> You can self-host it on a small server (one-click deployment on a $5 VM on Vultr or DigitalOcean will do)
Having hosted a ghost blog before, this is the wrong way to think about it. You'd need to run a separate instance of a database which costs $15 on Lightsail with periodic backups.
Running the database instance on the same $5 machine is one disaster away from a lot of pain. It is so much better to use github pages or static page generators over Netlify, since a database really seems like an overkill for simpler blogs.
Someone wiser than me once said [0]: Why are you doing all this? Your entire database fits in RAM.
As a Ghost self-hoster, I can confirm I don't require the use of any database for "$15 on Lightsail with periodic backups".
Depending on your requirement you can use any instance of MySQL/MariaDB - managed or self-managed. You could run a separate $5 MariaDB DigitalOcean droplet. Ghost Foundation provides their 1-click Ghost droplet bundled with MySQL, but you're not restricted to it.
And yes, SQLite is also an option.
Suggesting a "need" to run fault-tolerant database operations doesn't quite concile with running it in RAM only.
> Suggesting a "need" to run fault-tolerant database operations doesn't quite concile with running it in RAM only.
The wisdom is: You don't need a database at all to avoid SPOF. Use static pages and let Netlify and others cache them in their CDNs world-wide ("RAM").
> Ghost Foundation provides their 1-click Ghost droplet bundled with MySQL.
It's a blog, not a mission critical site. I suspect MOST blogs get so few views that it really isn't a huge deal. If you have the need for more stability and availability, then paying extra isn't a huge deal.
You'd do better to take arguments at their merits than resort to ad hominem attacks.
To your point: Yes, Ghost is much more than Hugo / Jekyll will ever be, but then again, most people aren't building a News site to actually want the features Ghost has to offer.
I mean, there's absolutely a market for software like Ghost and WordPress (or they wouldn't exist, especially in WordPress' case they absolutely dominate that market), but if you're the kind to run Ghost with SQLite then may be you should instead give static site generators a look.
SQLite doesn't save you from losing your data when the instance goes away. One requires a backup to avoid that scenario. Sure one can opt for offline manual backups, but then one might as well use a static site generator that doesn't require any of that.
Why would you do manual backups? Just schedule cronjob to periodically upload the database somewhere. You can save it anywhere - other $5 server (not $15), to s3, even on google drive. I don't know if there is threat of database being corrupted midbackup due to writing in it, but if you don't want to risk it, just use sqlite online backup api.
Having hosted a ghost blog before, this is the wrong way to think about it. You'd need to run a separate instance of a database which costs $15 on Lightsail with periodic backups.
Running the database instance on the same $5 machine is one disaster away from a lot of pain. It is so much better to use github pages or static page generators over Netlify, since a database really seems like an overkill for simpler blogs.
Someone wiser than me once said [0]: Why are you doing all this? Your entire database fits in RAM.
[0] https://twitter.com/apenwarr/status/1095441483065380867