Ghost CMS Themes & Tools Directory (2022–2025)

Introduction

This document is a curated directory of Ghost CMS theme repositories and essential tools/resources for theme development, validation, localization, and deployment. Organized to facilitate browsing by origin and category, identify popular themes, and discover tooling for building and maintaining Ghost themes.

Note: GitHub star counts are snapshots from late December 2025 (where available).

ALL THEMES (CONSOLIDATED TABLE)

Theme Name	Repository URL	Notes
OFFICIAL / TRYGHOST THEMES
Casper	https://github.com/TryGhost/Casper	Default Ghost theme; 2.6k stars; most widely-used baseline
Starter	https://github.com/TryGhost/Starter	Official development starter theme; 467 stars; template for custom development
Source	https://github.com/TryGhost/Source	New default theme (Ghost v5.0+); 104 stars; modern, clean foundation
Alto	https://github.com/TryGhost/Alto	Clean, minimalist with light/dark mode; 122 stars
Themes (monorepo)	https://github.com/TryGhost/Themes	Official theme development monorepo; 89 stars; contains multiple theme references
London	https://github.com/TryGhost/London	Publication/magazine theme; 264 stars; responsive design
Massively	https://github.com/TryGhost/Massively	Magazine/publication theme; 240 stars; media-rich layouts
Editorial	https://github.com/TryGhost/Editorial	Magazine/publication theme; 209 stars; professional publishing layout
Edge	https://github.com/TryGhost/Edge	Portfolio/creative showcase theme; 94 stars
Dawn	https://github.com/TryGhost/Dawn	Minimal newsletter theme; 302 stars; email-focused design
Edition	https://github.com/TryGhost/Edition	Newsletter theme; 87 stars; clean subscriber experience
Journal	https://github.com/TryGhost/Journal	Newsletter theme; 59 stars; typography-focused
Wave	https://github.com/TryGhost/Wave	Podcast theme; 81 stars; audio content emphasis
Lyra	https://github.com/TryGhost/Lyra	Paid members theme; 180 stars; membership support built-in
Roon	https://github.com/TryGhost/Roon	Minimalist official theme; 143 stars
Headline	https://github.com/TryGhost/Headline	Magazine-style theme; 53 stars
Dope	https://github.com/TryGhost/Dope	Bold, magazine aesthetic; 58 stars
Ruby	https://github.com/TryGhost/Ruby	Multi-column card layout; 65 stars
Ease	https://github.com/TryGhost/Ease	Documentation theme; 88 stars
Digest	https://github.com/TryGhost/Digest	Newsletter/digest style; 10 stars
Bulletin	https://github.com/TryGhost/Bulletin	Newsletter landing-first; 15 stars
Solo	https://github.com/TryGhost/Solo	Personal/creator-focused; 44 stars
Episode	https://github.com/TryGhost/Episode	Podcast/episodic content theme
Taste	https://github.com/TryGhost/Taste	Food/magazine vibe theme; 3 stars
HIGHLY POPULAR COMMUNITY THEMES
Attila	https://github.com/zutrinken/attila	Very popular community theme; 1.5k stars; feature-rich
Liebling	https://github.com/eddiesigner/liebling	Popular community theme; 1.3k stars; dark mode support; active maintenance
Simply	https://github.com/godofredoninja/simply	Medium-inspired style; 703 stars; GPL-3.0 licensed; modern design
Mapache	https://github.com/godofredoninja/Mapache	Blog/magazine/personal; 638 stars; responsive and elegant
Next CMS Ghost	https://github.com/styxlab/next-cms-ghost	Next.js + Ghost starter; 688 stars; TypeScript; static site generation; template repo
RESPONSIVE & MINIMALIST THEMES
MNML	https://github.com/curiositry/mnml-ghost-theme	Minimal, responsive theme; 301 stars; Ghost 6 compatible; typography-focused; KaTeX math support
Kaldorei	https://github.com/xiaoluoboding/ghost-theme-kaldorei	Simple, elegant Casper variant; 296 stars; clean and professional
Caffeine	https://github.com/kelyvin/ghost-caffeine-theme	Minimalist Material Design; 334 stars; mobile-optimized
Fizzy	https://github.com/huangyuzhang/Fizzy-Theme	Tasty blogging theme; 288 stars; carousel and responsive features; Handlebars
Moegi	https://github.com/moegi-design/ghost-theme-Moegi	Elegant & fresh theme; 162 stars; active discussions
Prometheus	https://github.com/halfrost/Prometheus	Clean & modern with PWA; 128 stars; Progressive Web Apps support
DEVELOPER & PROGRAMMING THEMES
Eindev	https://github.com/ehsanghaffar/eindev-ghost-theme	Developer/personal theme; Tailwind CSS + TypeScript; 10 stars
StayPuft	https://github.com/dlecina/StayPuft	Programming-oriented Ghost theme
JOS.StayPuft	https://github.com/joseftw/JOS.StayPuft	Developer-oriented theme (alternate repo)
SPECIALIZED / NICHE THEMES
X-Learn	https://github.com/xdev-asia-labs/x-learn-ghost-theme	Online course/learning platform; 3 stars; glass-morphism design; dark mode; multi-language
Attegi	https://github.com/bunizao/Attegi	Elegant & dynamic theme; 19 stars; mobile-optimized; recent activity
Atabe	https://github.com/Rami-0/atabe-blog-theme	Custom blog theme for self-hosted Ghost; Handlebars; MIT licensed
Defalt	https://github.com/ifrederico/defalt	Ghost theme editor with live preview; TypeScript/React; 2 stars
Photo Portfolio	https://github.com/tfeuerbach/photo-portfolio-ghost	Self-hosted photo portfolio theme
Trema	https://github.com/dvdwinden/trema	Custom theme for book newsletter
OTHER COMMUNITY THEMES
Hackersandslackers	https://github.com/hackersandslackers/hackersandslackers-theme	Community theme by Hackers & Slackers
Undefined	https://github.com/curiositry/undefined-ghost-theme	Community theme
Transmission	https://github.com/nickabs/transmission	Community theme; 17 stars
Papillon Ghost	https://github.com/PapillonApp/papillon-ghost	Community theme
The Sharmaz	https://github.com/Sharmaz/the-sharmaz	Community theme
Minimal Ghost Theme	https://github.com/campbellmcgregor/minimal-ghost-theme	Minimal community theme
Stefan Retro	https://github.com/hrdbread/stefan-retro-ghost-them	Retro community theme
Vite Ghost Theme	https://github.com/biswajit-saha/vite-ghost-theme	Vite-based theme; modern build tooling
Ghost Custom Theme	https://github.com/saurabverma/ghost_custom_theme	Custom theme starter
Ghost Theme Pharos	https://github.com/yuanliang/ghost-theme-pharos	Community theme
Ghost Handlebars	https://github.com/OpenMaine/ghost-handlebars-theme	Handlebars-based theme starter
ForumsKubs	https://github.com/AlensAleksandrs/ForumsKubs.theme	Community theme
Open Maker	https://github.com/r-bart/open-maker	Community theme
Permissive	https://github.com/andyhqtran/permissive	Community theme
Ghost STI	https://github.com/InternetFreedomFoundation/ghost-sti	Organization/community theme
Feeka	https://github.com/afonsojramos/feeka	Community theme
Actually Simple	https://github.com/nataliethenerd/actuallysimple-ghost	Very basic Ghost theme
Ghost Theme Pocket	https://github.com/takipone/ghost-theme-pocket	Minimal Ghost theme
Tresvuits	https://github.com/jomorespi/tresvuits-ghostcms-theme	Tailwind CSS + Parcel.js theme
Gatsby Casper	https://github.com/scttcper/gatsby-casper	Gatsby blog starter based on Casper; 472 stars; now archived
Pozafly Blog	https://github.com/pozafly/pozafly.github.io	Personal blog using Ghost theme; Gatsby + React variant

THEME COLLECTIONS / PACKS

Collection Name	Repository URL	Contents	Notes
Tourcoder Themes	https://github.com/tourcoder/ghost-themes	Ascend, Ghostium, Liebling, London, Saga, Starter, Uno-Zen, and more	Author notes these may be outdated and require updates

TOOLS & RESOURCES

Tool / Resource	Link	Purpose
Ghost Theme Docs	https://docs.ghost.org/themes	Official documentation for Handlebars themes, theme structure, custom settings, and validation workflow
GScan (Theme Validation)	Mentioned in theme docs (CLI usage)	Validates themes for errors/deprecations; used by Ghost during theme upload
Deploy Ghost Themes (GitHub Actions)	https://github.com/TryGhost/action-deploy-theme	GitHub Action to automate theme deployment; 385 stars
Ghost Theme Locales	https://github.com/priority-vision/ghost-theme-locales	CLI helper for creating localization (locale) files
Defalt	https://github.com/ifrederico/defalt	Ghost theme editor with live preview; React + TypeScript; 2 stars
Awesome Ghost	https://github.com/awesomelistsio/awesome-ghost	Curated list of Ghost resources and community projects

QUICK REFERENCE BY USE CASE

Newsletter Themes

Dawn — Minimal newsletter (302⭐)
Edition — Newsletter design (87⭐)
Journal — Newsletter typography (59⭐)
Bulletin — Landing-first newsletter (15⭐)

Magazine / Publication Themes

London — Publication theme (264⭐)
Massively — Magazine design (240⭐)
Editorial — Professional publishing (209⭐)
Simply — Medium-inspired (703⭐)
Mapache — Blog/magazine/personal (638⭐)
Headline — Magazine-style (53⭐)
Dope — Bold magazine aesthetic (58⭐)

Minimalist / Clean Themes

Alto — Minimalist light/dark (122⭐)
MNML — Minimal & responsive (301⭐)
Kaldorei — Simple & elegant (296⭐)
Caffeine — Minimalist Material Design (334⭐)

Portfolio / Creative Showcase

Edge — Portfolio theme (94⭐)
Photo Portfolio — Photography-focused
Prometheus — Clean & modern with PWA (128⭐)

Membership & Paid Content

Lyra — Paid members theme (180⭐)

Specialized

Wave — Podcast content (81⭐)
Ease — Documentation (88⭐)
X-Learn — Online courses (3⭐)
Defalt — Theme editor with live preview

Developer-Friendly

Eindev — Tailwind CSS + TypeScript
Vite Ghost Theme — Modern build tooling
Starter — Official dev template (467⭐)

NOTES FOR THEME SELECTION

Official TryGhost themes are regularly maintained and well-documented.
Community themes vary in maintenance; check last commit date and issue activity.
Popular themes (1k+ stars) have larger user bases and active communities for support.
Minimal themes prioritize typography and performance; suitable for blogs and newsletters.
Magazine themes offer rich media layouts; ideal for publications and image-heavy content.
Specialized themes (courses, podcasts, portfolios) may include built-in features for those use cases.
Most themes use Handlebars templating; some newer ones support Tailwind CSS and build tools like Vite.

Last Updated: December 28, 2025
Data Source: GitHub topic ghost-theme & direct repository analysis

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