Ghost
CMS
Joomla
CMSGhost vs Joomla
Side-by-side comparison of detection signals, AI scores, and features. Use our free tool to check which one powers any website.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | CMS | CMS |
| AI Score | 20/100 — Traditional | 20/100 — Traditional |
| Detection Signals | 7 patterns | 7 patterns |
| Script Detection | 2 patterns | 2 patterns |
| CDN Detection | — | — |
| Header Detection | 2 headers | 1 headers |
| Sites Detected | 974 scans | 48 scans |
| Best For | Blogs & content-heavy sitesTry Ghost → | Blogs & content-heavy sitesTry Joomla → |
| Official Website | Visit | Visit |
Example Websites
Joomla websites
Ghost
CMS
Ghost is a cms with an AI Score of 20/100 (Traditional). Our detection engine uses 7 signal patterns to identify Ghost-built sites.
Joomla
CMS
Joomla is a cms with an AI Score of 20/100 (Traditional). Our detection engine uses 7 signal patterns to identify Joomla-built sites.
Platform Overviews
Ghost
Ghost is an open-source headless publishing platform specifically designed for professional content creators, newsletters, and media businesses. It competes with Substack and WordPress for creators who want full ownership and control of their audience without platform dependency. Ghost's membership and subscription features let creators monetize directly without revenue sharing. Ghost sites are identifiable through their distinctive kg-card CSS class patterns used by Ghost's rich content editor (Koenig), assets served from Ghost's CDN, and the x-powered-by: Express header common to Ghost's Node.js architecture. Ghost(Pro) plans start at $9/month, while self-hosted Ghost is free.
Joomla
Joomla is a veteran open-source CMS that holds the second-largest market share among self-hosted CMS platforms after WordPress — powering millions of sites for small businesses, government agencies, and non-profits worldwide. Its flexible user access management (ACL) and multilingual support built into the core (no plugin required) make it popular for organizations with complex permission structures and international audiences. Joomla's extension directory has 8,000+ extensions for adding functionality. Joomla sites are identifiable through /media/jui/ paths for jQuery UI assets, com_content references in URL query strings (index.php?option=com_content), the Joomla generator meta tag containing the version number, and /administrator/ path for the backend. The Joomla JavaScript namespace and component-specific CSS classes (mod-articles-category, com_content) appear throughout the markup. Joomla is free and open-source.
Key Differences
- Both Ghost and Joomla are classified as CMS tools, making them the most direct competitors in this comparison.
- Ghost scores higher on AI involvement (20/100 vs 20/100 for Joomla), meaning it relies more heavily on AI for site generation and content creation.
- Our detection engine identifies Ghost using 7 fingerprint patterns and Joomla using 7 patterns — more signals generally means more reliable detection.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Ghost if…
- You prefer a cms solution
- You want more manual control over the final output
- Ghost's detection fingerprint of 7 signals means your site is reliably identifiable
Choose Joomla if…
- You need a cms approach
- You prefer traditional building tools with predictable output
- Joomla's ecosystem and community better match your team's existing workflow
Our Pick — Based on 1,022+ detections
Ghost
Detected 20× more often than Joomla across our database of scanned sites.
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