How to migrate from Ghost to SendFox
Short answer: In Ghost, filter Members to people who get your emails and export that view as a CSV. Upload it to SendFox, verify your domain and send. If you have paid members, cancel their subscriptions in Stripe: Ghost says they keep being charged even after your site is gone.
Free up to 1,000 contacts. No card.
What comes across, and what doesn't
| On Ghost | Moving to SendFox | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Subscribed contacts | Comes across | Email, first name and last name. |
| Unsubscribed, bounced and complained | Leave out | SendFox imports every new address in a file as subscribed, so take these rows out first (step 2). |
| Tags, groups, segments | Comes across | One import per tag, with "Tag them on import". Tags are not read from a column. |
| Custom fields | Comes across | Create the field in SendFox first, then map the column to it. |
| Open and click history, signup dates | Stays behind | Engagement history does not move between tools. |
| Signup forms | Set up again | Make a SendFox form and swap the embed code on your site. |
| Posts, pages and your website | Stays behind | SendFox is not a website builder. Keep the content export. |
| Paid memberships | Stays behind | SendFox has no paid memberships. Cancel them in Stripe. |
Why people switch: at 5,000 contacts, Ghost Publisher is $75 a month (ghost.org/pricing, checked October 14, 2026). SendFox Lifetime covers 5,000 contacts for $29, paid once. See SendFox vs Ghost.
Step 1: Export your members from Ghost
- Open Members and filter out anyone unsubscribed or Email disabled.
- Click the ... menu and export the filtered list.
- For a full backup, go to Settings > Advanced > Import/Export, open Export, click All data and include content and members.
- On Ghost(Pro) the full export is emailed to you, with a link valid for 7 days.
- Member labels are in the CSV. Import one label at a time to turn each into a SendFox tag.
Step 2: Clean the file
SendFox does not read a status column. Every address in your file that is new to SendFox is imported as subscribed. Remove unsubscribed, bounced and spam-complaint rows before you upload, or you will email people who asked you to stop.
Then tidy the columns. SendFox matches these headers on its own, and you can map anything else by hand:
- One file per tag. SendFox tags are added to everyone in an import, not read from a column. To keep a tag or group, filter your list by it and save it as its own file.
- Up to 100,000 rows a file. Split anything bigger. Saving from Excel or Google Sheets? Use File > Download > CSV.
Step 3: Create your SendFox account
Sign up free. The Free plan holds 1,000 contacts and 3,000 sends a month, with 3 lists, so bring groups across as tags rather than lists. Lifetime is $29 once for 5,000 contacts and 300,000 sends in total, and Pro starts at $19 a month (all plans).
Bringing custom fields? Create them first: Contacts > Import contacts > Manage contact fields. Fields can be text, number or date. The import can fill a field, but it cannot create one.
Step 4: Import your contacts
- Go to Contacts and click Import contacts, then Upload a file.
- Check the column mapping. Email is required. Anything left unmapped is not imported.
- Under Select a list for your new contacts, name a new list or pick an existing one.
- Open Tag them on import and add the tag for this file.
- Click Continue & import contacts. Files of 1,000 rows or more run in the background and SendFox emails you when they finish.
Contacts already in SendFox are updated, not duplicated, and anyone who already unsubscribed from you in SendFox stays unsubscribed. If an import would take you over your plan's contact limit, SendFox tells you how many new contacts it would add and stops before importing.
Prefer the API? Paid plans can add up to 1,000 contacts per call with POST /contacts/batch (API docs).
Step 5: Set up sending
- Confirm your email address. New accounts confirm before their first send.
- Add your mailing address. The law (CAN-SPAM) requires one in every email footer, and SendFox asks for it before you can schedule.
- Verify your domain. Go to Settings > Email domains > Add domain, add the three CNAME records SendFox shows at your DNS provider, then click Verify. DNS can take up to 24 hours.
Your old tool had you add similar records for its own servers. Leave those in place until you have stopped sending from it. Without a verified domain, SendFox sends from [email protected] and puts your address in reply-to, which works but looks less like you.
Step 6: Send your first email
Send yourself a test, then send or schedule. SendFox checks new senders before larger sends go out:
- Most of the time your first emails go out on schedule and the rest follow after a quick check, usually under 30 minutes. Sometimes the whole send waits in review, usually a few hours.
- In your first month, sends from an address on an unverified domain are paced: 500 recipients on day one, then 1,500 and 3,500 in total over the next days, up to 5,000. A bigger send waits for review.
- Verify your domain and both of those stop applying. Content checks still run on every send.
Make the first email a short note that you have moved. Readers whose mail app knew your old sending address are the ones most likely to miss it, so ask them to reply or add you to their contacts.
Step 7: Move your signup forms
Under Grow, create a form, choose the list new subscribers join, then Get embed code and paste it where the old form was. Want a page instead? Your SendFox Smart Page has a signup form and an archive of the emails you publish to it. Add a welcome email with an automation so new people hear from you right away.
Before you turn anything off: paid subscribers
Ghost warns that paid members "will continue to be charged even after you've shut your site down" unless you cancel them. Open each member's Stripe customer link and cancel the subscription immediately in Stripe. Cancelling from Ghost Admin only ends it at the end of the period.
Step 8: Turn off Ghost
Wait until your first SendFox send has gone out and new signups are landing in SendFox. Then:
- On Ghost(Pro), the owner goes to Ghost(Pro) > Billing and clicks Cancel account. Ghost deletes the site at the end of the billing cycle, so export everything first.
FAQ
Can SendFox replace my Ghost website?
No. SendFox gives you a Smart Page with signup form and newsletter archive, not a full blog. If the site matters, keep Ghost for it or move the posts to another host.
Will SendFox email my contacts to confirm again?
No. Imported contacts are added as subscribed without a confirmation email. Only import people who signed up to hear from you.
How many contacts can I import for free?
The Free plan holds up to 1,000 contacts. An import that would go over shows how many new contacts it would add and stops, so nothing is half-imported. Lifetime covers 5,000 contacts for $29 once.
Why is my first send in review?
SendFox checks new senders before large sends go out, usually within a few hours, and most go out after a quick check of under 30 minutes. Verify your domain and the new-sender limits stop applying.
How we checked
The SendFox steps follow the product as it works on October 15, 2026. The Ghost steps follow Ghost's own help center, read the same day. Menus move, so if a step no longer matches, the article it came from is here:
More migration guides: Mailchimp · Kit · beehiiv · Substack · MailerLite · AWeber · Flodesk · EmailOctopus · GetResponse · ActiveCampaign
All trademarks belong to their owners. SendFox is not affiliated with Ghost.
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