Episode is a free, open-source Ghost theme built by the Ghost Foundation specifically for podcasters to publish audio episodes and written posts on a Ghost-powered website.
What is Episode?
Episode is a podcast-focused theme for the Ghost publishing platform, designed to present both spoken content and companion written posts. The theme runs entirely on a Ghost site: you upload the theme zip in your Ghost admin's Design settings, and it renders your episodes and pages as a public website. It is developed by the Ghost Foundation, the organization behind Ghost, and maintained in the TryGhost/Themes monorepo alongside other official Ghost themes.
Key Features
- Podcast-first design — Episode is built specifically for podcasters, prioritizing episode content and audio alongside written posts; a live demo is available at episode.ghost.io.
- Easy Ghost installation — Install by downloading the theme zip and uploading it through the Ghost Design settings; no command-line setup is required for end users.
- Gulp/PostCSS build system — Developers can edit
/assets/css/source files, and Gulp with PostCSS compiles them to/assets/built/, polyfilling future CSS specifications. - Translation support — Theme translations are coordinated through the TryGhost/Themes repository, allowing contributors to add or update locale files.
- MIT license — The theme is released under the MIT license by the Ghost Foundation, permitting free use, modification, and redistribution.
- Actively maintained in a monorepo — The code is synced with the TryGhost/Themes monorepo, where all official Ghost themes are developed and where issues and contributions are handled.
Who is Episode for?
Episode is for podcasters who host their site on Ghost and need a theme tailored to episode publishing. It is also suited to content creators who want a unified site for audio and text, and to Ghost users looking for a free, official theme with a podcast focus.
What can you do with Episode?
- Podcasters: publish a full podcast site with episode listings and individual episode pages, sharing both audio and show notes.
- Content creators: pair audio recordings with written posts to give listeners a text home for each episode.
- Ghost administrators: quickly install a free, MIT-licensed theme through the Ghost admin's Design settings without writing code.
How does Episode work?
Episode works as a standard Ghost theme. To use it, download the theme zip from the repository, log into your Ghost site, navigate to the Design settings area, and upload the zip file. The theme then immediately styles your episodes and posts; for deeper customization, developers can set up Node, pnpm, and Gulp globally and run pnpm dev to compile CSS changes from /assets/css/ into /assets/built/.
Pricing
Episode is free to download and use, released under the MIT license. There are no paid tiers or license fees.
Alternatives
Casper, Ghost's default theme, focuses on general publishing and blogging rather than podcast-specific layouts.
FAQ
Is Episode free?
Yes, Episode is free and open source under the MIT license, so you can use it on any Ghost site without paying a license fee.
How do I install Episode on my Ghost site?
Download the theme zip from the repository, log into Ghost, go to the Design settings area, and upload the zip file. The theme is applied immediately.
Does Episode support multiple languages?
Episode has theme translation support managed through the TryGhost/Themes repository. Contributors can add or edit translations, and the README in the theme-translations folder explains how.
What is the license for Episode?
Episode is released under the MIT license, copyrighted by the Ghost Foundation. You can modify and reuse it freely.
Where is Episode developed?
Episode is developed in the TryGhost/Themes monorepo, which syncs automatically with this repository. Issues and contributions should be directed there.
