{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "ghost", "name": "Ghost", "vendor": "Ghost Foundation", "vendorUrl": "https://ghost.org", "kind": "http-api", "category": "cms", "summary": "Ghost is an open-source publishing platform for websites, newsletters and paid memberships, self-hosted or run by the Ghost Foundation as Ghost(Pro). Agents create, edit and publish posts and pages and upload images through its Admin API.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ghost", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ghost.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ghost.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ghost.json", "repo": "https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost", "license": "MIT, copyright Ghost Foundation. Ghost(Pro) is a paid hosting service under the Ghost Foundation's terms", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "ghost" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@tryghost/admin-api" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "ghost-cli" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Self-serve, with no app review or partner approval. An owner or administrator creates a custom integration in Ghost Admin and copies its Admin API key, an id and a hex secret joined by a colon. The client signs an HS256 JSON Web Token with the secret (`kid` the id, `aud` `/admin/`, expiry at most 5 minutes) and sends it as `Authorization: Ghost \u003ctoken\u003e`. Integrations hold one fixed permission set with no scopes. A staff access token from a user's profile works the same way and carries that user's role. Session login with email and password is meant for clients where the user is present. On Ghost(Pro) the Admin API and custom integrations need the Publisher plan or above.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "The software is free under MIT to self-host, so an agent's owner can start without a contract or a card. Ghost(Pro) lists Starter at $18, Publisher at $29 and Business at $199 a month billed yearly for up to 1,000 members, rising with audience size, and Custom through sales. The Admin API isn't included in Starter. Plans show a free trial, and we couldn't read whether it needs a card (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "$18 / mo", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the documentation index, the pricing page or the repository's file list (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 55500, "npmWeekly": 23628, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.ghost.org/admin-api", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.ghost.org/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "cms.content", "cms.publish", "cms.assets" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "self-hosted", "hosted", "rest", "llms-txt", "webhooks", "newsletter", "memberships", "nodejs", "status-page" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-07", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 58.3, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 455, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 9, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 69, "maintenance": 85, "payments": 50, "reliability": 80, "schema": 51, "security": 56, "transparency": 72 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": -7, "negativeNotes": [ "3 September to 1 October 2026. Ghost published 20 security advisories in five weeks, one critical, ten high, eight moderate and one low. They include GHSA-q734-xjgc-vpj9 (critical, suspended staff could reactivate accounts through password reset), GHSA-788w-68h3-cvxp (high, CVSS 8.8, remote code execution through bookmark card images in 6.56.0 to 6.65.0, fixed in 6.67.0) and GHSA-jj74-hc2q-xrvm (high, remote code execution through theme translation files). Several could be triggered by any staff user, Contributors included. All were published by the vendor with a fixed version, and we found no report of exploitation in the advisories we read, so we deduct 7 of a possible 15. https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/security/advisories ; https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/security/advisories/GHSA-788w-68h3-cvxp" ], "verdict": "A create needs only a title, updates are checked against `updated_at` so a stale write is refused, and a Contributor's staff token can draft without being able to publish. The Admin API has no OpenAPI file and one fixed permission set per integration, and 20 security advisories were published between 3 September and 1 October 2026.", "bestFor": "A publication, blog or newsletter where an agent drafts posts and a person or a higher role publishes.", "strengths": [ "Admin API keys sign JSON Web Tokens that last at most 5 minutes and travel in the Authorization header, so the key itself is never sent", "A staff access token carries its user's role, and a Contributor can add and edit drafts but can't change a post's status", "Every PUT must send the post's current `updated_at`, which Ghost uses for collision detection", "19 versions reached npm between 10 July and 8 October 2026, with 6.69.0 on 7 October", "MIT licence, with llms.txt, llms-full.txt and a Markdown copy of every docs page" ], "weaknesses": [ "No OpenAPI or other machine-readable description of the Admin API was found in the docs or the repository", "A custom integration has one fixed permission set covering posts, members, settings, themes and users, with no scopes and no read-only Admin key", "20 advisories were published from 3 September to 1 October 2026, one critical and ten high, including remote code execution through bookmark card images", "No content locales or custom content types, and the Admin API has no documented route for restoring a post revision", "On Ghost(Pro) the Admin API and custom integrations start at the Publisher plan, not Starter" ], "agentNotes": [ "Sign a fresh HS256 token for each batch of calls. Decode the hex secret to bytes, set `kid` to the key id, `aud` to `/admin/` and `exp` at most 5 minutes ahead", "Set `status` to `draft` on every create unless told to publish, and publish later with a PUT that sets `status` to `published`", "GET the post before each PUT and send its `updated_at` back. Tags and authors in a PUT replace the existing lists", "Send content as a Lexical JSON string, or add `?source=html` and send `html`. The HTML conversion is lossy unless wrapped in an HTML card", "Page through lists with `limit` up to 100 and `page`. Since Ghost 6.0 `limit=all` returns 100 items without an error" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 58.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 69, "maintenance": 85, "payments": 50, "reliability": 80, "schema": 51, "security": 56, "transparency": 76 }, "provenanceScore": 68 }, "connect": { "install": "npm install @tryghost/admin-api", "http": "curl -H \"Authorization: Ghost $token\" -H \"Accept-Version: $version\" https://{admin_domain}/ghost/api/admin/{resource}/" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/cms.content", "tool": "https://letme.dev/ghost" }, "area": "business", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Self-hosted Ghost", "unit": "month", "usd": 0, "note": "MIT, you pay for your own hosting and email delivery" }, { "item": "Ghost(Pro) Starter", "unit": "month", "usd": 18, "note": "billed yearly, up to 1,000 members, no Admin API" }, { "item": "Ghost(Pro) Publisher", "unit": "month", "usd": 29, "note": "billed yearly, up to 1,000 members, 3 staff users, Admin API included" }, { "item": "Ghost(Pro) Business", "unit": "month", "usd": 199, "note": "billed yearly, up to 1,000 members, 15 staff users" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Ghost Foundation Ltd", "domain": "ghost.org", "domainRegistered": "2005-06-25", "endpointOnVendorDomain": false, "terms": "https://ghost.org/terms/", "privacy": "https://ghost.org/privacy/", "statusPage": "https://ghoststatus.org", "changelog": "https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The terms govern the Ghost.org website, the Ghost software and the hosted service, and name the Ghost Foundation as owner and operator under the law of England and Wales. The privacy policy names Ghost Foundation Ltd. Neither page showed a dated revision that we could read.", "The privacy policy covers Ghost Foundation's own website and services. Content on a self-hosted site stays on its owner's server and isn't covered by it.", "A self-hosted install answers on its owner's domain. Ghost(Pro) sites use a `*.ghost.io` admin domain.", "https://ghost.org/.well-known/security.txt returned 404 on 8 October 2026. SECURITY.md in the repository and https://docs.ghost.org/security give security@ghost.org and a disclosure policy.", "RDAP for ghost.org gives a registration date of 2005-06-25 and a transfer on 2013-09-12.", "status.ghost.org redirects to ghoststatus.org, an incident.io page for Ghost(Pro), not for self-hosted installs. It listed three minor incidents between 10 July and 8 October 2026." ], "score": 68 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ghost.json", "live": { "slug": "ghost", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://ghoststatus.org", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T01:07:33.007157588Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://ghost.org/privacy/", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:20:39.9398284Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "6de86a225cdd" }, { "url": "https://ghost.org/terms/", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:20:42.180060747Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "673039b71aa4" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-09T01:07:33.007157588Z" } }, "answer": "Ghost scores 58.3 (C) on agent readiness against Payload's 55.2 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Payload leads on schema \u0026 documentation.", "b": { "slug": "payload", "name": "Payload", "vendor": "Payload CMS, Inc. (Figma)", "vendorUrl": "https://payloadcms.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "cms", "summary": "Payload is an open-source, code-first headless CMS and application framework for Node.js and Next.js, now part of Figma. Agents manage content, drafts, versions and locales through generated REST and GraphQL APIs or an official MCP plugin.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/payload", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/payload.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/payload.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/payload.json", "repo": "https://github.com/payloadcms/payload", "license": "MIT for the core and the official packages. Enterprise add-ons are sold separately through sales", "transports": [ "http", "streamable-http" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "payload" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@payloadcms/plugin-mcp" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@payloadcms/sdk" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Self-serve keys on your own instance, with no app review or partner approval. REST and GraphQL take a per-user API key sent as `Authorization: {collection-slug} API-Key {key}` once `auth.useAPIKey` is set on an auth collection. The key signs requests in as that user under the collection's access control, doesn't expire, is shown once, and can be regenerated or revoked by an admin. The MCP plugin has its own keys, created in the admin panel under MCP API Keys with find, create, update and delete switches per collection, sent as `Authorization: Bearer {key}`. Changing `PAYLOAD_SECRET` invalidates every key.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free to self-host under the MIT licence, with no account at Payload and no card, so an agent can start without a contract. Enterprise (SSO, publishing workflows, visual editor, dedicated support) is sold through sales with no public price. Payload Cloud has paused deployment of new projects since Payload joined Figma (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the 3.x documentation, the get-started page or the MCP plugin source (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 45151, "npmWeekly": 1108564, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://payloadcms.com/docs", "llmsTxt": "https://payloadcms.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "cms.content", "cms.publish", "cms.localisation", "cms.assets", "cms.schema" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "self-hosted", "mcp", "llms-txt", "graphql", "rest", "typescript", "nextjs" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-23", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 55.2, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 516, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 10, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 64, "maintenance": 78, "payments": 45, "reliability": 78, "schema": 70, "security": 57, "transparency": 62 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": -10, "negativeNotes": [ "18 September to 8 October 2026. Payload published 38 security advisories in three weeks, 49 in the 12 months to 8 October 2026 (8 critical, 23 high, 18 medium). They include remote code execution through the first-register operation (GHSA-97rh-rhh2-7vjv), SQL injection on Postgres and SQLite (GHSA-v49j-62m6-pgrr), unauthorised document updates on orderable collections (GHSA-f7hx-52q9-hcrf) and four in `@payloadcms/plugin-mcp`, one an account takeover through the experimental password recovery tool (GHSA-h5rh-4jwf-738p). All are fixed in 3.90.0 or earlier, each was published by the vendor with affected versions and a workaround, and we found no report of exploitation, so we deduct 10 of a possible 15. https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/security/advisories" ], "verdict": "Payload generates REST, GraphQL and MCP interfaces from one typed config, with drafts, restorable versions and per-key MCP permissions in the free MIT core. The security record is the limit. The vendor published 49 advisories in 12 months, 8 of them critical, so an install older than 3.90.0 is exposed. No OpenAPI file is published.", "bestFor": "Teams that build on Next.js and want the content model in TypeScript, with drafts, versions and localisation in the free core.", "strengths": [ "MIT core with drafts, version history and restore through `POST /api/{collection-slug}/versions/:id`, none of it behind a paid plan", "MCP API keys carry find, create, update and delete switches per collection, and the key's user still passes through the collection's access control", "New documents default to `_status: 'draft'`, so nothing is published unless the request sets `_status: 'published'`", "MCP find tools default to 10 documents and depth 0, cap at 100, and take `select` to return named fields only", "llms.txt per major version, llms-full.txt and a Markdown copy of every docs page" ], "weaknesses": [ "49 security advisories in the 12 months to 8 October 2026, 8 critical, 38 of them published since 18 September 2026", "No OpenAPI file is published or generated by the core packages, and REST error responses have no reference page", "REST and MCP API keys don't expire, and rate limiting is left to the owner's own hooks or proxy", "No idempotency keys, and the MCP tools set no `readOnlyHint` or `destructiveHint` annotations", "Payload Cloud is closed to new projects, Enterprise is priced by sales, and no status page or security.txt was found" ], "agentNotes": [ "Check the installed version first. Anything below 3.90.0 carries published critical advisories, so ask the owner to upgrade before writing", "Send REST keys as `Authorization: {collection-slug} API-Key {key}` and MCP keys as `Authorization: Bearer {key}`. The two key kinds are separate", "To publish, set `_status: 'published'` in the data. The `draft` parameter only relaxes validation and chooses where an update is written", "Upload files with multipart POST to the upload collection, with other fields as JSON in `_payload`. No MCP upload tool is documented", "Roll back with `POST /api/{collection-slug}/versions/:id` after listing versions. Versions exist only where the collection config enables them" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 55.2 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 64, "maintenance": 78, "payments": 45, "reliability": 78, "schema": 70, "security": 57, "transparency": 74 }, "provenanceScore": 50 }, "connect": { "install": "npx create-payload-app", "http": "curl 'http://localhost:3000/api/pages' \\\n -H \"Authorization: users API-Key $PAYLOAD_API_KEY\"", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http Payload http://127.0.0.1:3000/api/mcp \\\n --header \"Authorization: Bearer MCP-USER-API-KEY\"", "config": { "mcpServers": { "Payload": { "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer MCP-USER-API-KEY" }, "type": "http", "url": "http://localhost:3000/api/mcp" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/cms.content", "tool": "https://letme.dev/payload" }, "area": "business", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Self-hosted Payload", "unit": "month", "usd": 0, "note": "MIT, you pay for your own hosting and database" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Payload CMS, Inc.", "domain": "payloadcms.com", "domainRegistered": "2018-04-02", "endpointOnVendorDomain": false, "terms": "", "privacy": "https://payloadcms.com/privacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "No `terms` is recorded. The only terms on payloadcms.com are the Payload Cloud terms at https://payloadcms.com/cloud-terms, which govern a hosted service closed to new projects. The software an agent uses is under the MIT licence in LICENSE.md.", "The privacy policy (effective 28 March 2024) names Payload CMS, Inc. as controller. The Cloud terms call it a Delaware corporation with an address at 624 Stocking Ave. NW, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504. LICENSE.md names Payload CMS, LLC.", "The site says Payload has joined Figma. The privacy policy and the Cloud terms don't mention Figma.", "A self-hosted install answers on its owner's domain.", "https://payloadcms.com/.well-known/security.txt and https://payloadcms.com/security.txt returned 404 on 8 October 2026. SECURITY.md gives security@payloadcms.com.", "No status page is linked from the site footer, the security page or the get-started page, and status.payloadcms.com didn't resolve.", "RDAP for payloadcms.com gives a registration date of 2018-04-02." ], "score": 50 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/payload.json" }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Ghost Foundation", "b": "Payload CMS, Inc. (Figma)", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP, Streamable HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT, copyright Ghost Foundation. Ghost(Pro) is a paid hosting service under the Ghost Foundation's terms", "b": "MIT for the core and the official packages. Enterprise add-ons are sold separately through sales", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-07", "b": "2026-09-23", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "no date given", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no date given", "b": "2024-03-28", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "56k stars, 24k npm/wk", "b": "45k stars, 1.1M npm/wk", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Ghost scores 58.3 (C) on agent readiness against Payload's 55.2 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Payload leads on schema \u0026 documentation.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Ghost or Payload?" }, { "answer": "Both need an API key.", "question": "Do Ghost and Payload need an API key?" }, { "answer": "No hosted endpoint is listed for Ghost. No hosted endpoint is listed for Payload.", "question": "Can an agent call Ghost and Payload without installing anything?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Ghost is open source (MIT, copyright Ghost Foundation. Ghost(Pro) is a paid hosting service under the Ghost Foundation's terms). Payload is open source (MIT for the core and the official packages. Enterprise add-ons are sold separately through sales).", "question": "Are Ghost and Payload open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Agent ergonomics, 69 against 64", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 50 against 45", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 85 against 78", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 72 against 62" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "A publication, blog or newsletter where an agent drafts posts and a person or a higher role publishes.", "slug": "ghost", "watchFor": "No OpenAPI or other machine-readable description of the Admin API was found in the docs or the repository" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 70 against 51" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Teams that build on Next.js and want the content model in TypeScript, with drafts, versions and localisation in the free core.", "slug": "payload", "watchFor": "49 security advisories in the 12 months to 8 October 2026, 8 critical, 38 of them published since 18 September 2026" } ], "job": { "capability": "cms.content", "name": "Cms content" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/contentstack-vs-ghost.json", "title": "Contentstack vs Ghost", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/contentstack-vs-ghost" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/contentstack-vs-payload.json", "title": "Contentstack vs Payload", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/contentstack-vs-payload" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/datocms-vs-ghost.json", "title": "DatoCMS vs Ghost", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/datocms-vs-ghost" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/datocms-vs-payload.json", "title": "DatoCMS vs Payload", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/datocms-vs-payload" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-ghost.json", "title": "Directus vs Ghost", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-ghost" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-payload.json", "title": "Directus vs Payload", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-payload" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-sanity.json", "title": "Ghost vs Sanity", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-sanity" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-storyblok.json", "title": "Ghost vs Storyblok", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-storyblok" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-strapi.json", "title": "Ghost vs Strapi", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-strapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-webflow.json", "title": "Ghost vs Webflow", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-webflow" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-wordpress.json", "title": "Ghost vs WordPress", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-wordpress" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-sanity.json", "title": "Payload vs Sanity", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-sanity" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-storyblok.json", "title": "Payload vs Storyblok", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-storyblok" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-strapi.json", "title": "Payload vs Strapi", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-strapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-webflow.json", "title": "Payload vs Webflow", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-webflow" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-wordpress.json", "title": "Payload vs WordPress", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-wordpress" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 2, "edge": "ghost", "ghost": 80, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "payload": 78, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 19, "edge": "payload", "ghost": 51, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "payload": 70, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 5, "edge": "ghost", "ghost": 69, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "payload": 64, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 1, "edge": "payload", "ghost": 56, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "payload": 57, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 5, "edge": "ghost", "ghost": 50, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "payload": 45, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 7, "edge": "ghost", "ghost": 85, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "payload": 78, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 10, "edge": "ghost", "ghost": 72, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "payload": 62, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Ghost scores 58.3 (C) on agent readiness against Payload's 55.2 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Payload leads on schema \u0026 documentation. Both do cms content.", "verdicts": { "ghost": "A create needs only a title, updates are checked against `updated_at` so a stale write is refused, and a Contributor's staff token can draft without being able to publish. The Admin API has no OpenAPI file and one fixed permission set per integration, and 20 security advisories were published between 3 September and 1 October 2026.", "payload": "Payload generates REST, GraphQL and MCP interfaces from one typed config, with drafts, restorable versions and per-key MCP permissions in the free MIT core. The security record is the limit. The vendor published 49 advisories in 12 months, 8 of them critical, so an install older than 3.90.0 is exposed. No OpenAPI file is published." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-payload", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-payload.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-payload.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-payload.min.md" }, "markdown": "Ghost scores 58.3 (C) on agent readiness against Payload's 55.2 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Payload leads on schema \u0026 documentation. Both do cms content.\n\n- Ghost: grade C, 58.3/100, rank #455 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ghost.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ghost.json\n- Payload: grade C, 55.2/100, rank #516 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/payload.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/payload.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Ghost (C)\n\nGood for: A publication, blog or newsletter where an agent drafts posts and a person or a higher role publishes.\n\nAhead on:\n- Agent ergonomics, 69 against 64\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 50 against 45\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 85 against 78\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 72 against 62\n\nWatch for: No OpenAPI or other machine-readable description of the Admin API was found in the docs or the repository\n\n### Payload (C)\n\nGood for: Teams that build on Next.js and want the content model in TypeScript, with drafts, versions and localisation in the free core.\n\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 70 against 51\n\nWatch for: 49 security advisories in the 12 months to 8 October 2026, 8 critical, 38 of them published since 18 September 2026\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Ghost | Payload | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 78 | Ghost +2 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 51 | 70 | Payload +19 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 64 | Ghost +5 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 56 | 57 | Payload +1 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 50 | 45 | Ghost +5 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 78 | Ghost +7 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 62 | Ghost +10 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -7 | -10 | |\n| **Total** | | **58.3 · C** | **55.2 · C** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Ghost | Payload |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Ghost Foundation | Payload CMS, Inc. (Figma) |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | API key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | MIT, copyright Ghost Foundation. Ghost(Pro) is a paid hosting service under the Ghost Foundation's terms | MIT for the core and the official packages. Enterprise add-ons are sold separately through sales |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-10-07 | 2026-09-23 |\n| Terms last updated | no date given | no document linked |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2024-03-28 |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | |\n| Popularity | 56k stars, 24k npm/wk | 45k stars, 1.1M npm/wk |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Ghost.** A create needs only a title, updates are checked against `updated_at` so a stale write is refused, and a Contributor's staff token can draft without being able to publish. The Admin API has no OpenAPI file and one fixed permission set per integration, and 20 security advisories were published between 3 September and 1 October 2026.\n\n**Payload.** Payload generates REST, GraphQL and MCP interfaces from one typed config, with drafts, restorable versions and per-key MCP permissions in the free MIT core. The security record is the limit. The vendor published 49 advisories in 12 months, 8 of them critical, so an install older than 3.90.0 is exposed. No OpenAPI file is published.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Ghost\n\n1. Sign a fresh HS256 token for each batch of calls. Decode the hex secret to bytes, set `kid` to the key id, `aud` to `/admin/` and `exp` at most 5 minutes ahead\n2. Set `status` to `draft` on every create unless told to publish, and publish later with a PUT that sets `status` to `published`\n3. GET the post before each PUT and send its `updated_at` back. Tags and authors in a PUT replace the existing lists\n4. Send content as a Lexical JSON string, or add `?source=html` and send `html`. The HTML conversion is lossy unless wrapped in an HTML card\n5. Page through lists with `limit` up to 100 and `page`. Since Ghost 6.0 `limit=all` returns 100 items without an error\n\n### Payload\n\n1. Check the installed version first. Anything below 3.90.0 carries published critical advisories, so ask the owner to upgrade before writing\n2. Send REST keys as `Authorization: {collection-slug} API-Key {key}` and MCP keys as `Authorization: Bearer {key}`. The two key kinds are separate\n3. To publish, set `_status: 'published'` in the data. The `draft` parameter only relaxes validation and chooses where an update is written\n4. Upload files with multipart POST to the upload collection, with other fields as JSON in `_payload`. No MCP upload tool is documented\n5. Roll back with `POST /api/{collection-slug}/versions/:id` after listing versions. Versions exist only where the collection config enables them\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Ghost or Payload?\n\nGhost scores 58.3 (C) on agent readiness against Payload's 55.2 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Payload leads on schema \u0026 documentation.\n\n### Do Ghost and Payload need an API key?\n\nBoth need an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call Ghost and Payload without installing anything?\n\nNo hosted endpoint is listed for Ghost. No hosted endpoint is listed for Payload.\n\n### Are Ghost and Payload open source?\n\nYes. Ghost is open source (MIT, copyright Ghost Foundation. Ghost(Pro) is a paid hosting service under the Ghost Foundation's terms). Payload is open source (MIT for the core and the official packages. Enterprise add-ons are sold separately through sales).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-payload.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-payload.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"ghost\", \"b\": \"payload\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare ghost payload`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ghost.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/payload.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Ghost or Payload\n\n- [Contentstack vs Ghost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/contentstack-vs-ghost.md)\n- [Contentstack vs Payload](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/contentstack-vs-payload.md)\n- [DatoCMS vs Ghost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/datocms-vs-ghost.md)\n- [DatoCMS vs Payload](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/datocms-vs-payload.md)\n- [Directus vs Ghost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-ghost.md)\n- [Directus vs Payload](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-payload.md)\n- [Ghost vs Sanity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-sanity.md)\n- [Ghost vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-storyblok.md)\n- [Ghost vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-strapi.md)\n- [Ghost vs Webflow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-webflow.md)\n- [Ghost vs WordPress](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-wordpress.md)\n- [Payload vs Sanity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-sanity.md)\n- [Payload vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-storyblok.md)\n- [Payload vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-strapi.md)\n- [Payload vs Webflow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-webflow.md)\n- [Payload vs WordPress](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-wordpress.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-09", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Ghost vs Payload", "url": "" } ], "description": "Ghost scores 58.3 (C) on agent readiness against Payload's 55.2 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Payload leads on schema \u0026 documentation. Both do cms content. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Ghost C 58.3", "Payload C 55.2", "scores" ], "h1": "Ghost vs Payload", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-ghost-vs-payload.png", "path": "/compare/ghost-vs-payload", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Ghost vs Payload for AI agents, C 58.3 vs C 55.2 | Anchor Terminal", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-payload" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2200, "slim": 630 }, "version": 1 }