Open-source alternative to HubSpot Content Hub: the short answer
If your website, blog and campaign landing pages are hosted through HubSpot, WordPress or Ghost can host the site and blog, and Mautic can serve campaign landing pages and forms. Each replacement needs some features rebuilt rather than copied, so plan for templates, forms, redirects and tracking as separate pieces of work. Which combination fits depends mainly on what you publish: a content-heavy site with plugins, custom post types and shortcodes points toward WordPress, while a publication built around articles and newsletters often suits Ghost more naturally. Mautic is a better fit for gated campaign pages that feed a contact database than for a full corporate site with many page types. Before choosing, inventory every HubSpot-hosted page, form, blog post and template, and note which ones carry tracking, personalization or membership logic. WordPress is released under the GPLv2 or later, and Ghost is MIT licensed, so neither carries a license fee for the software itself. The costs that remain are hosting, the database, email delivery, plugin and theme maintenance, and the people who run upgrades. WordPress.org recommends PHP 8.3 or greater and MariaDB 10.11 or greater or MySQL 8.0 or greater, and Mautic must run on a VPS or dedicated server rather than shared hosting. Confirm those requirements against your own environment before you price the work. This page does not cover the CRM or email sending in depth. Those decisions, including which contact data moves into Mautic and which provider sends your mail, belong to the sibling pages on migrating from HubSpot Marketing Hub and on HubSpot Marketing Hub cost. Use this page to decide how your web content will be hosted, then confirm the scope of forms, redirects and tracking with whoever runs your HubSpot account.
Which open-source option covers each Content Hub capability
This table maps each part of HubSpot Content Hub to WordPress, Ghost, Mautic and Drupal, with the gaps noted in each row. Read it by finding your most-used capability first, then checking the gap column before you commit to a platform. Most sites will pair a content system for pages and blog with Mautic for forms and landing pages, so expect two tools rather than one.
| Capability | Best fit open-source option | Gaps and what to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Site pages and hosting | WordPress or Drupal, self-hosted on a VPS or dedicated server; WordPress requires PHP 8.3 or greater and MariaDB 10.11 or greater or MySQL 8.0 or greater | You operate the server, backups and patching; confirm hosting capacity for your traffic with your chosen host |
| Blog and publishing | Ghost (MIT licensed) for a publishing-first site, or WordPress for broader plugin and theme needs | Ghost's Ubuntu install guide lists MySQL 8.0 or 8.4 and at least 1 GB of RAM; custom post types from WordPress do not migrate to Ghost |
| Landing pages and forms | Mautic landing pages and forms, or a WordPress form plugin if your team already uses one | Confirm Mautic's page builder and form features fit your design needs before migrating templates |
| Templates and theme design | WordPress themes and block patterns, Ghost themes, or Drupal themes | HubSpot templates do not transfer; expect to rebuild layouts and check accessibility of the new theme |
| SEO settings and redirects | WordPress SEO plugins or Ghost built-in metadata, with redirects set at the web server or CMS level | Redirect mapping from HubSpot URLs is manual work; confirm how each platform handles redirect rules before launch |
| Membership and gated content | Ghost memberships and paid subscriptions, built in without extra plugins | Ghost takes no transaction fee on paid subscriptions, but Stripe processing fees still apply; WordPress gated content usually needs plugins |
| Analytics and tracking | Mautic tracking script on your pages, or a separate self-hosted web analytics tool | Ghost-CLI installs do not support Ghost's web analytics; a separate Docker Compose install is documented for that |
| Smart content and A/B testing | No direct equivalent confirmed for every case; check Mautic, WordPress plugins or Drupal modules | Confirm whether HubSpot smart content and A/B testing are used on your site before you choose the replacement |
| Content delivery API | Ghost Content API returns JSON for sites and apps | Ghost's Content API is read-only, so content written from other systems must go through Ghost Admin or another path |
When WordPress, Ghost or Drupal fits the site and blog
HubSpot Content Hub bundles hosting, editing, blog and landing pages in one product. Self-hosted replacements split those jobs: a CMS for the site and blog, and Mautic for campaign pages and forms. The three options below differ mainly in how much publishing workflow they bring and how much upkeep your team takes on.
WordPress for broad site needs
WordPress is released under the GPLv2 or later and is the most common choice for corporate sites with many authors, plugins and themes. It recommends PHP 8.3 or greater and MariaDB 10.11 or greater, or MySQL 8.0 or greater. The trade-off is upkeep: plugins and themes are not updated automatically by default, so your team must own patching and review every extension before it goes live.
Ghost for a writing-led blog
Ghost is MIT licensed and suits organizations whose blog is the main content product. Installs on Ubuntu run through Ghost-CLI, with MySQL, NGINX and systemd, and the Content API is read-only, so the front end can be separate. Memberships, paid subscriptions and newsletters are built in. The trade-off is a smaller plugin ecosystem, so confirm that any tracking, form or integration you need exists before you commit.
Drupal for complex content models
Drupal 11.4 was released the week of June 29, 2026, and Drupal 12.0.0 is scheduled for the week of December 7, 2026. It fits multi-site programs, structured content, granular permissions and workflows that a blog engine cannot model. The cost is build effort: content types, roles, theming and upgrades need experienced Drupal developers, so ask any implementation partner for a written scope that covers the upgrade path to Drupal 12.
Mautic pages for campaign landing pages
Mautic landing pages and forms handle campaign pages that feed lead capture and scoring, so you keep the CMS for brand pages and the blog. Mautic is licensed under GPL-3.0 and needs cron jobs for segment and campaign updates. Before you choose, confirm whether your team needs Mautic's landing page editor or whether the CMS can host pages that post to Mautic forms.
Hosting and update responsibilities
Every option moves patching, backups, TLS certificates and capacity planning to your team or implementation partner. Mautic should run on a VPS or dedicated server rather than shared hosting, according to its requirements page. Agree who applies CMS and plugin updates, who restores backups, and how traffic spikes are handled before choosing the platform, since these duties recur every month.
How Mautic landing pages and forms replace Content Hub campaign pages
Mautic can replace the campaign side of HubSpot Content Hub, the landing pages and forms your marketing team uses to capture leads, but it is not a general site builder and should not be asked to host your whole website. Mautic is open source marketing automation software written in PHP on the Symfony framework and licensed under GPL-3.0. Its strength is that a form submission, a landing page visit and a campaign step are all tied to the same contact record. Your site, blog and marketing pages therefore split into two roles: WordPress or Ghost serves the content, and Mautic serves the campaign pages where a visitor becomes a known contact. Confirm in a proof of concept that your required page layouts, templates and form fields can be built in Mautic before you commit to the split.
When a visitor submits a Mautic form, Mautic creates a contact if none matches the submitted email address or updates the existing contact record, then records the submission on the contact timeline. That contact can immediately enter a segment or campaign, so the welcome email, the nurture sequence or the sales notification is triggered by the form itself. Map every form field to a contact field before launch, and decide which fields are required, since a sparse form creates contacts you cannot segment. Where a page on your WordPress or Ghost site needs to capture leads, link to the Mautic landing page or embed its form rather than rebuilding the form in the CMS. Your tracking then stays with the contact, not with a plugin in the CMS.
Mautic depends on scheduled jobs. Segment updates, campaign updates and campaign triggers run through cron, and the Mautic cron jobs documentation says these should be staggered, while queued emails need a messenger consumer. A form-driven campaign that never fires is usually a cron problem, so monitor those jobs from day one. Mautic also should not be installed on shared hosting, and the project recommends a VPS or dedicated server instead. Plan the hosting, the database and the cron schedule as part of the migration, and ask your implementation partner to document the job schedule as an operational runbook. Confirm the supported PHP and database versions for your chosen Mautic release in the requirements page before you size the server.
Where each part of the site should run
Running WordPress or Ghost and Mautic on one VPS or dedicated server is the simplest model to plan and the one with the most shared dependencies. Mautic's requirements page says it should not be installed on shared hosting and recommends a VPS or dedicated server, so the same machine would carry both applications.
- PHP and database: Mautic 7.0 requires PHP 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 or 8.5 and MySQL 5.7 or higher with InnoDB or MariaDB 10.2 or higher. WordPress recommends PHP 8.3 or greater and MariaDB 10.11 or greater or MySQL 8.0 or greater, so you will need to confirm one PHP version and one database engine that both applications accept.
- Web server: Mautic supports Apache, Nginx or IIS. Ghost uses NGINX in its documented Ubuntu install, so a single NGINX configuration with separate server blocks per hostname is the usual pattern.
- Cron and queue work: Mautic relies on cron jobs for segment updates, campaign updates and campaign triggers, which should be staggered, plus a broadcasts command and a messenger consumer when emails are queued. These jobs compete with site traffic for the same CPU and memory.
- Resource sizing: Ask the vendor or partner to size the server for peak Mautic sends alongside the CMS load, not for the average day.
This model keeps one operating system, one backup job and one patch window, but a fault in either application can affect the other. Confirm that backups cover both databases and both file trees before go-live.
A split puts the CMS on its own host and Mautic on another, usually with its own database and its own cron schedule. This isolates public traffic to the website from the marketing automation engine, which holds contact data and sends email.
- Separate runtimes: Each host can carry its own PHP version and database engine, so a WordPress plugin upgrade does not have to wait for a Mautic release, and the reverse is also true.
- Network boundary: Mautic can sit behind a private network or a restricted admin address, while the CMS host serves the public site. Tracking scripts and form posts then need a defined route between the two hosts.
- Cron placement: Run Mautic's cron jobs only on the Mautic host. Staggering them against each other is still required, and you should confirm how the messenger consumer restarts after a reboot.
- Operational cost: Two hosts mean two patch cycles, two monitoring targets and two backup schedules. Ask for those as line items in any written scope.
- Failure isolation: A CMS outage does not stop scheduled campaigns, and a Mautic queue backlog does not slow page loads.
Before you split, confirm which tracking and form endpoints must be reachable from the public internet, and test them from outside your network.
A managed host runs the web server, PHP, the database and often backups and patching for you. The team still owns the application configuration, the content and the marketing data, so the question is which responsibilities the provider takes and which stay with you.
- Mautic constraints: Confirm that the provider supports a VPS or dedicated-class environment for Mautic, because the Mautic project advises against shared hosting. Ask whether cron jobs and a long-running messenger consumer can be configured.
- CMS constraints: WordPress and Ghost have different hosting needs. Ghost's Ubuntu install assumes systemd, Node.js, MySQL and NGINX, while WordPress runs on PHP and a supported database. Check that the provider's plan supports the one you choose.
- Data location: Ask where databases, backups and logs are stored and which staff can access them, since this matters for regulated data.
- Updates: Find out whether the provider applies Mautic and CMS updates, or only the operating system, and who tests plugins and themes before they run.
- Exit path: Request a written export procedure for files, databases and cron configuration so that a later move does not require rebuilding the environment.
Most managed plans bill recurring fees by capacity and support level, and those fees are the main cost to compare against self-managed hosting. Request a written list of what the provider covers and what it excludes before you sign.
Moving content, redirects and tracking off HubSpot
This sequence moves your website, blog and landing pages to self-hosted platforms while keeping search rankings, links and measurement intact. Each step ends with a check you can verify before DNS changes.
Inventory every page, post and landing page
Export the list of URLs from HubSpot's content tools and your analytics platform, then compare them with your sitemap and the pages that receive traffic or inbound links. Mark each item as keep, merge, rebuild or retire, and note which owner signs off. Your marketing team owns the decisions, and whoever runs your web hosting confirms the list is complete. The output is a single spreadsheet with one row per URL and a decision for each.
Export or copy blog content
For blog posts, WordPress or Ghost can import content from a WordPress XML export. Ghost's WordPress import handles up to 2,500 posts from XML files up to 100 MB, and WordPress categories become Ghost tags. Custom post types, most uncommon shortcodes and content-restriction plugins do not migrate, so list those separately and rebuild them by hand. Larger migrations can use the open-source TryGhost/migrate toolkit or Ghost(Pro)'s migrations team. The check is a staging import where you compare post counts, images and internal links against the inventory.
Rebuild templates, forms and landing pages
Recreate the site layout, navigation and landing page templates in the new platform, then move forms into Mautic, which provides form and landing page builders for campaigns. Your web developer or DeployOpen-style implementation partner rebuilds the templates, while your marketing team reviews copy and field mappings. Confirm that each form submits to the correct contact record and that required fields match your Mautic contact fields. Done means every form submits a test entry that appears in Mautic with the expected fields.
Map old URLs and set 301 redirects
Build a mapping table that pairs every retired or changed HubSpot URL with its new address, including trailing slashes, query parameters and HubSpot-generated landing page paths. Configure permanent 301 redirects at the web server or CMS level so that search engines and existing links move to the new address. Test a sample of old URLs with a crawler and confirm that each returns a single 301 response to a page that returns 200. The output is a tested redirect file kept under version control.
Reinstall tracking and consent tags
Remove HubSpot tracking code from the templates and add the analytics, tag manager and consent banner your organization uses on the new sites. Your privacy or legal team should confirm the consent model before launch, because the cookies and scripts change. Mautic tracking scripts must be added to pages you want to measure in Mautic, and Ghost's Ubuntu install guide notes that Ghost-CLI installs do not include web analytics, so plan that separately. Done means a test visit records in the right tools and the consent banner blocks non-essential tags until accepted.
Cut over DNS and monitor
Schedule the DNS change for a low-traffic window agreed with your team, lower the record time-to-live beforehand if your DNS provider supports it, and switch the records to the new hosts. Watch error logs, redirect hits, form submissions and conversion events for the first days after the switch, and check Search Console or your equivalent for crawl errors. Keep HubSpot active until the redirects and tracking are verified. The check is a clean monitoring report and a signed-off list of open issues.
Export CRM records separately
HubSpot's export limits apply to CRM records such as contacts, companies and deals, not to web pages or blog posts, so this step runs in parallel with the content work. Follow the sibling guide on exporting from HubSpot Marketing Hub for record exports, the daily export limits and the API options for data that record exports miss. Confirm that the contact and form submission data your campaigns depend on is in Mautic before you retire the HubSpot forms that feed it.
Risks to plan for before cutting over
Five risks decide whether the move keeps search traffic, leads and reporting intact. Each one needs an owner, a check before the DNS change and a check after launch, so agree on those before cutover starts.
Lost search rankings from redirects
Every HubSpot page, blog post and landing page URL that ranks or receives links needs a matching address on the new site. Export the URL list, map each old address to its new path, and set permanent redirects before the DNS change. Missing redirects send visitors and crawlers to error pages, and the loss shows up slowly in search reports. After launch, crawl the old URL list and confirm each one resolves in a single hop.
Broken forms and lost attribution
HubSpot forms write submissions, page context and campaign parameters into contact records. Forms and landing pages in Mautic must be rebuilt, so each field, hidden campaign field and thank-you action needs to be recreated. Submit every form from a clean browser with test campaign parameters and confirm the contact appears in Mautic with its source. Keep the old form live until the new one passes, and name the person who signs off each form.
Tracking gaps during cutover
HubSpot's tracking code records visits, form views and conversions that your reports depend on. Once the site moves, that script stops, and dashboards show a gap unless a replacement is already collecting data. Inventory every tag, pixel and consent script in your theme or templates, then run old and new analytics side by side for an agreed period. Ghost's Ubuntu install through Ghost-CLI does not include web analytics, so confirm that path before choosing Ghost.
Plugin and theme update routine
WordPress applies automatic plugin and theme updates only in special cases chosen by the WordPress.org API, so most extensions wait for a decision from your team. Official support covers only the latest WordPress version, and fixes for older versions come as a courtesy. Set a fixed review schedule, test each update on a staging copy of the site, and keep a tested rollback path. Assign one owner for the schedule and the plugin inventory.
HubSpot-hosted files and assets
Images, PDFs and downloads that HubSpot serves from its file manager or CDN can stop loading once the subscription ends. Inventory every asset referenced in pages and posts, download the originals, and point the links to your new media library. Check embedded HubSpot modules, CTAs and custom code for references to HubSpot domains. Confirm with HubSpot which files you can export, since that depends on your account terms.
Questions buyers ask before replacing Content Hub
What drives the cost of replacing HubSpot Content Hub with WordPress or Ghost?
The cost depends mainly on how many pages, posts and media files move, how much custom template and module work the current site relies on, and how many plugins or HubSpot-specific features need replacing. The one-time work covers theme or template build, content migration, redirect mapping, analytics re-tagging and testing. The recurring costs are hosting, backups, updates, security monitoring, email delivery and any support retainer. Ask any implementation partner for a written scope that lists each of these components separately, so you can compare the one-time and recurring lines. Note that Ghost's pricing page lists managed Ghost(Pro) plans, while self-hosting is a separate cost you must size yourself.
Can our in-house team replace Content Hub without outside help?
Often yes for a small, simple site, and harder for a large site with custom modules. A team that already runs a Linux server, a database and a web server can install Ghost through Ghost-CLI on Ubuntu, or set up WordPress on the PHP and database versions WordPress.org recommends. The harder parts are template rebuilding, redirect planning, migrating tracking and running updates on schedule. Mautic is a larger system with cron jobs, a messenger consumer and a dedicated server, so it usually needs staff who can operate it over time. Assess your team's skills against each component before deciding.
What does the migration need from our content, IT and analytics owners?
Content owners must confirm which pages, posts and assets stay, which are retired, and who signs off on the new templates. IT must provide DNS control, hosting or cloud access, TLS certificate handling, and a plan for email sending domains. Analytics owners must list every tracking tag, consent setting and conversion goal so they can be rebuilt and verified after cutover. Ask whoever you engage to name these dependencies in the written scope. Missing access to DNS or the old HubSpot account is the most common source of delay, so confirm it before work starts.
How long does a Content Hub replacement take?
No duration can be stated responsibly from the facts available here, because it depends on the number of pages and posts, template complexity, redirect volume, integrations and how quickly approvals come back. A simple brochure site differs greatly from a multi-language site with gated resources. Ask for a timeline that is tied to the written scope, with milestones for content migration, template build, redirect testing, tracking checks and cutover. Also ask what happens if the scope changes mid-project and how that affects the schedule.
Is Ghost or WordPress better for paid memberships and gated content?
Ghost is the stronger fit when memberships, paid subscriptions and newsletters are central, because its comparison page lists these as built in without extra plugins, and it takes no transaction fee on paid subscriptions beyond payment processor fees. WordPress suits teams that need many plugins or custom post types, but gated content usually depends on third-party restriction plugins, and Ghost's migration docs note that content-restriction plugins do not migrate. Confirm payment, tax and member-data requirements with your finance and legal teams before choosing either platform.
What does Mautic need to run reliably for landing pages and forms?
Mautic needs a VPS or dedicated server, since the project states it should not run on shared hosting. Version 7.0 requires PHP 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 or 8.5, MySQL 5.7 or higher with InnoDB or MariaDB 10.2 or higher, and a web server such as Apache or Nginx. Cron jobs must run for segment updates, campaign updates and triggers, staggered as the docs advise, and a broadcasts command and messenger consumer handle queued email. Mautic also has a release cadence of monthly patches, quarterly minors and biennial majors, so plan a regular upgrade window. Confirm that a supported version is chosen when you start, since older versions receive support only until the dates listed on the Mautic releases page.
What security tasks does a self-hosted WordPress or Ghost site need?
The site owner stays responsible for applying updates, backing up the database and files, managing plugin and theme risk and monitoring the server. WordPress applies automatic background updates for minor releases and newly created sites have automatic major release updates enabled by default, but plugin and theme updates are automatic only in special cases chosen by the WordPress.org API. Only the latest WordPress version is officially supported, although the Security Team backports critical fixes to older versions. Ghost's install guide requires systemd, NGINX and at least 1 GB of RAM on a supported Ubuntu release. Ask your provider how patching, backup testing and access control will be handled and documented.
How DeployOpen scopes and delivers a Content Hub replacement
DeployOpen plans, implements, customizes, integrates, hardens, backs up, upgrades, documents and supports self-hosted open-source platforms inside your own cloud accounts, data centers or air-gapped networks. For a Content Hub replacement, that means agreeing in writing which pages, posts, redirects and tracking setups move, on which self-hosted site platform, before any build work starts.
How we scope
- Inventory every HubSpot page, blog post, landing page, form and redirect, with its traffic and owner, before choosing a target platform.
- Confirm which site platform fits the content types, including WordPress or Ghost for the site and blog and Mautic for landing pages and forms.
- Engagements are fixed-scope, so the written scope lists deliverables, environments, cutover conditions and timelines before work starts.
How we build
- Install the chosen site and Mautic on your infrastructure, following the vendor requirements for PHP, database and web server versions.
- Configure cron jobs and the messenger consumer for Mautic and document the schedule so campaigns and forms keep working after handover.
- Test redirects, consent banners, analytics tags and form submissions in a staging environment before any DNS change is made.
How we hand over
- Deliver runbooks for the site, Mautic cron jobs, backups and the update process, with the owner of each task named.
- Document the redirect map, tracking configuration and content migration decisions so your team can audit them later.
- Provide the evidence and control documentation that your own auditors or certification bodies may ask for during assessments.
How we support
- Ongoing support, upgrades and continuous testing are available as retainers after the initial fixed-scope delivery ends.
- Retainers can cover platform upgrades, backups, plugin or theme review and security testing of the public site and forms.
- Ask for a written quote that separates one-time migration work from recurring support, so the ongoing cost is clear.
