Why I Chose Ghost Over WordPress for MaxwellSeefeld.org

max seefeld

May 25, 2025 • 3 min read

Introduction: CMS Choices Shape Real Projects
When you’re building serious, production-ready websites—technical deep dives, DevSecOps case studies, or high-impact marketing funnels—your CMS is the foundation. WordPress still powers over 40% of the web, but its legacy PHP core and endless plugin dependency can turn every update into a three-alarm fire. Ghost, by contrast, offers a modern, lean, JavaScript-driven platform that aligns with real-world development workflows. Here’s why Ghost is the clear winner for MaxwellSeefeld.org.

The Weight of WordPress’s Legacy

Plugin Overload

SEO, caching, forms, newsletters, membership—you need separate plugins for each feature.

Each plugin adds compatibility risks, database bloat, and security vulnerabilities.

Maintenance Hell

Weekly core and plugin updates.

Broken themes, deprecated PHP functions, fatal errors in the midst of launch deadlines.

Complex database migrations when core or PHP versions bump.

Security Surface Expansion

Thousands of public exploits target WordPress plugins and themes.

Every convenience you add—slider plugins, page builders, contact forms—increases the attack surface.

These aren’t abstract complaints. In my day-to-day I spend hours patching, auditing, and hardening legacy PHP systems like Krayin CRM and Vicidial. Hunting down call_user_func_array() deprecations, overriding core hacks just to adjust a template, or wrestling with half-broken hooks—you develop PTSD around any PHP stack.

Personal Anecdote: PHP PTSD in Action

Just last week, I needed to add a custom multi-step onboarding form to Krayin. What should have been a simple JavaScript widget required:

Forking the theme’s PHP templates,

Back-and-forth with outdated PHP mailer functions,

Three rounds of “fatal error” emails at 2 AM.

By contrast, migrating that same workflow to Ghost would’ve taken 20 minutes: a custom theme snippet in Handlebars, a small webhook to my Rust API, and zero PHP headaches. Ghost feels like finally taking a deep breath after years of coding underwater.

Ghost’s Game-Changing Advantages

1. Modern Architecture & Blazing Performance

Node.js Core: Single-digit millisecond response times, even under heavy load.

Slim Codebase: No fat PHP process pools to tune, no monolithic admin UI dragging performance down.

API-First: Every page, post, and member object is accessible via a RESTful or GraphQL API—perfect for headless setups and static-site generators.

2. Developer-First Workflows

Markdown-Native: Write posts in your favorite editor, version-control them alongside your code, and deploy via CI/CD.

Ghost CLI & Docker: Zero-config deployments to DigitalOcean, AWS, Kubernetes, or your private Proxmox cluster.

Theme Scaffold: Ghost’s Yeoman generator spins up a complete theme boilerplate—no more fighting PHP template hierarchies.

3. Built-In Membership & Newsletters

Native Feature Set: Membership tiers, paid subscriptions, integrated Stripe payments, and email newsletters—all without plugins.

One Less Dependency: No MailPoet, no MemberPress. Updates are managed centrally, reducing compatibility headaches.

4. Security & Maintenance Simplified

Auto-Update Core: Ghost can update itself and its dependencies through npm, trimming hours of manual patching.

Minimal Attack Surface: Fewer third-party components means fewer vulnerabilities to track.

Built-in Roles & Permissions: Granular control over authors, editors, and integrations—no role-based access plugin required.

5. Headless Flexibility & Integrations

Decouple Frontend: Use Next.js, SvelteKit, or even a Rust-based WASM frontend consuming Ghost’s API.

Webhooks & Custom Integrations: Trigger rebuilds, notifications, or external workflows the moment content changes—perfect for complex CI/CD pipelines.

Real-World Use Cases

Technical Blogs & Documentation: Version-controlled Markdown, instant previews, and code syntax highlighting out of the box.

Marketing Funnels: Fast landing pages, lightweight membership gating, and built-in analytics integration.

Client Dashboards: Spin up a Ghost instance per client for personalized content portals—no plugin chaos.

API-Driven Microsites: Leverage Ghost’s API to feed content into mobile apps, IoT devices, or embedded digital signage.

Deployment & Scaling Without the Fluff

Local Development:

ghost install local
npm run dev

Docker Deployment:

services:
  ghost:
    image: ghost:latest
    volumes:
      - ./content:/var/lib/ghost/content
    ports:
      - 2368:2368

Autoscaling on Kubernetes:

Ghost’s stateless core + external MySQL or SQLite on NFS.

Horizontal Pod Autoscaler watching CPU/memory usage.

No more wrestling with PHP-FPM tuning or migrating to new hosting stacks every six months.

Conclusion: Fresh Air for Real Projects

If you’re tired of plugin hell, legacy PHP quirks, and maintenance overheads that eat into your development time, Ghost is the antidote. It streamlines everything—from writing Markdown to launching Docker containers—so you can focus on building features, not firefighting your CMS. After years of daily battles with Krayin, Vicidial, and the WordPress plugin merry-go-round, Ghost really is a breath of fresh air—and the foundation MaxwellSeefeld.org deserves.