Pricing Northline and Azimuth as a new Ghost studio

Starting from a blank reputation

Aftertype launched Northline and Azimuth into a market that did not know the studio, the name, or any track record. That felt more important to pricing than any feature checklist.

Ghost themes sit in an odd spot: cheaper than custom work, more expensive than free themes, and usually judged in seconds on a demo site. When nobody knows you, that quick impression has to do more work, and the price tag becomes part of the story.

Looking at other Ghost theme makers first

My first step was simple: open a lot of Ghost theme shops and write down their prices. Not to copy them, but to see what buyers were already trained to expect.

That scan showed a few rough clusters:

• A low end of simple themes, often older, with minimal support promises.
• A middle band where many active indie theme makers seemed to sit.
• A premium tier from better known names, usually backed by a portfolio, a blog, or a visible presence in the Ghost community.

If you only look at the numbers, you get a neat ladder: entry, mid, premium. It is tempting to drop Northline and Azimuth somewhere on that ladder based on how “polished” they feel. That is where the first misleading comparison showed up for me.