does them well. Unlike WordPress, with which you can build a universe, a blog or anything in between, Ghost is simple.
Pro Markdown support
Markdown is a plain text formatting syntax designed so that it can be human-readable and easily converted to HTML. Markdown allows HTML code for complete flexibility.
Pro Custom domain support
Setting up a custom domain is effortless - fill the in the form and change DNS entries. Done.
Pro Self-host & paid Ghost(Pro)-host options
You can download the source code and set it up yourself (just make sure your hosting provider supports node.js). Alternatively, you can use their Ghost(Pro) service to let them host it for you. Paid plans start at $10/mo.
Pro Official Docker image
Very easy setup with an official image from Docker. Just needs a custom config.json and you are pretty much good to go.
Pro Theme marketplace
A built-in way to get and set up themes.
Pro Real-time preview
You can see markdown on one side of the pane and the result on the other, while writing.
Pro Customizable
Themes may be uploaded, as can logos and covers.
Pro Free hosting on Github Pages via Buster
You can host your Ghost blog for free on Github Pages if you are OK with it being turned into a static site. You can use Buster to generate a static site from Ghost that can then be hosted on Github Pages.
Pro Affordable hosting available
There are lots of affordable hosting plans available for Ghost blogs.
Pro Mature
Django CMS is a very mature project, with many core developers working on it constantly and adding new features and bug fixes.
Pro Can integrate with existing apps
Django CMS is more of a Django plugin which can easily be integrated with any Django app to add CMS functionality to it.
Pro Double click to edit
You can double click items to edit them or add pages directly on the website (as long as you're logged in as admin). It simplifies content creation and touch-ups.
Pro Easy to extend
Documents are organized in a tree. You can either create new content area type, new tree nodes, integrate complete existing Django app in the tree, etc. It's pretty easy usually.
Pro Internationalization (multi-language) support
Having a website in more than one language can be very challenging and DJango-CMS supports it well. Switching between languages while keeping on the page for example.
Cons
Con Commenting must be added
One needs to edit their post.hbs file and add some code from Disqus in order for commenting to be available.
Con Expensive
Too expensive for what you actually get. There are other solutions that have more or less the same features at a lower cost.
Con Poor multilingual support
Its editor does not properly support Asian characters such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean due to a bug in IME. It is difficult to write properly in Asian letters.
Con Finding Ghost host sites can be difficult
If wanting to host elsewhere, some of the other ghost hosting sites are hard to find, and once found they vary in features and functions. There isn't a single standard of service across the board.
Con Self-hosted might be hard to setup
Requires NodeJS and NPM which both come with a lot of dependencies. Also requires editting configuration files manually.
Con Inappropriate terminology in the UI
Despite some community support of having it removed, Ghost still prominently uses the following phrase in the UI: "Display a sexy logo for your publication." This terminology can be considered exclusionary and even inappropriate in a professional environment.
Con May be an overkill for a simple blog
Django CMS project is a large and complex project, comparable to Wordpress. As such, it may be too much for a simple personal blog considering that it has many features that may never be used in that particular occasion.