Best Blogging Platforms to Create a Blog (Compared and Reviewed)

Blogging Platforms are where you can create a Blog for free and paid. There are several websites that provide you with the facility to create a free Blog but users are looking for the best Blogging platform to create a blog. There are free Blogging platforms as well as paid and both of these are different from each other. As you know free Blogging platforms will not give you all the features and tools to use in it your Blog but on the other hand, if we take a look at the paid ones, they give you all the features as well as tools but today in my post I will show you the Best Free Blogging Platforms to create a free blog online and will also show you the ones which are paid.

WordPress.org (Self-Hosted)

WordPress.org is a self-hosted but free Blogging platform that is currently being used by thousands of bloggers. If we define it we can say that it is a downloadable software that is used for creating a blog with your web hosting. WordPress provides you with a Rich post editor, Facilitates Plugins, and several different beautiful themes. WordPress is very easy to manage and it works really fast. WordPress is also an SEO-friendly blogging platform.

What’s its price?

WordPress.org is totally free and you can download its latest version their site.

Is Hosting included in WordPress.org?

No. Hosting is not included in wordpress.org as it is a downloadable file package which you can upload and install on your web hosting server which you already host.

Any Skills Required?

No, you don’t need any special skills to manage WordPress as it is easy to use blogging platform and you can learn using WordPress in an hour if you haven’t used it before.

Are Themes available?

Yes, there are thousands of free WordPress themes available at wordpress.org and you can choose the one you want plus you can find a lot of free themes for WordPress as there are 100’s of websites and theme stores that provide you WordPress free themes.

Plugins and Extensions?

WordPress is known the best because of its best plugins and extensions feature as there are more than 40,000 WordPress plugins in their directory and so much more around the web.

Blogger (Blogspot)

Blogger/Blogspot is the oldest and one of the best free blogging platforms to create a blog free. Blogger is owned by Google and you get your free blogger account by signing in to your google account. You can create several Blogs as you want on Blogger because there is no limit for Blogs. Blogger is fast and easy to use and you can also associate your own domain with Blogger.com and there are a lot of free templates available on the internet for Blogger blogs.

Is Blogger free to use?

Yes, Blogger is absolutely free and you can create several blogs on blogger without any charges.

Is hosting included in blogger?

Yes, Blogger provides you with its free unlimited Webhosting and you can also associate a custom domain name with a blogger blog.

Any skills required for Blogger?

No skills are required for using blogger as it is a user-friendly platform and it is very easy and simple to use. You can learn it in minutes.

Are templates available?

Yes, there are some templates available by Blogger which you can use for your blog and there are thousands of templates available on the internet which you can also use by uploading them on your blog.

Plugins or extensions for bloggers?

No plugins are available for bloggers.

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is also a free Blogging platform but it is not good as WordPress.org. It is the hosted version of WordPress. The difference between these is that it is a hosted version and instead of downloading and then installing it on your web hosting you can just create a WordPress account and sign in to use this WordPress version. There are many popular websites that are using wordpress.com you can see all the notable users using WordPress.

Is WordPress.com free to use?

There are three plans available.

$0- Best for basic blogging

$99/yr – Best for professionals

$299/yr – Best for advanced business solutions

Is hosting included in wordpress.com?

Yes, Hosting is included in wordpress.com with no extra or additional free.

Any skills required for WordPress.com?

It is much easier than the wordpress.org version as you have to set it up manually for yourself in it but in wordpress.com you only have to create a free account and start your blog in minutes. It is very easy and simple to use and there are a lot of features available for you to make your free blog perfect.

Are themes available on wordpress.com?

Yes, there are some themes available for you on wordpress.com but if you purchase a premium version you can get some more features and themes. Compare to wordpress.org there are not many themes available for wordpress.com if you are using a free plan of wordpress.com.

Are Plugins available on wordpress.com?

There are some plugins like stats, comments, polls that are popular are included in wordpress.com but no third-party plugins can be used in wordpress.com as if you are using a free plan for WordPress.

Wix.com

Wix.com or Wix is modern and one of the best free blogging platforms to create a blog free as well as paid version also available. It is owned by Wix.com Ltd a Cloud Based Web Development Sevice Software Company based in Israel. Wix supports modern HTML5 language and also has drag & drop features. You can create an eCommerce store using the Wix platform.

Plan & Pricing

Wix free plan gives your hundreds of templates and top-grade hosting absolutely free.

There are many paid plans are available on Wix.com Platform.

2$ to 4.44$ per month Plans are available on the website plans included custom domain names.

Business & eCommerce Plans starting from 3$ to 7$.

Is hosting included in Wix.com?

Yes, Hosting is included in wix.com with no extra or additional free.

Any skills required for Wix.com?

Basically, it is an easier platform as you have to set it up manually for yourself.  You only have to create a free account and start your blog in minutes. It is very easy and simple to use and there are a lot of features available for you to make your free blog perfect.

Are templates available on wix.com?

Yes, there are some templates available for you on wix.com but if you purchase premium templates you can get some more features and designs.

Tumblr

Tumblr is also one of the most used Blogging platforms online. Tumblr is created by David Karp which is online since February 2007. It is a kind of microblogging platform with an aspect of social networks. Tumblr is great for blogging if you want to publish short content, photos, videos, gifs, etc. It is a kind of community build by users and they love to share and engage in each other’s content.

Is Tumblr free to use?

Yes, Tumblr is absolutely free to use and the price is $0.

Is hosting included with Tumblr?

Yes, Hosting is included with Tumblr and no additional fee is required and you get your subdomain like protechblogger.tumblr.com or if you want to associate your own custom domain with Tumblr it is also possible.

Any skills required to use Tumblr?

No, You don’t need any special skills to use Tumblr as it is a very easy and simple user-friendly blogging platform and you can use it with ease.

Designs available for Tumblr?

Yes, There are a lot of themes and designs available for Tumblr, and some of them are paid.

Are plugins or extensions for Tumblr?

No, there are no plugins nor extensions available for Tumblr.

Ghost.org

Ghost is a downloadable blogging platform software and also a hosted blogging platform free. This is a great Blogging platform, it is created by some employees who have worked in WordPress in the past. They wanted to make it a simple version of WordPress. Now it is one of the popular Blogging platforms to create a blog.

Is ghost.org free to use?

If you want to use the downloadable version it’s $0 but if you want to choose the hosted version then they have some plans which you can choose from. The plans start from $8 to $200 depending upon you the number of blogs you want to create and the amount of website traffic you get.

Is hosting included in ghost?

Yes. Hosting is included in the pro plan of a ghost but if you want to use the downloadable version then you have to find and choose a web host for it and you can also associate a custom domain with it.

Any skills required for ghost.org?

It depends upon what you are looking for, if you want to use the pro plan self-hosted ghost blogging platform then it is simple and no skills are required but if you are wanting to choose the downloadable version then you have to set it up with a web host and installing ghost platform on your web server will be wanting some skills.

Are designs available on ghost.org?

There is a large variety of themes available for ghost.org but many of them are paid. There are also premium themes available for ghost blogging platforms around the web.

Are plugins or extensions available for ghost.org?

No, there are no external plugins or extensions available for ghost.org but there are some features like social media, SEO, comments, and much more which are already built-in ghost.org.

Conclusion

Well, this was the list I made about the best blogging platforms to create a blog. In my list I have shared some of the popular and best blogging platforms and software. Now you have to choose the best blogging platform. I am also giving you a short recommendation about every blogging platform on my list.

You should use wordpress.org if :

• You are Building a professional blog for yourself or your business and want to take full control of it.
• You want your blog to look the way you want and change its themes, plugins, and whatever you want.
• You want to make a lifetime blog and make money with blogging.

You should use blogger and wordpress.com if:

• You want a blog quickly and you have no money.
• You want to start a free blog.
• You want to start a hobby or personal blog and write content in it.

You should choose Tumblr if:

• You are planning to start a photoblog.
• You are starting a microblog.
• You are starting a free blog and making posts on different topics.

You should choose Ghost.org if:

• You have a passion for modern technology and want to start a blog that is most different from others.

These were my recommendations for you to choose the best blogging platform and start a blog. If you still have any questions or want to share your recommendations please discuss with us in the comments below.