Are you infected with the blogging craze? Are you prepared to refine your draft and hit the publish button? Excellent! However, which blogging platform should you choose to create your blog for free?
It’s evident that numerous blogging platforms are available online for free, but they are not all alike. Therefore, the most suitable one for you will depend on your requirements.
- Do you want to reach a large audience?
- To join a community of like-minded people?
- To display your words as nicely as possible?
- Do you want to make money?
- Do you need a multilingual system?
No need to be concerned, I will provide a favorable choice for each response. However, before we proceed, let us explore how to begin:
Blog Makers: How to Start a Free Blog?
The typical sequence usually begins with the process of registration.
- Sign up to a free blogging site (an email address is usually enough)
- Create a username
- Pick a blog template
- Create a new post
- Add formatting (links, bold, etc…) and media
- Press publish.
That concludes it! At least, that’s true for the most superior options available.
9 Free Blog Makers And Their Pros & Cons
Weebly: Flexibility and Full Features for Free
Weebly isn’t exactly a famous name in the blogging world, and I personally think it’s a shame. Their blogging solution is excellent, giving you great flexibility and customization options at your fingertips.
Your blog URL will look like myblogname.weebly.com, and the themes look good. You can also access the Weebly app market, even with a free plan. Aside from that, here are some pros of using Weebly as your free blog platform:
Pros of a free Weebly blog
- Probably one of the best drag and drop editors for blogs (you can place and move elements easily and wherever you like).
- Nice free responsive themes
- Good SEO options
- Social media sharing
- Post scheduling
Limitations of a free Weebly blog
- Big, obtrusive advert
- 500MB of storage
- Media limitations (no audio or video player)
- Can’t let users register
- Weebly haven’t updated the platform in a while, so you may be limited in the features you can add
What if I want to upgrade?
The first tier that removes that annoying ad is the Starter plan at $8 a month. It also gives you a free domain name for a year, and SSL protection.
Wix: The Big Daddy of Web Builders
According to our assessment, Wix is the top website builder in terms of popularity and recommendation. They have intentionally designed their free plan to be irresistible, which is especially true if you are creating your initial blog.
Compared to the paid plans, the free blog creator has minimal feature limitations. Let’s examine what you get without spending any money per month:
Pros of a free Wix blog
- Fantastic templates selection
- Great for photo and visual blogs
- Access to royalty free images library
- Full access to the best web builder app store
- Basic email marketing and social media features
- Full SEO customization option
- Wix app for posting / managing on-the-go
Limitations of a free Wix blog
- Annoying static advert (bad on desktop, a bit better on mobile)
- 500 MB of storage on the free plan
- Lengthy domain name: accountname.wix.com/customname
- Readers need to sign in to comment
- No use of Google Analytics, but Wix has a built-in analytics tool
What if I want to upgrade?
In order to eliminate ads and obtain a free custom domain for a year while increasing the storage limit to 3GB, the Combo plan priced at $16 per month is required.
WordPress.com: The Blogging Powerhouse
To begin with, there are two versions of WordPress known as WordPress.com and WordPress.org. Although it can be perplexing, allow me to share my trick for remembering the difference between the two:
- WordPress.com – gives you a complete website with hosting.
- WordPress.org – you need to organize hosting yourself
The following passage pertains to the .com alternative. Find out all you need to know regarding the disparities between .org and .com. WordPress.com functions primarily as a site upon which you can commence utilizing the blog editor instantly by opting for a free or premium package. Additionally, web hosting is incorporated, and the software is preinstalled so no installation is necessary.
With greater ease of initiation comes greater restrictions, particularly in the case of the free plan.
Pros of a free WordPress blog
- Good text and media management
- Fast, responsive editor
- Good looking, mobile-friendly themes
- Post scheduling
- Jetpack features (includes basic SEO, spam protection and social media post automation)
- Upload posts from mobile and desktop apps
- Great import / export functions
Limitations of a free WordPress blog
- 1GB of storage space with the free plan
- Displays WordPress ads
- Limited theme selection
- Basic theme customization options (colors, fonts, but not much else)
- Can’t install any plugins
What about the free WordPress.com blog themes?
There is a collection of approximately 80 no-cost themes that are visually appealing, responsive on mobile devices, and speedy. However, upgrading to a more advanced plan is necessary if you desire complete customization abilities (CSS and HTML). It is important to note that the premium themes are not included in the free subscription.
What if I want to upgrade?
The Personal plan of WordPress is a reasonably priced option at $4 a month for those who wish to eliminate ads and employ their personalized domain. Nonetheless, if you desire to utilize plugins and SEO tools, you will have to spend at minimum $25 every month for the Business plan, which is definitely not a cost-efficient alternative for a blog.
WordPress.org: Powerful But Complicated to Set Up
The attention should now be directed towards the software obtainable from WordPress.org. It’s important to emphasize that only the software is provided, requiring the installation on a personal server (preferably WordPress hosting) which often incurs a cost. Conversely, WordPress.org, being open source, is costless and is one of the most robust content management systems accessible.
When using the WordPress.org software on your own site, you have the ability to utilize all possible features, unlike in the hosted version. Additionally, with free software, plugins, and templates available, there are many opportunities to go even further. Now, let us explore the other benefits of using WordPress.org software on your own site.
Pros of the free WordPress.org blogging platform
- One of the most powerful content management systems around
- Access hundreds of amazing plugins (free and paid)
- Install any theme you want (free and paid)
- Exhaustive SEO features
- Scale your blog however you see fit
- Huge community
Limitations of the free WordPress.org blogging platform
- Need to buy your own web hosting (although some bloggers might enjoy having control there)
- Quite complex for beginners
- Need to update manually (to be fair, most of the time you just need to click a few buttons)
- No official support
Substack
An increasing number of designers and artists are utilizing email newsletters to market themselves. Although considered by some as an alternative to blogging, it is not necessarily the case. By using Substack, we found that both options can be utilized simultaneously. While newsletters are Substack’s primary focus, it also offers a web page that enables sharing of past newsletters in a centralized location, thus providing a free blogging platform.
It should be noted that Substack is not the ideal platform if you desire a distinctive blog appearance. This is primarily because Substack prioritizes email services, resulting in solely basic blog features. Nevertheless, a fundamental CMS with text formatting options and the capability to insert multimedia and web content is provided. Additionally, as long as your posts or emails are free to view, Substack is available to use without charge. Only after you begin to charge for subscriptions will the platform receive a percentage of the revenue.
While setting up a newsletter/blog for our review, we discovered that Substack had one of the most user-friendly interfaces we have encountered. The version history function was especially impressive as it allowed us to effortlessly access previous versions of our posts. Another noteworthy aspect was that the lightweight interface functioned seamlessly, even when mobile connectivity was weak.
If your blog targets a particular specialized audience, there’s a high probability that a significant number of your potential readers are active on LinkedIn. Although LinkedIn might be perceived as exclusively a professional networking site, it is now a widely used platform for sharing blog content. Certain individuals exclusively publish their blog posts on LinkedIn, while others publish on their own blogs and provide links on the platform. In any case, if you have a sizable LinkedIn network, it can be a highly effective method of increasing your readership.
Getting your own blog website is not possible. However, if your goal is to have your blog post read by a large and relevant audience, LinkedIn can be an effective tool. It is free and easy to use – just click the ‘Write an Article’ icon where you would normally post an update. From there, you can add a headline, image, and paste in your blog post.
Joomla
Up until now, our attention has been directed towards platforms that allow you to create a blog without any knowledge of coding. However, if you happen to be a coder, then this is the ideal free blogging platform for you.
Joomla is similar to WordPress.org (ranked 5th on our list) in that it is a free and open-source software that takes away the need to create a website from scratch; yet, it allows you to include code to tailor it. However, you’ll have to purchase a domain name and hosting, although there is a workaround that we’ll discuss shortly.
Joomla offers plenty of templates and extensions for customization, though it falls short of WordPress.org in terms of available themes and add-ons. Nonetheless, if you have coding skills and desire a larger, more intricate website, Joomla is worth considering. It’s a scalable choice if you anticipate your blog expanding and generating income over time.
While assessing Joomla, we discovered that it provides a vast array of useful out-of-the-box tools and extensions, giving you the ability to customize your blog’s appearance and feel. Nevertheless, we do not suggest it for individuals who lack technical knowledge or programming skills.
Would you like to avoid paying for hosting? Joomla has partnered with SiteGround since 2015 and created a perfect solution for you. With the launch.joomla.org service, you’ll receive the basic standard publishing features of Joomla, along with free hosting. While this free option may not be very useful if you need an advanced website right away. However, it’s an excellent starting point for you. You can upgrade your blog, which you create here, to a full-fledged self-hosted project later on.
Postach.io
The greatest issue with blogging is the actual act of writing a blog. The more time you take between your posts, the less reliable you appear as a blogger, reducing the chances of having followers. Therefore, if you use an Evernote account, there is a method to simplify and expedite the blogging process.
Postach.io is a brilliant tool that enables you to effortlessly transform your Evernote content into a basic blog post with just one click. All you need to do is link your notebook and mark certain material intended for the public as #publish. You can apply Markdown to format your post, HTTPS is compatible, and you have the option to include Disqus for comments and automatically disseminate your posts to Twitter and/or Facebook.
Other than that, there are limited attributes. Therefore, if you aim to personalize your blog’s appearance and sensation, you should seek other options from this inventory. Nonetheless, for an expedient method of publishing a blog entry, it is unparalleled, specifically if you are already familiar with Evernote’s functions.
Site123
Blogging platforms can be perplexing and vexing, despite reading countless useful ‘how to’ guides. Nevertheless, Site123’s provision of complimentary round-the-clock live chat assistance for blog set up is delightful news.
During our assessment of Site123, we evaluated the effectiveness of their customer support in real-life scenarios. Our findings indicated positive outcomes as a cordial representative became available to assist us, meeting the company’s promise of a five-minute response time. It is important to keep in mind, however, that phone and email support are not available.
Site123 is also user-friendly. Similar to other platforms featured on this list, it offers a range of pre-made designs and templates, along with helpful cues to assist you in creating your blog. Therefore, you might not even require any assistance.
Although it is one of the best free blogging platforms available, Site123’s results may appear basic in comparison to more advanced options. Additionally, like many other platforms, Site123 will display its own advertisements on your site.
