Luxe Themes
Reru
Ghost 5.118+ & 6 compatible
$89
- Icon rail navigation
- A feed shaped by your images
- Six post layouts
- Saved posts, no account
Free Ghost Themes: What They Include and Leave Out
The best free Ghost themes are Ghost's own, maintained by the Ghost team: Source, the current default and the natural first pick; Casper, the previous default, with light and dark color schemes; and Dawn, with a choice of post templates. Starter is only a base for developers. Consider a premium theme once you sell memberships, need more languages than the official themes cover, or want a distinct design.
Ghost ships with Source as its default theme, and Ghost's marketplace offers more of its own free themes, Casper and Dawn among them. They work: your site will load, posts will display, and newsletters will send. But if you have spent any time browsing Ghost-powered publications, you have probably noticed that many of the ones on free themes look alike.
The gap between free and premium Ghost themes is not about aesthetics alone. It is about features that affect how readers experience your content and how effectively you convert visitors into subscribers. Premium themes can add things Ghost's official free themes do not have, such as a table of contents, a reading progress indicator, dedicated pricing and sign-in pages, and translations beyond the roughly 15 languages the official themes cover.
This page breaks down exactly what free Ghost themes include, what they lack, and when investing in a premium theme makes sense for your publication.
Feature Comparison
What you get with free themes versus premium Ghost themes
| Feature | Free | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Dark mode | Some | |
| Multiple post layouts | Some | |
| Custom color schemes | Some | |
| Membership pages | Most | |
| Table of contents | Some | |
| Reading progress indicator | ||
| Built-in search | ||
| Languages | About 15 | 46+ |
| RTL language support | Some | |
| Dedicated support | ||
| Regular updates | ||
| Ghost 5 & 6 compatible | ||
| Newsletter support | ||
| Responsive design |
Available Free Ghost Themes
What is available at no cost and what to expect
Source
Ghost's default theme, maintained by the Ghost team. It has a background color picker, a choice of fonts and homepage header styles, but no dark mode setting, table of contents or membership pages of its own.
Casper
Ghost's default before Source, maintained by the Ghost team. Light, dark and automatic color schemes plus font and layout settings, but no table of contents or membership pages of its own.
Dawn
An official Ghost theme with automatic, light and dark color schemes and post templates with a full, narrow or no feature image. Like the others, it has no table of contents or membership pages of its own.
Starter
Barebones theme intended as a development starting point. Not designed for production use.
Ghost's official free themes are maintained by the Ghost team and kept up to date with new Ghost versions. Free themes from other developers vary, and older ones may not support newer Ghost features like native comments, content visibility controls, or the latest card types in the editor, so check when a theme was last updated.
Premium Ghost Themes
Built for Ghost 5 & 6 with features free themes do not include
Senna
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$89
- Sidebar navigation that stays
- Serif headlines on warm paper
- Six post layouts
- Seven color schemes plus system
Tribune
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$89
- Multi-column newspaper front page
- Topic sections in three layouts
- Five post layouts
- Light, dark and reader's switch
Luno
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$89
- Fixed sidebar menu with groups and icons
- Search with a keyboard shortcut
- Light and dark switch for readers
- Six post layouts
Flow
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$89
- Profile-style hero, six layouts
- Round topic highlights
- Square post grid, pinned posts first
- Six post layouts
Rune
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$89
- Cover hero with one action
- Editor's Picks from featured posts
- Five post layouts
- Light, dark and reader's switch
Homa
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$69
- Featured story grid up top
- A section for every topic you name
- Highlighted-topic carousel
- Four post layouts
Nio
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$69
- Square post grid, four across
- Featured photo card up top
- Highlighted-topic band
- Four post layouts
Shiro
Ghost 5 & 6 compatible
$149
- Search field on the homepage
- Search built into the theme
- Nine post layouts
- Seven color schemes
When a Premium Theme Is Worth It
A free theme is enough if you are testing Ghost, running a personal blog with no monetization goals, or building a custom frontend using Ghost as a headless CMS. In these cases, Source, Casper or another free theme will serve you fine.
A premium theme becomes worth it when any of these apply:
- You sell memberships or paid subscriptions: many premium themes include dedicated pricing, sign-up and sign-in pages, which Ghost's official free themes do not have.
- Your audience spans multiple languages: our themes ship with 46+ languages built in, against about 15 in Ghost's official themes.
- Readers expect dark mode: every one of our themes has it, while among Ghost's free themes you are limited to the ones that offer it, such as Casper, Dawn and Alto.
- You publish diverse content types: multiple post layouts let you present tutorials, interviews, photo essays, and standard articles each in a format that suits the content.
- You want your publication to look distinct: many Ghost sites use the same free themes, so a site on one tends to look like others.
Premium themes on Ghost's marketplace cost up to about $150, paid once, and ours start at $69.
Related Resources
Free vs Premium Ghost Themes
Detailed feature-by-feature comparison with real examples.
Best Ghost Themes, Compared
Ghost's free official themes and our premium ones, by kind of publication.
How to Choose a Ghost Theme
Evaluation checklist for finding the right theme for your needs.
Ghost Pricing Guide
What Ghost costs and which plan you actually need.
Free Ghost Themes FAQ
Are free Ghost themes good enough for a professional publication?
Often, yes. Ghost's official free themes are maintained by the Ghost team, work with Ghost's built-in search, ship translations for about 15 languages, and some offer dark mode or a choice of post layouts. None of them has a table of contents, a reading progress indicator, or pricing, sign-in and account pages of its own. If your publication earns revenue through memberships or needs to present a polished brand, a premium theme can be a better investment than spending weeks customizing a free theme.
What is the best free Ghost theme?
Source is the natural starting point: it is Ghost's default theme, maintained by the Ghost team and kept compatible with each new Ghost version. Casper, the previous default, adds light, dark and automatic color schemes, and Dawn adds post templates with a full, narrow or no feature image. None of Ghost's official themes has a table of contents, a reading progress indicator, or membership pages of its own.
How much do premium Ghost themes cost?
Premium themes on Ghost's marketplace cost up to about $150 each, paid once rather than as a subscription. Our themes start at $69 and include dark mode, multiple post layouts, 46+ languages, lifetime updates and email support. The Complete Bundle includes every theme at a significant discount.
Can I switch from a free theme to a premium theme without losing content?
Yes. Ghost themes are interchangeable: your content, members, and settings are stored in Ghost, not in the theme. Uploading a new theme changes only the presentation layer. All your posts, pages, subscribers, and membership tiers remain intact. You can switch themes in seconds through Ghost Admin.