Ghost Enters the Fediverse, Challenging Substack

The open-source publishing platform Ghost, widely known as a privacy-respecting alternative to Substack, has officially joined the fediverse—a decentralized network of social platforms powered by the ActivityPub protocol. This integration marks a significant shift in how independent publishers can share, distribute, and interact with content across the broader social web.

What This Means for Ghost Users

With the launch of its social web beta, Ghost Pro subscribers can now connect their publications to the fediverse. This allows their posts to appear across federated platforms like Mastodon, Threads, Pixelfed, Flipboard, and others. More importantly, users on those platforms can now follow Ghost publications, interact with posts (like, reply, repost), and discover content beyond traditional silos.

Each Ghost publisher receives a unique fediverse handle—formatted as @index@yoursite.com—which others can follow directly. Soon, Ghost plans to allow customization of the @index part of this handle for even greater personalization.

A Built-In Social Web Reader

To help publishers participate more actively in this decentralized ecosystem, Ghost has introduced a Social Web Reader. It features two main feeds:

• Feed: Displays short-form content from across the fediverse, similar to a social timeline.
• Inbox: Curates long-form content, such as full articles from Ghost and other platforms like WordPress (which also joined the fediverse in 2023).

Think of the Inbox like an RSS reader blended with social interactions—you can read entire articles inline, then like, reply to, or repost them directly from within Ghost.

Real-Time Engagement and Profile Customization

Ghost’s integration doesn’t stop at publishing. The new Notifications section alerts users to engagement—follows, likes, replies, and reposts—just like any modern social platform. Users can also customize their public profile page, showcasing both short and long-form content, follower counts, and more.

This not only bridges the gap between newsletters and social media but also empowers publishers to build genuine relationships with readers in a more transparent, federated environment.

Limitations and What’s Next

There are still some growing pains. For instance, compatibility with Meta’s Threads is currently limited—interactions like replies and likes don’t work, as Threads actively blocks them. Ghost suggests users tag Instagram head Adam Mosseri to bring attention to the issue.

The integration is still in beta and will be more fully developed in the upcoming Ghost 6.0 release. Features on the horizon include membership integration with social profiles, blocking and muting tools, richer media support, and more.

A Step Toward a More Open Web

Ghost’s move into the fediverse aligns with a larger trend toward decentralization, privacy, and creator control. By allowing publishers to seamlessly distribute their work across multiple platforms while maintaining ownership and identity, Ghost reinforces its mission of empowering independent creators.

Already home to major publications like Platformer, 404 Media, The Lever, Tangle, Inside, and SFist, Ghost’s latest move cements its place at the forefront of the open web movement—one where creators, not corporations, set the rules.

Interested in trying it out?
Ghost Pro subscribers can enable the social web beta from the Labs section in the Ghost Admin panel.