Why did my member count change in Ghost?
The Ghost help pages give 4 common reasons. The first to rule out: Members who cancel a paid plan are counted as free once their paid access ends, so the free count can rise while paid falls.
What causes it?
Members who cancel a paid plan are counted as free once their paid access ends, so the free count can rise while paid falls.
In the Ghost help:
All members who do not have an active paid subscription, including members who have previously canceled
Native analytics in Ghost, read 2026-11-12.Complimentary members count as paid in Ghost, so giving or removing free access moves the paid number without any payment.
In the Ghost help:
All members of your site that are able to access paid content, including any paid or complimentary subscription.
Native analytics in Ghost, read 2026-11-12.A member who cancels keeps counting as paid until the time they paid for runs out, so the paid total can drop days after the cancellation.
In the Ghost help:
Canceled accounts are also included in the total until the end of the period paid for.
Native analytics in Ghost, read 2026-11-12.Members who stop getting the newsletter leave the subscriber count but can stay members, so the two numbers can move apart.
In the Ghost help:
The total number of members currently subscribed to your newsletter
Native analytics in Ghost, read 2026-11-12.
How do I check it myself?
If you send more than one newsletter, look at each one on its own to see which one the change came from.
In the Ghost help:
If you have multiple newsletters, you can filter the data by each individual newsletter
Native analytics in Ghost, read 2026-11-12.Look at which posts and sources brought in new members during the period, to see where a jump or a drop started.
In the Ghost help:
For each item, you’ll see how many new members were generated during the selected time period.
Native analytics in Ghost, read 2026-11-12.
How does Ghost work with Feder?
- Connect Ghost to Feder and it joins your Interest apps.
- When you connect Ghost, Feder checks the connection straight away and shows Connected only when that check passes. If a reading cannot be taken later, Feder shows it as not read, never as zero.
Some numbers are too quiet to judge daily, such as a form filled in a few times a week. Until there is enough of your own history to judge a change, Feder says it is still learning and scores nothing, rather than guessing.
See whether you can trust the numbers in Ghost, one of your Interest apps. Feder only reads. It never changes anything in Ghost.
What else goes wrong with these numbers?
- Why did my Ghost newsletter open rate drop?Ghost
- Why did my Ghost newsletter subscribers change after I imported members?Ghost
- Why did Google Analytics stop collecting data?Google Analytics
- Why aren't my key events showing in Google Analytics?Google Analytics
- Why does Google Analytics show (not set)?Google Analytics
See every question.
Where do these answers come from?
Every cause and check on this page comes from the Ghost help pages, quoted above with the date we read them. Last reviewed 2026-11-12. We read them again by 2027-11-12. If one changes, this page changes or comes down.