Ghost

Ghost treats publishing as software you install rather than a service you rent. It is a headless Node.js content management system aimed at independent, professional publishing, and it is built to work with the tools already around it instead of replacing them.

Installation runs through a CLI tool pulled from npm. One command brings up a local instance in under a minute, while the full server install adds automatic SSL certificates issued through Let's Encrypt. The documentation covers a recommended hosting stack and the upgrade path between versions.

Beyond running a site, the project documents several surfaces worth knowing about.

• Themes: theme documentation covers building your own front end rather than settling for a default.
• Content API: a documented API pulls posts into other applications and front ends.
• Monorepo: contributors get a codebase guide alongside the contributing guide.
• Managed hosting: a paid service from the same team launches a site in about two minutes with a worldwide CDN, backups, security and maintenance handled.

All revenue from that managed service goes to the Ghost Foundation and funds maintenance and further development of the project itself, so paying for hosting doubles as the funding model. Support comes from a large community forum, with round-the-clock email for customers of the paid service. The code is MIT licensed, though the name and logo stay trademarks with a published usage policy.