How to Choose the Best Blogging Platforms (A Simple Guide for Beginners)

Are you planning to start a blog for any purpose, and you are confused about how to choose the best blogging platform that suits your needs? Currently, many blogging platforms offer services to start a blog or website. So, how do you decide which platform to use to start your blog?

In this article, we will help you choose the best blogging platform by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the most popular blogging sites.

Best Popular Blogging Platforms

We have listed the most popular free blogging platforms that people used to build their blogs or websites. You can check them down below.

1. Wordpress.org
2. Wix
3. Web.com
4. Blogger
5. Gator
6. Hubspot CMS
7. Wordpress.com
8. Medium
9. Tumblr
10. Squarespace

Before we start to compare each blogging platform listed above, there is one question that can help you in choosing a blogging platform: "What are you looking for in a blogging platform?"

As a beginner, you would expect a blogging platform that is easy to set up, easy to learn, and doesn't require any coding skills. Apart from that, you will also consider the price, you will look for a blogging platform that offers the best price to use their services.

As your blog grows, you may want to change the look of your site and add more features as your audience grows. For that, choosing the best platform at the beginning is a very important step, don't make the wrong decision when making this important decision.

Even if you have no plans to monetize your blog right now, it's a good idea to make sure you have the option to do so in the future.

After considering the things above, let's start comparing the best blogging platforms.

1. Wordpress.org

You need to know, WordPress is a very flexible CMS (Content Management System) for creating a website because WordPress is also open source so it is very easy to get updates, and install many plugins or themes on this platform.

With the WordPress platform, you will easily create websites such as blogs, company profiles, online store websites, marketplace websites, and much more. To customize the appearance of your blog, you only need to install a theme that suits your needs, then do a little customization.

WordPress.org is the world’s most popular blogging software. Started in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg, WordPress now powers more than 45% of all websites on the internet.

WordPress.org is slightly different from wordpress.com. In short, the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org lies in the hosting and domain, where WordPress.com provides free hosting and domain (yourdomain.wordpress.com), while WordPress.org is a platform that you can customize according to your wishes.

Pros

• WordPress.org gives you control over every aspect of your website.
• You can start your blog and expand it, as well as add additional features such as forums, an online shop, open an affiliate program, and sell online courses. This makes WordPress the best blogging platform for making money.
• There are thousands of free themes that you can use for your blog. It allows you to create a professional website that is beautiful and different from others. The most popular WordPress themes come with built-in customization options that give you complete design control.
• You also get access to over 50,000 WordPress plugins for free. Plugins serve to provide features that can change or modify the capabilities of a program. In WordPress, you can use it to change the original code of your site without having to edit it yourself.
• You can easily create SEO-friendly URLs, categories, and tags for your posts. Plus, there are lots of great SEO plugins for additional optimization.
• You can easily enable Google Analytics-powered website analytics in WordPress, so you can see the statistics that matter. It helps you grow your new blog traffic and subscribers.
• WordPress drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to create any type of content on your blog site. It also has the option to embed various dynamic content like videos, social media feeds, Google Adsense, graphics, charts, and more without knowing how to technically.

Cons

• Managing your own blog will need a bit of time for learning.
• You will have to manage everything including backups and security.

Pricing

The WordPress software is free to use for any purpose, but you will need a small budget to purchase a domain name (around $14.99/year) and hosting (usually starting at $8.99/month).

You need a domain name and web hosting to start any type of website.

Bluehost as a domain and hosting service provider recommended by WordPress provides the best price offer. You can start with as little as $2.65 per month. There is even a free domain offer in one of the hosting plans.

We've written a complete guide on how to start a blog with WordPress, you can read about it here.

Overall, WordPress is an excellent choice for personal blogs and other types of websites.

Millions of bloggers and large companies use WordPress as their content management system because of its simplicity and completeness with all the functionality you need to create a powerful blog.

2. Wix

Wix is a popular website builder today. By 2021, Wix will have more than 200 million users worldwide, empowering anyone to express themselves and build their online presence.

Wix provides a variety of tools that help you build different types of websites. This platform is rich in tools that make it easy for anyone to create a website without having to learn coding and programming languages first. Wix has a visual builder that provides pre-built elements or blocks that can be added to any page or area of the site.

Pros

• You can customize your site using third-party templates and applications.
• Easy drag and drop tools to build your site; no coding skills required.
• Easy and Quick setup.

Cons

• Free accounts are limited and show Wix branding and advertising on your site.
• Limited free third-party apps.
• Once you have selected a template, you cannot change it.
• Ecommerce features are limited to paid plans, and even those features are limited.

Pricing

You can use the basic Wix website builder for free. With a free Wix account, you'll get a Wix subdomain that looks like this: https://yoursite.wixsite.com/page.

To use advanced features, you can add a custom domain for $4.50/month. Wix provides premium plans starting at $8.50/month and going up to $24.50/month.

3. Web.com

Web.com is one of the popular website-building platforms that come with built-in features to add a blog section to your business website or online store.

The platform provides a drag & drop website builder that is very easy to use even for beginners, and they offer a very affordable price to get started ($1.95).

You can choose from dozens of pre-built templates and then customize the layout of your blog without writing any code. It comes with all the advanced features like SEO tools, blog security features, autosave & backup, website analysis, and much more.

Pros

• Easy-to-use drag and drop website builder (no coding skill needed).
• Affordable starting pricing – $1.95 per month and it includes all the essential features
• Dozens of fully customizable templates for your blog.
• Easy setup with no hassles, since Web.com takes care of all the technical details of hosting your website.
• Free domain is included with all paid plans.
• 24/7 customer support available via phone, live chat, and email.

Cons

• Limited extensions/apps, don't have many third-party plugins like WordPress.
• Blogging features are not as powerful as WordPress.
• Since Web.com is a proprietary website builder, it can be difficult to switch your blog to another platform.

Pricing

the initial plan is affordable, starting at $1.95 per month comes with a drag & drop site builder, blogging platform, dozens of beautiful templates, thousands of free stock images, and a free domain.

If you're a small business that doesn't want to use WordPress, then Web.com is the next best choice considering everything you get for the price.

4. Blogger

Blogger is a free blogging service by Google. You can easily create a blog in just a few minutes.

Blogger is one of the earliest blogging platforms in existence. It was first launched in 1999 by Pyra Labs. Then in 2003, Google acquired Blogger and redesigned it as the product we know today.

To start creating a free blog on Blogger, all you need is a Google account. By default, your blog is a subdomain of blogspot.com. Your URL will be like this: https://yourblog.blogspot.com.

Pros

• Blogger is completely free.
• Easy to use and maintain without any technical or coding skills.
• Blogger is a product from Google that is strong and secure.

Cons

• You are limited to basic blogging tools, and cannot add new features as your blog grows.
• Unlike WordPress, design options are limited, with very few templates available. Third-party templates for Blogger are often of low quality.
• Blogger doesn't receive frequent updates or new features.
• Google may suspend your blog at any time, or even cancel the Blogger service altogether. (They have a history of ignoring projects without warning, like Feedburner.)

Pricing

Blogger is totally free, no cost at all. The only cost you need is to register your own domain to the domain registrar.

5. Gator

Hostgator is a popular web hosting company known for its quality. Gator is a website builder and blogging platform created by HostGator. Gator offers drag & drop tools that you can use to build all kinds of websites including blogs, business sites, and even online stores. You can use the HostGator hosting service to start a WordPress website or blog with various hosting plans.

Gator is the best choice if you are looking for a non-WordPress all-in-one blogging platform and hosting solution.

Pros

• Easy drag and drop builder to customize your blog & website design.
• Quick setup – no technical hassle.
• Excellent shared hosting offering.
• Backups, performance, and security are all handled by HostGator (no headaches).
• Free Domain and SSL certificate is included in all plans.
• Can easily add an online store to your blog with just a few clicks.
• Outstanding uptime.

Cons

• Not all plans have a Windows Server option.
• There is no free account, but they do have a 45-day money-back guarantee.
• Ecommerce features aa re restricted to higher plans only.
• a Limited number of apps and extensions.

Pricing

The Starter plan starts from $2.75/month as the lowest price at any plan. It comes with all the features you need to start a successful blog including a free domain and SSL certificate. Hostgator also offers the lowest price for their VPS plans at $23.95/month and Dedicated Server plans at $89.98/month.

6. Hubspot CMS

HubSpot CMS Hub is an all-in-one blogging platform for all kinds of websites.

It’s a service from Hubspot. Hubspot is a popular marketing and CRM tools provider, so you can use a single platform to create a website, get more subscribers, send newsletters, manage your customer list, and more. 

You can build and customize your website easily with their website builder and you can even personalize the content readers see based on their past behavior.

Pros

• Easy-to-use drag and drop website builder with no coding skills required.
• Quick and easy setup, since HubSpot will host your website for you.
• Fully optimized for SEO and conversions.
• Free SSL certificate is included.

Cons

• While the HubSpot CRM itself comes with free tools (like contact management, email marketing, and forms), the CMS does not have a free version available.
• Pricing may be steep as you move up the tiers.
• If you’re moving from another blogging platform, the migration process may be lengthy, depending on your previous provider.

Pricing

HubSpot CMS plan starts at $23/month and includes all the main features to have a secure, well-designed blog, as well as the marketing tools you’ll need to grow it.

The Professional plan starts from $360/month and the Enterprise Plan starts from $1,200/month. Both Professional and Enterprise plans offer 14-day trials.

7. Wordpress.com

WordPress.com is a great choice if you want to start your own blog, it has many of the features you need to run a successful blog. Overall, WordPress.com is perfect for both novice and professional bloggers.

WordPress.com is a free blog hosting service offered by Automattic, a company created by WordPress.org cofounder Matt Mullenweg.

WordPress.com started in 2005 to bring the WordPress experience to a larger audience, WordPress.com is a great blogging site for users who don't want the advanced features of self-hosted WordPress.

Pros

• Start a blog without any setup.
• WordPress Dashboard made easy to use and manage.
• It’s completely free with your blog as a WordPress.com subdomain.
• It has tons of tailored features designed to make building and running a blog easier.

Cons

• Limited options to extend your own site. You cannot use custom themes and plugins for customizing your blog.
• You cannot run advertisements on your blog. Instead, WordPress.com will show its ads on your free website.
• You do not own your blog, and WordPress.com can suspend your account if they find you are violating their terms of service.

Pricing

The basic WordPress.com account is completely free, but you are only given a subdomain as your site URL.

You can upgrade to their Personal plan for $4/month (billed yearly) to remove the WordPress.com logo and advertising from your blog. You also get a custom domain (such as www.yourblog.com).

For $8/month (billed yearly) you can get additional design tools and extra storage.

You have a better choice to use WordPress.org than WordPress.com because WordPress.org has no limitation to using all WordPress features. But, you will need a small budget to get started with WordPress.org to buy a domain and hosting services.

8. Medium

Medium has grown into a community of writers, bloggers, journalists, and experts since launched in 2012. It is a free blogging platform with limited social networking features. Today, it has over 100 million readers and growing.

In Medium, you can start writing and publishing your article after creating an account. Your articles are called "Stories". You can create a profile on Medium like on any other social media with the address format: https://yourprofile.medium.com.

Pros

• Medium is easy to use, you can immediately start writing your article without any setup.
• It has millions of online communities that you can join in it.
• You can focus solely on writing, instead of designing a website.

Cons

• Limited features especially in design or building a brand. 
• Medium owns your audience, so losing your blog means losing all your followers.
• There's a lot of competition for attention.
• You cannot use your own domain name.
• You cannot run your own ads to make money.

Pricing

Medium is free to use for publishing a blog, at no cost at all.

But, if you want to get unlimited access to everything on Medium, it has some plans starting price at less than $1/week. You can cancel anytime.

9. Tumblr

Tumblr is a microblogging platform and social networking site that allows users to create an online diary or blog. Tumblr is a little different than other blogging platforms.

Pros

• Tumblr is free with a Tumblr subdomain like https://example.tumblr.com. You can also connect a premium custom domain name.
• It is very easy to set up and use.
• It has an integrated social media component.
• As a microblogging tool, Tumblr makes it easy to quickly blog videos, GIFs, images, and audio formats.

Cons

• Tumblr comes with a limited set of features that you cannot extend as your blog grows.
• There are many themes available for Tumblr, but they can’t offer additional features.
• It is difficult to backup your Tumblr blog or import it to other platforms.

Pricing

Tumblr is free to use.

You can use a custom domain (purchased separately) for your Tumblr blog, and there are also third-party themes and apps available to purchase.

10. Squarespace

Squarespace is a website-building service that allows you to create beautiful websites using easy drag and drop tools. It focuses on small business owners who are looking for an easy way to create an online presence.

Squarespace currently powers millions of websites online. It started in 2003.

Pros

• Squarespace is very easy to use for beginners without the need for any technical skills.
• It has beautiful professionally designed templates.
• It separately offers domain names with SSL/HTTPs and eCommerce stores.

Cons

• Squarespace has limited features in its proprietary platform.
• Integrations are limited to a select few services and tools.

Pricing

Squarespace has different pricing plans for websites and online stores.

Pricing for their Personal website plan starts at $16/month, or $12/month if you pay for the year in advance. For the Business plan, pricing starts at $26/month, or $18/month billed annually.

Whereas pricing for online stores starts from $26/month and up to $40/month.

Conclusions

From the blogging platform comparison above, We may take the conclusion that WordPress.org outperforms all other blogging sites. Open source, easy to use, powerful, affordable, and the most flexible of all available blogging platforms.

If you are looking for a hosting service to host your WordPress blog, Bluehost is one of the best hosting companies and is recommended by WordPress.

Hopefully, this article can help you in determining which blogging platform is the best fit for you. From the advantages and disadvantages of each blogging platform, you can choose the one that best fits your blogging needs.