Here’s How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform – Comparison 2021

Deciding to start a blog comes with a lot of decisions to make. One such decision: What’s the best blogging platform should I use?

While there are numerous blogging platforms available, below we take a look at some of the most common platforms to help you make the best decision.

So What is the Best Blogging Platform?

best blogging platform

WordPress.com

Price: Free

WordPress.com stores your site’s content for free on their servers. However, this means users receive a limited version of the WordPress software. Still, it’s a nice choice for hobby bloggers who don’t want to invest money. It’s also a good option for people who plan to upgrade to a self-hosted WordPress blog in the future.

Pros:

  • No set-up costs.
  • Simple to use; no coding or design knowledge required.
  • Hundreds of themes to choose from.

Cons:

  • Functionality is limited unless you pay for upgrades.
  • It looks less professional.
  • You do not technically own your blog, which means you have little control over advertising revenue. It also means WordPress can suspend your site at any time.
  • Your site comes with .wordpress in the domain.

WordPress.org

Price: Free software; Approximately $3 per month for hosting. For a step by step guide, check my how to start blogging guide.

A self-hosted WordPress blog is one that uses the WordPress software on a third-party server. With it, you can install plugins, edit your HTML code, and more, giving you full control over your website while making it look more professional. A self-hosted WordPress blog is usually the best way to go for anyone willing to invest a couple of dollars per month. It’s ideal for business owners, professional brand builders, and any blogger looking to expand their site’s functionality and professional appearance. Discover more WordPress hosting providers at HostingFacts.com.

READ  How to Properly Add Google AdSense to Your WordPress Site

Pros:

  • User-friendly with full control and customization options.
  • Access to over 1,500 free themes and 20,000 free plugins.
  • Search engine friendly options.

Cons:

  • Hosting on a third-party server can require some technical knowledge, but most hosts (like Bluehost or Hostgator) offer quality technical support.
  • Due to its popularity, WordPress is vulnerable to security threats.

Blogger

Membuat Blog dengan Blogger

Price: Free

Since Blogger is owned by Google, you’ll have access to Google tools like AdSense, Analytics, etc. However, Blogger is not nearly as flexible as WordPress.org. This platform is great for hobby bloggers and brand builders who don’t want to invest any money but may want to make some money through ads. Since it is easy to use, it is also a great platform for beginner bloggers just learning the ropes.

Pros:

  • Completely free and easy to use.
  • Can place AdSense ads.
  • Access to HTML code, so there are more customization options.

Cons:

  • Fewer themes and storage space than WordPress.com.
  • You cannot self-host, so your blog is dependent completely on Blogger’s current offerings.
  • Your site will have .blogspot in the title.

Tumblr

Price: Free

Tumblr is easy to use and is a very social platform. This is the perfect place for bloggers who like the idea of “reblogging” posts. Its platform is best for microbloggers, so it’s perhaps not the best place to start if you are looking to develop long-form content.

Pros:

  • Unlimited storage.
  • Approximately 1,000 themes to choose from.
  • HTML and CSS access for customization.

Cons:

  • Backing up your blog and importing your content from other platforms is difficult.
  • There are very limited plugin options.
  • It is tough to monetize.
READ  The Ultimate WordPress Security Guide – Step by Step (2020)

TypePad

Price: $8.95+/month

TypePad is a good platform for business professionals or brand builders who don’t mind investing some money every month into their blog. That price can pay in delivering more features and a more professional-looking site. However, most people will still tell business bloggers to choose a self-hosted WordPress platform due to its large community, but TypePad does have its advantages.

Pros:

  • They host on their servers, but you own your blog.
  • Unlimited storage space.
  • Easy to use.

Cons:

  • It costs a few dollars more per month than a self-hosted WordPress site.
  • Customization options can be limited.

WIX

Price: $4.08+/month

WIX is a good website option with blogging capabilities that is ideal for businesses. With its ecommerce functions, WIX makes building your entire ecommerce business website simple, although full control over your online shop is somewhat limited.

Pros:

  • Unlimited bandwidth.
  • Ad integration.
  • Easy to use.
  • Domain registration options.
  • Up to 20 GB storage.
  • Hundreds of professional-looking templates.

Cons:

  • More expensive than a self-hosted WordPress blog.
  • Ecommerce tools aren’t very advanced.
  • Limited customization options.

Any of the free options are ideal for novice or hobby bloggers who don’t want to invest any money while the paid options are better for business blogs. Choosing the right one comes down to how you want your site to function. Which platform do you think you’ll choose?

Quick reference

Mike Wallagher of Start Blogging Online put together a nice comparison of blogging platforms you can reference as you choose a blogging platform.

Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version.

READ  What Are WordPress Plugins? And How Do They Work?


Blog Comparison Chart – Start Blogging Online

Drop you thoughts on this article in the comments section. Cheers

Don't miss out!
Liked the article?
We have a lot more where that came from! Join 10,000 subscribers who stay ahead of the pack.
Invalid email address
Give it a try. You can unsubscribe at any time.

110 Replies to “Here’s How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform – Comparison 2021”

  4. An impressive share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a coworker who had been conducting a little research on this.
    And he in fact bought me breakfast simply because I discovered it for him…
    lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!!
    But yeah, thanks for spending some time to discuss this subject here on your
    blog.

    Reply

  11. Howdy I am so thrilled I found your weblog, I really found you by mistake, while I was
    searching on Google for something else, Anyhow I am here now and would
    just like to say thank you for a marvelous post and a all round entertaining blog (I also love the
    theme/design), I don’t have time to read it all at the minute but I
    have book-marked it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read much more,
    Please do keep up the fantastic work.

    Reply

  13. Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your
    site and in accession capital to assert that I acquire
    in fact enjoyed account your blog posts.
    Anyway I will be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement you access consistently rapidly.

    Reply

  15. Thanks for the marvelous posting! I definitely enjoyed reading
    it, you might be a great author.I will make certain to bookmark your blog and
    definitely will come back later on. I want to encourage you to definitely continue your great writing, have
    a nice morning!

    Check out my web blog; news, Keesha,

    Reply

  17. What’s Taking place i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve found It positively useful
    and it has aided me out loads. I’m hoping to give a contribution & aid different customers like its helped me.
    Good job.

    Here is my web-site – blog (jobs.sfpe.org)

    Reply

  18. hello there and thank you for your info – I have certainly picked up something new from right here.

    I did however expertise several technical issues using this site, as
    I experienced to reload the web site many times previous to
    I could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your web
    hosting is OK? Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will very frequently
    affect your placement in google and could damage your quality score if advertising and
    marketing with Adwords. Well I’m adding this RSS to
    my e-mail and can look out for much more of your respective intriguing
    content. Ensure that you update this again soon.

    Look into my page 토토사이트 (¸ÔƢ°ËÁő)

    Reply

  25. Undeniably believe that which you said. Your favorite justification appeared to
    be on the web the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I certainly
    get annoyed while people consider worries that they plainly do not know about.
    You managed to hit the nail upon the top and defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people can take a signal.
    Will probably be back to get more. Thanks

    my web blog; 바카라검증사이트

    Reply

  30. When I originally left a comment I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments
    are added- checkbox and from now on each time a comment is added
    I get four emails with the exact same comment. Perhaps there is a means
    you can remove me from that service? Thank you!

    Reply

  37. Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your site and in accession capital to assert that I acquire actually enjoyed account your blog posts.
    Anyway I’ll be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement
    you access consistently fast.

    Reply

  38. An interesting discussion is definitely worth comment.
    I do think that you should publish more on this issue, it might
    not be a taboo subject but generally people don’t talk about these subjects.
    To the next! Cheers!!

    Reply

  39. I’m curious to find out what blog platform you are working with?
    I’m having some minor security issues with my latest site and I would like to
    find something more safe. Do you have any suggestions?

    Reply

    1. Hi there. I’m currently using WordPress.

      As a beginner, you’ll want a blogging platform that’s easy to set up, has a low learning curve, and doesn’t require any coding skills.
      You’ll also need to think about what kind of blog you want to create, now and in the future.
      As your blog grows, you may want to change the look of your site and add more features for your growing audience. That means it’s important to choose a blogging platform that’s flexible, with room to grow.
      Starting off with the wrong platform can make it very difficult to switch later on.

      Here’s a suggestion.

      Blogger is a free blogging service by Google. It offers a quick and easy way to create a blog for non-tech-savvy users.
      Blogger is one of the earliest blogging platforms in existence. It was first launched in 1999 by Pyra Labs. Later in 2003, Google acquired Blogger and redesigned it as the product we know today.
      All you need is a Google account to start a free blog on Blogger.
      Pros
      Blogger is free.
      It’s easy to use and manage without any technical skills.
      Has the added advantage of Google’s robust secure platform and reliability.
      Cons
      You’re limited to basic blogging tools, and can’t add new features as your blog grows in popularity.
      Design options are limited, with fewer templates available. Third party templates for Blogger are often low quality.
      Blogger does not receive frequent updates or new features.
      Google can suspend your blog at any time, or even cancel the Blogger service altogether. (They have a history of abandoning projects without warning, such as Feedburner.)

      Cheers.

      Reply

  42. Hi, I do think this is a great site. I stumbledupon it 😉 I may revisit yet again since I saved as a favorite
    it. Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you
    be rich and continue to guide other people.

    Reply

  45. Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your content seem to be running off the screen in Firefox.
    I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with web
    browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know.
    The design and style look great though! Hope you get the issue fixed soon. Thanks

    Reply

  46. Woah! I’m really digging the template/theme of this website.
    It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s challenging
    to get that “perfect balance” between user friendliness and appearance.
    I must say you have done a great job with this. In addition, the blog
    loads very quick for me on Chrome. Outstanding
    Blog!

    Reply

  47. I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme.
    Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone
    to do it for you? Plz reply as I’m looking to construct my own blog and would
    like to know where u got this from. thanks

    Reply

  48. Whats up this is kind of of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
    I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding know-how so I wanted to get advice from someone
    with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!

    Also visit my web-site :: 토토검증 (¸ÔƢ)

    Reply

  54. It is perfect time to make some plans for
    the future and it’s time to be happy. I have read this post and if I could I want to suggest you few interesting things
    or suggestions. Maybe you can write next articles referring to this article.

    I wish to read even more things about it!

    Also visit my web page … 먹튀사이트

    Reply

  55. Hello are using WordPress for your blog platform? I’m new
    to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do you need any coding knowledge to make your own blog?

    Any help would be really appreciated!

    Feel free to visit my site 토토사이트

    Reply

    1. Hi there. Thanks for the comment. This post if not a sponsored post if that’s what you’re asking. However the maybe some affiliate links that whenever people purchase using my custom link I get paid a small commission with no cost to you.

      Reply

  60. Hey! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if
    that would be ok. I’m undoubtedly enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts.

    Reply

  64. With havin so much content do you ever run into
    any problems of plagorism or copyright infringement?
    My site has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either written myself or outsourced but it looks like a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my agreement.
    Do you know any ways to help prevent content from being ripped off?
    I’d definitely appreciate it.

    Reply

    1. Hi there. Here are some ideas;

      Disable the Right Click Option. We all know how to copy something. …
      Create Galleries. Uploading images one by one on your website could be tedious work. …
      Use Watermarks on Images. …
      Include Copyright Notices. …
      Add a DMCA Badge to Your Site.

      A few different methods are out there to discover whether someone has taken content from your website. An easy and cheap way to do this is to use Google Alerts, which tracks all your original content. Every time content is lifted from your website, you will receive an alert. Another way to track this is with anti-plagiarism checkers.

      Using Google Alerts

      Google Alerts generates search engine results based on certain criteria. After producing results, Google Alerts sends you the report. It is quite useful for scanning the internet for information concerning your company, in addition to your content’s popularity and potential competition.

      The first step is to type “Google Alerts” into a search engine or just go to their website http://www.google.com/alerts.

      What to Do if Your Work was Stolen

      Collect evidence of plagiarized work with screen shots, documents, and files. These can be used to prove that your work was stolen or belongs to you. This must be done before contacting the site owner.

      You may find these links useful as the provide a deeper dive into the subject:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement
      http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html
      If you are wary of reporting someone for stealing your content, just send a friendly email that asks them to remove the content. If they don’t comply, report them to their host company. If they are using your copyrighted material on a “non-self-hosted” blog (such as a blogspot account), report them to their platform.

      How to File a DMCA Complaint with Google

      A useful way to de-index your content’s plagiarizers is to file a DMCA complaint with Google, as Google is very serious about these allegations.

      A DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) complaint is filed with Google after someone takes your content without your permission or credit. Since you are the content’s owner, you can report the offender to Google so that they will be removed from Google search results.

      1. The first step is to go to the Google DMCA complaint form here

      If you need further assistance email me at carlnyam@earlybirdguide.com

      Cheers

      Reply

  65. Definitely believe that which you stated. Your favorite reason appeared to be on the web the simplest thing
    to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get irked while people think about worries that they just don’t know about.
    You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side-effects , people can take
    a signal. Will likely be back to get more.
    Thanks

    Reply

  66. Awesome blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?
    A theme like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my
    blog shine. Please let me know where you got your design. Cheers

    Reply

  67. I’m really impressed with your writing skills and
    also with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself?
    Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it’s rare to see a
    nice blog like this one these days.

    Reply

    1. Hi there. This is not a paid theme. I haven’t upgraded to the premium version yet.

      I’ve been having a lot of questions about the design of my blog and I’ve decided I must show everyone here how this blog is made, the template, addons, plugins and widgets I used for this blog. On this website so far I have not written any code.

      By creating this blueprint I hope to show everyone interested how the design came to be. Coming soon…

      Reply

  69. Having read this I thought it was really informative.
    I appreciate you finding the time and energy to put this short article together.
    I once again find myself spending a significant amount of time both reading and posting comments.
    But so what, it was still worth it!

    Reply

  71. Hey there! This is my 1st comment here so I just
    wanted to give a quick shout out and say I really enjoy reading through your blog posts.
    Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with
    the same subjects? Thank you so much!

    Reply

  73. Superb blog! Do you have any hints for aspiring writers?

    I’m hoping to start my own blog soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
    Would you recommend starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many options out there that I’m completely
    overwhelmed .. Any ideas? Bless you!

    Reply

  74. Hiya! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d
    figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest authoring a blog post
    or vice-versa? My blog discusses a lot of the same subjects as yours and I think we could
    greatly benefit from each other. If you are interested feel free to shoot me an email.
    I look forward to hearing from you! Excellent blog by the way!

    Reply

  77. Great items from you, man. I have have in mind your stuff prior to and
    you are simply extremely great. I really like what you have
    received right here, really like what you’re saying and the way by
    which you assert it. You are making it enjoyable and you
    still care for to keep it wise. I can’t wait to learn far more from you.
    This is actually a great site.

    Reply

  78. Spot on with this write-up, I truly think this
    website needs a lot more attention. I’ll probably be returning to
    read through more, thanks for the information!

    Reply

  80. Attractive component to content. I just stumbled upon your
    web site and in accession capital to assert that I acquire actually loved account your weblog posts.
    Anyway I will be subscribing to your augment and even I success you get
    admission to persistently quickly.

    Reply

  82. After checking out a few of the blog articles on your site,
    I truly like your way of writing a blog. I saved as a favorite it to
    my bookmark webpage list and will be checking back in the near future.
    Take a look at my web site as well and tell me your opinion.

    Reply

  83. I just couldn’t leave your website before suggesting that I really loved the usual information a person supply in your visitors? Is going to be again frequently to investigate cross-check new posts.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *