Ghost Post Access: Public, Members, Paid Members, and Tiers

By Ahmad Ajmi October 4, 2026

Ghost lets you decide who can read each post. You can make an article public, require a member login, restrict it to paid members, or give access to selected paid tiers. You can also leave part of a restricted article open as a public preview.

This guide explains how those choices work together. The steps follow Ghost’s documentation; links to the relevant settings are included below.

Choose Who Can Read the Post

The Post access menu is in the post settings. Its options answer a different question from the design of your article: who is allowed to read it?

Ghost editor with the Post access menu showing Public, Members only, Paid-members only, and Specific tier(s) — Choose who can read an article from Post access in the editor settings.

Public: visitors can read the article without signing in.
Members only: signed-in free and paid members can read it.
Paid-members only: members with an active paid subscription can read it.
Specific tier(s): access is limited to the paid tiers you select.

These rules come from Ghost’s protected-content settings. Your theme controls the presentation of the article and its signup or upgrade prompt.

For example, a publication can keep its reporting public, offer a members-only discussion post, and reserve a research briefing for paid members. Set the access for each post according to its purpose.

Set Up Memberships First

If you have not configured memberships, open Settings → Membership → Access. Choose who can subscribe and set the default access for new posts. See Ghost’s membership setup guide for the signup options.

Ghost Membership Access settings for browsing, subscribing, new posts, and comments — Access settings control signup availability and the default access for new posts.

Paid memberships require a Stripe connection. Keep the signup offer consistent with your content: a free member should understand which articles require an upgrade.

Use Tiers When Paid Offers Differ

A tier is a paid membership product. It can have its own name, description, benefits, and monthly and yearly prices. With Stripe connected, create tiers under Settings → Membership → Tiers.

Hanoi Ghost Admin showing Free, Bronze, and Gold membership tiers with Stripe connected — The Tiers settings list free and paid membership offers. This example uses the Hanoi demo.

Select specific tiers in the post settings when an article belongs to only part of your paid offer. For example, you might offer a general subscription and a separate professional research tier. Do not assume that every paid member belongs to every tier.

Ghost Post settings with Specific tier(s) selected and only the Gold tier included — Specific tier(s) access limits this example to Gold; other paid tiers are not selected.

Creating a tier does not assign existing posts to it. Choose the intended tier in each restricted post’s settings. Ghost’s tier guide explains how those offers appear in Portal.

Add a Public Preview

A public preview gives readers part of a restricted article before they reach the access prompt. Use it to explain the subject and show enough of the writing to make the offer clear.

Open the article in the Ghost editor.
On a new line where the public section should end, type /preview and select Public preview.
Move the divider if needed.
Set Post access to the intended member or paid access level.

Ghost editor with opening text, the Free public preview divider, and restricted text below it — The opening remains public; the text below the divider requires the access selected for the post.

The divider does not replace the access setting. With Members only access, visitors see the preview and signed-in members can read the whole article. With Paid-members only access, free members see the preview while eligible paid members get the full post. Ghost applies the access rules on the web and in newsletters. See its public-preview guide.

Check Every Reader State

Open Preview while editing a draft. Ghost provides web and email previews and lets you switch reader states. The available states depend on the site’s membership setup. For a tier-restricted post, choose Specific tier and then a tier name to check its reading view. A generic Paid member preview does not distinguish your paid offers. You can also send yourself a test email. See Ghost’s publishing guide.

Ghost Web preview with the Public visitor and Free member choices — Switch reader states in the Web preview. This example shows a site without a Stripe connection, so the menu has Public visitor and Free member.

Before publishing, check:

The preview ends where you intended.
A visitor can understand what signing up unlocks.
A free member gets the right access or upgrade prompt.
An eligible paid member can read the complete post.
The chosen email recipients match the offer.

For a tier-specific post, choose Specific tier in the Web preview. Select an included tier, then an excluded tier. In this Gold-only example, Gold can read both paragraphs; Bronze sees only the opening and the Gold access prompt.