Buttondown vs Ghost

Buttondown is a lean, markdown-native newsletter tool built by one developer. Ghost is a full open-source publishing platform with blog, newsletter, and memberships built in. Buttondown is simpler; Ghost is more powerful.

Verdict

Buttondown if you just want to send a newsletter — markdown in, email out, done. Ghost if you want a full publishing platform with a blog, memberships, and payments. Ghost is what you grow into; Buttondown is what you start with. If you're technical enough to self-host Ghost, it's free and you own everything forever.