It can be a challenge to find a website builder that meets your blogging requirements and assists you in showcasing your grand ideas on the internet, despite the availability of numerous options.
After conducting extensive research, we have found that Wix is the most exceptional blogging platform available, boasting an impressive overall rating of 4.9 out of 5. This outstanding score is attributed to its exceptional built-in blogging features, extensive template selection, comprehensive support, and overall user-friendliness.
Certainly, there exist other platforms! However, for this guide we intend to present the most exceptional options by limiting our selection to six blogging platforms. We have not only examined their features, prices and other aspects ourselves but we also enlisted the help of regular users to test them.
Keep reading to discover the blogging platform that suits you best!
1. Wix
Our 2023 research findings demonstrate that Wix is the top-rated blogging platform available, with a score of 4.9 out of 5. This website builder is user-friendly, excelling in various research domains, including website features and customer satisfaction. Additionally, it earned the number one position on our list of the best website builders.
With Wix, you can effortlessly add a blog to either a new or an already existing website. Their user-friendly platform offers a range of helpful blogging features, including powerful SEO tools and analytics.
Pricing
Regardless of whether you have a free or paid plan, you are able to initiate a blog using your Wix site. Yet, if you want to link your domain name, you must subscribe to the Combo plan which requires a monthly fee of $16. Additionally, with this plan, you can eliminate Wix advertisements.
The higher the level of professionalism exhibited in your blog, the greater the level of trust from your readers.
We suggest switching to a paid Wix subscription without delay, even though it may prove to be more expensive. While we realize that Wix may not be the most affordable platform, particularly with the recent industry-wide price hikes, investing in a paid plan is a minor expense to ensure that your blog appears professional.
As a result of these factors, Wix received a low rating of 3 out of 5 in our evaluation of its value for money, placing it at the lower end among the six options in this category.
Below is a comprehensive inventory of Wix’s website plans which are all charged on an annual basis:
- Free: $0 per month
- Combo: $16 per month
- Unlimited: $22 per month
- Pro: $27 per month
- VIP: $45 per month
As previously discussed, we suggest opting for the Combo or Unlimited plan as they eliminate advertisements, permit personalized domains, and offer additional website features to aid in the management and expansion of your blog.
If you’re looking to earn money from your blog, be sure to explore Wix’s ecommerce plans as well.
- Business Basic plan: $27 per month
- Business Unlimited plan: $32 per month
- Business VIP plan: $59 per month
If your sole purpose is to receive payments via your blog, you may select the most economical Business Basic plan. Among the three ecommerce plans, we suggest that you go for the Business Unlimited plan as it offers added features such as subscriptions and social selling, making it superior to the other plans.
2. Squarespace
Squarespace secures the second place in our ranking of the top blogging platforms, with a commendable score of 4.8 out of 5. With exceptional ratings in our study, we can affirmatively suggest Squarespace as a viable option, particularly if Wix isn’t your preference.
Squarespace boasts of unbeatable and magnificent designs that create eye-catching posts and its effective SEO tools aid in attracting a vast audience. Additionally, Squarespace is user-friendly and offers reasonably priced plans that are laden with remarkable blogging features such as scheduling and blog categories.
Pricing
When cost-effectiveness is a crucial consideration in selecting a blogging platform, Squarespace is a formidable competitor. Despite being ranked second with a 4.6 out of 5, it trails our primary selection in terms of affordability: WordPress.org.
For only $16 per month, Squarespace’s Personal plan is its most affordable option, providing ample potential for expansion with the inclusion of Squarespace Extensions for extra third-party tools.
If you aim to make money from your blog in the future, upgrading to the Business plan that costs $23 per month is necessary, as the Personal plan only provides the essentials for starting a blog.
Squarespace also has two specialized ecommerce plans, but these are designed for online stores rather than blogs. Here’s a quick look at all of Squarespace’s plans, billed annually:
- Personal: $16 per month
- Business: $23 per month
- Basic Commerce: $27 per month
- Advanced Commerce: $49 per month
Even though Squarespace does not offer a free plan, it provides a 14-day free trial at the beginning of every plan to allow you to try it out without any financial risk.
Although Squarespace is not the most affordable choice among the six options, we still believe that their plans provide excellent value for your money. Achieving your blogging aspirations does not require you to deplete your savings, and if you want to upgrade your plan, it only entails a minor adjustment rather than a massive investment.
Although you could opt for a builder with a less expensive initial package, it would not be able to equal Squarespace’s reputation for quality. Despite this, Squarespace offers a premium service at an affordable price.
3. WordPress.org
With an overall rating of 4.1 out of 5, WordPress.org secures our third position. It not only provides the best blogging platform for its cost, which is limited to hosting charges but also excelled in our website features and customer satisfaction evaluations.
WordPress.org is a free and open source software that has helped millions of people launch blogs online. In fact, WordPress.org is so popular that it now powers 43% of all websites. That’s one heck of a social recommendation!
One thing that differentiates WordPress.org is that it requires hosting in order to be used. Bluehost is recommended by WordPress.org as well as by us due to its excellent performance in our research on WordPress hosting.
Pricing
Achieving a score of 4.8 out of 5 in this year’s analysis, WordPress.org offers top-notch value for money. Although the platform is free to use, it still entails some expenses. Nonetheless, it is easy on the pocket.
Registering your domain name, ensuring security, and purchasing web hosting can be quite costly. Therefore, it is advisable to opt for a reliable and reasonably priced web host such as Bluehost. In addition to offering built-in security features to safeguard your blog, they also provide a free domain for one year.
Bluehost offers an efficient and hassle-free solution by offering one-click integration with WordPress.org. Their shared WordPress hosting plans are tailor-made to cater to the specific requirements of WordPress websites. This way, you can save both time and effort.
Bluehost’s price plans are summarized below. Although we have only listed annual plans for clarity, you can obtain savings by committing to a longer contract.
- Basic: $2.95 per month
- Choice Plus: $5.45 per month
- Online Store: $9.95 per month
- Pro: $13.95 per month
4. Joomla
Joomla, a CMS that is open-source and encourages community participation, includes various blog-friendly characteristics like frontend editing, multi-user permission levels, media manager, and star ratings. A limitless depth and nesting ability for categories can also be achieved. The software’s user management characteristics make it an ideal tool for developing a blog user community.
In terms of sharing content, there are options such as scheduling posts, syndication, and displaying external news feeds. Joomla provides support for over 70 languages and has built-in SEO capabilities. However, Joomla does require some effort to learn and customization options may be restricted.
The Joomla software is available at no cost indefinitely, but hosting on Joomla servers requires a minimum monthly fee of $5 for a plan.
5. Ghost
Ghost is a JavaScript-based blogging platform that boasts speedy performance. It provides robust publishing tools, in addition to effective direct monetization features that enable you to demand subscription fees for your content.
From the editor, it will be possible to include dynamic components such as NFT embeds, GIFs, pictures, and videos.
It is possible to generate homepages that are personalized, URLs that have a specific layout, and content that is available in multiple languages.
By utilizing subscription capture forms, RSS feeds, and tag-based email, you can expand your following and publish content on social media. Ghost is additionally optimized for SEO and enables support for AMP.
One drawback is that there are only a few themes available, and setting up the software yourself can be a bit challenging.
Bloggers have the option to select either a self-hosted Ghost website, which is free, or a Ghost server-hosted website. Premium package rates are dependent on the quantity of members and can be tested for free for 14 days. The Starter package, which provides for 500 members, costs $9 per month. The Creator package costs $25 per month and accommodates up to 1000 members. For 1000 members, the Team package costs $50 per month, while the Business package, which allows for up to 10000 members, costs $199 per month.
6. Drupal
Drupal is an open-source software that is both fast and secure, as well as being flexible and scalable, making it an excellent choice for building a variety of websites.
Its capacity for creating and administering blogs with a large amount of content is enhanced by its multi-tiered classification system, ability to handle diverse media formats, and advanced user authorization features.
With its modular structure, Drupal enables you to establish multi-channel experiences that allow you to reach out to your audience. Additionally, it provides content monetization tools that can aid in increasing your revenue and expanding your brand.
Getting started with Drupal may require some technical assistance.
Starter kits can be created using packaged Drupal content or distributions.
Drupal is available at no cost, however, you may incur charges for obtaining technical support during the setup process. Additionally, you are required to secure your own web hosting to run the Drupal software.
7. SilverStripe
SilverStripe is an open source CMS that offers smooth digital experiences with frontend designing.
With the SilverStripe Framework, which is an independent PHP framework, you have the ability to personalize and upgrade it using supplementary components.
The Framework advocates for a coding architecture that is effortless to comprehend and uphold.
SilverStripe is versatile enough to be utilized for intranets, websites, and intricate applications, yet still straightforward enough to manage a blog.
The interactive design and social and transactional features bring pleasure to users.
Your blogs can transform into content-rich transactional websites thanks to robust API integration tools, caching, and the ability to support multi-server cloud setups.
The cost is zero, but if you prefer, you have the option to transfer your blog to the SilverStripe cloud that is supervised and hosted entirely by the provider. The charges will begin at $425 each month.
8. HubSpot CMS Hub
Websites created with HubSpot’s CMS Hub are optimized for conversion by integrating website building with their marketing and CRM tools.
A blog that perfectly aligns with your brand can be effortlessly created thanks to the availability of a visual editor, custom domain, and an array of themes.
It is possible to plan ahead the posts and generate content in different languages. One can switch between languages, and have a customized and protected browsing session.
The marketing tools that are available at no cost aid in gathering leads, while the analysis of blog traffic assists in enhancing viewership range.
To receive personalized SEO reports, conduct multiple tests and address SEO suggestions from the editor, it is necessary to select the more expensive packages.
HubSpot branding is included in the free version that covers up to 25 website pages. However, there are paid packages available that offer additional features. These packages include the Starter plan for $23 each month, the Professional plan for $360 each month, and the Enterprise plan for $1200 each month. The CRM features available in the higher plans are quite extensive.
9. Medium
Serious writers who specialize in specific topics can find a pre-existing demographic on Medium.
By simply signing up for free, you can easily begin publishing without any expenses.
With one click, you have the ability to market your own online platform to a restricted degree and distribute your content among various social media sites.
As a Medium Partner Program member, you earn money if folks read your stuff. If you simply want to focus on writing and make some money from it, then Medium is one of the best blogging platforms available.
On the other hand, it has restricted capacity to generate income, and your viewers rely on your continuance on the platform.
If you’re aiming to make a significant profit, it’s advisable to select an alternative platform. Medium caters more to individuals seeking to earn supplemental income.
Cost: Zero.
10. Weebly
Choosing Weebly as your blogging platform is a great idea if the idea of starting a blog from scratch seems daunting, and if your ultimate goal is to transform your blog into an online store in the future.
The main attraction of this platform is its user-friendly website creation tool that simplifies the process of building business websites and online stores. Additionally, it provides complimentary blog templates to facilitate the integration of blog pages into the website. The combination of these features results in an ideal option for combining a blog with an online store.
Weebly prioritizes ecommerce and has a smooth integration with Square payments.
A Weebly branded plan with restricted features and bandwidth is offered for free. Paid plans for websites consist of the Personal ($10 per month), Professional plan ($12.00 per month), and Performance plan ($26 per month), which are billed annually. The month-to-month billing option is more expensive.
11. Blogger
Try Blogger if you desire a user-friendly blog with a stunning appearance right from the start.
The package consists of fundamental components to begin, including a text editor, image storage, a restricted variety of templates, and additional features. You will be allocated a personal subdomain and have the choice to acquire a personalized domain.
You won’t have to pay anything, ever, and all that’s required is a Google account. Additionally, Google handles all the technical aspects.
A potential hindrance is the absence of ecommerce alternatives.
Despite this, it’s possible to earn money from your blog by utilizing Google AdSense and other third-party advertising platforms like Mediavine and AdThrive, primarily based on the page’s traffic.
If you place significance on customization, this won’t be among the top blogging platforms on your list. Although Blogger provides some room for adjustment, its capabilities are rather restricted in comparison to other choices, particularly WordPress.
Cost: Zero when using a Google account.
