Ghost CMS Hosting
Ghost Version Compatibility
Crimson is designed to work reliably with the latest stable versions of Ghost CMS.
Crimson is regularly updated and supports the latest version of Ghost CMS.
Theme templates, helpers, and member routing behave as expected under Ghost’s current API surface and routing model.
However, there are a few important considerations depending on how you plan to use Crimson—especially if you want multilingual support.
Important Notes on Multilingual Features
I highly recommend to use Crimson on self-hosted Ghost instance if you plan to use Multilingual features.
If you do not want to use the Multilingual features and your site will be in only one single language (doesn't matter which language), then you can use Crimson as any other theme - either on Ghost(Pro) or self-hosted instance.
Crimson’s true multilingual capabilities are one of its standout features, but they come with specific requirements.
The multilingual features require separate Ghost installations — one per language — must be installed into sub-directories such as:
https://example.com/→ Default language (English)https://example.com/es/→ Spanishhttps://example.com/hi/→ Hindi
This setup means each language runs its own Ghost instance on the same server (or different server) using different folders.
Ghost does not natively support multiple languages in a single instance — so Crimson handles multilingual setups by separate installations and language-aware routing configured via routes.yaml , intelligent coding and site structure.
Why Self-Hosted Ghost Is Recommended for Multilingual Support
If you want to take full advantage of Crimson’s multilingual features, I strongly recommend using self-hosted Ghost — and here’s why:
1. Sub-directory Installations
Crimson’s multilingual setup uses sub-directory installations (e.g., /es, /hi). This means:
You install Ghost into separate folders for each language
During Ghost setup, you set the correct URL for each language
Each Ghost instance runs independently but shares the same domain
This setup is straightforward on self-hosted environments but limited or costly on Ghost(Pro).
2. Ghost(Pro) Restrictions and Costs
On Ghost(Pro):
Running Ghost in a sub-directory or reverse proxy typically requires the Business plan plus a paid add-on for sub-directory hosting, which can be expensive.
You may need multiple Ghost(Pro) plans if you're hosting each language on its own Ghost install — which multiplies hosting costs.
Crimson can be used on Ghost(Pro) too, but sub-directory installation per each language will be costly. So, ideally, a self-hosted setup is much more cost effective.
Ghost(Pro) vs Self-Hosted (for Crimson)
Multilingual Setup Possible?
Yes
Yes
Multilingual Setup Cost Effective?
No
Yes
Single Language Possible?
Yes
Yes
Single Language Cost Effective?
Yes
Yes
Multilingual Setup Cost (per month for two languages)
~ USD 578
~ USD 10
Single Language Setup Cost (per month)
~ USD 35
~ USD 10
The above table assume Monthly Billing cycle (Yearly billing is discounted). For Self-Hosted, VPS starts from USD 5 or less. Ideally a VPS with 2 GB RAM would be around USD 10 per month.
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