Articles on: Private & Unlisted Podcasts

How do I connect Ghost to my private podcast?

If you use Ghost as your membership platform, you can connect it to a private podcast. Transistor then keeps your subscribers in sync with your Ghost members: people are added when they join and removed when they leave or no longer qualify. Your Ghost member list becomes the source of truth for who can listen.



The Ghost integration is available on every Transistor plan that includes private podcasts. Before you start, you'll need a private podcast on Transistor and a Ghost site with membership set up.


Connect Ghost


In Ghost Admin:


  • Go to Settings > Integrations and open the Transistor.fm integration
  • Turn it on, then copy the Admin API key and API URL


In Transistor:


  • Go to the Integrations tab of your private podcast
  • In the Ghost section, paste them into Ghost API URL and Ghost Admin API Key
  • Click Connect to Ghost


We'll import your Ghost membership tiers.


Choose who gets access


Under Choose which Ghost members get access to this podcast, pick one:


  • All members, including free members
  • Paid-members only
  • Specific membership tier(s), then choose the tiers


Click Update Access and Sync Members. We add every Ghost member who qualifies as a subscriber. Complimentary memberships you give in Ghost count too, so a member you comp onto a paid tier gets access.


You can change who has access at any time with Change access. For example, switching from Paid-members only to All members adds your free members as well.


How members find the podcast


Ghost members aren't sent Transistor's welcome email. Instead, they get to the podcast from your Ghost site:


  • Their Ghost account: when a member with access signs in and clicks the account button, the private podcast is listed there. From it they can add the podcast to Apple Podcasts, Spotify or another app, or scan a QR code to set it up on their phone.
  • Embeds in your posts and pages: type /transistor in the Ghost editor to add a private podcast embed to a post or page. You choose who can see the embed, such as free or paid members. Members with access can add the podcast from it, and members without access see a prompt to sign in or upgrade.
  • Ghost's welcome emails: add a link to your private podcast in the welcome email Ghost sends new paid members, so they can start listening right away.


Once they're subscribed, members get Transistor's new episode emails like any other subscriber, if you have them turned on.


See How do I customize the emails private subscribers receive?


While Ghost is connected


  • Ghost manages your subscriber list. On the Subscribers tab, the options to add, remove and invite subscribers are hidden, and changes come from Ghost.
  • When someone joins, upgrades, downgrades or leaves in Ghost, we add or remove them automatically.
  • Ghost members count toward your plan's subscriber limit, like any other subscriber.


If Ghost stops accepting your Admin API key (for example, because the key was regenerated in Ghost), we stop syncing and email you. To resume, disconnect Ghost and connect it again with a new Admin API key.


Disconnect Ghost


Click Disconnect in the Ghost section. Your existing subscribers stay on your podcast, but they're no longer kept in sync with Ghost, so you'll manage them yourself from then on.


If you have additional questions please reach out to us:


Updated on: 02/11/2026

Was this article helpful?

Share your feedback

Cancel

Thank you!