Let's get into this

Doctor Mehra

Mar 1, 2026 • 2 min read

Phase 1: The "Sidecar" Tech Stack

Because Ghost won't talk to Mercado Pago directly for "Paid" status, we will use an automation bridge.

Platform: Ghost Pro (Starter or Creator plan).

Payment: Mercado Pago "Subscription Plans" (creates a payment link).
Bridge: Make.com (better/cheaper than Zapier for LatAm integrations).
Logic: When someone pays via Mercado Pago $\rightarrow$ Make.com $\rightarrow$ Update Member in Ghost to "Paid" (via Ghost Admin API).

Phase 2: Exporting from Substack

Don't delete your Substack yet! You need two main things:

The List: Go to Dashboard > Settings > Export. Download your CSV of subscribers.
The Content: Go to Settings > Export Data. Substack will email you a .zip file. Ghost has a Substack Importer that handles this beautifully, preserving your images and formatting.

Phase 3: Setting up Ghost Pro

Import Content: In Ghost Admin, go to Settings > Import/Export. Upload the Substack .zip.

Domain Setup: Since you own thething.co, you’ll need to update your DNS records (Cloudflare, GoDaddy, etc.).

Note: Substack usually "locks" the SSL for a bit. You may need to contact Substack support to "release" the domain so Ghost can issue a new certificate.

Disable Native Portal: In Ghost Settings > Membership, set the subscription to "Free" only. We will handle "Paid" via a custom button in your navigation.

Phase 4: The Mercado Pago Integration

This is the "complicated bit" you mentioned. Here is the workflow:

Create a Plan: In your Mercado Pago developer dashboard, create a Subscription Plan (recurring monthly/yearly).

The Signup Flow: * Create a "Upgrade" page in Ghost.

Instead of the Ghost checkout, put a big button linked to your Mercado Pago checkout.

The Automation (The "Secret Sauce"):

Trigger: Mercado Pago (New Payment/Subscription).
Action: Ghost API (Create or Update Member).
Label: Give them a label like VIP or Paid. In Ghost, you can then restrict posts so only people with the label Paid can see them.

Phase 5: The "Flip the Switch" Checklist

Import Subscribers: Upload your Substack CSV to Ghost.
Email Warm-up: Since you have 4.5k subs, don't send a massive blast immediately. Send your first 2-3 Ghost newsletters to your most engaged users first to build "reputation" with Gmail/Outlook.
The Redirect: Once the domain is live on Ghost, any old Substack links to your posts will break. You may need to set up 301 Redirects in Ghost (found in Labs) for your most popular articles.

Critical Advice for 2026

Since you are at 4.5k and growing, Deliverability is your biggest risk. Substack handles all the "spam" tech for you. On Ghost Pro, they handle the servers, but you are responsible for your "Sender Name" and "Reply-to" reputation.