Are you looking for the finest free blogging platform to create your own blog on the cheap?
There are several fantastic free ways to start a blog in 2021, regardless of your ambitions. WordPress may be used to create your own platform. Substack or Ghost are two options for building your own subscriber community. You may also utilize Medium to gain access to a pre-existing audience or select from a variety of different choices.
Whatever your objectives are, there is a wonderful free blogging option for you.
We'll cover a total of ten platforms. Let's get started with the most common method of creating a blog.
1. WordPress.org (Self-Hosted WordPress)
According to the statistics, WordPress is by far the most popular platform for creating a blog or any sort of website in general. WordPress runs more than 40% of all websites.
WordPress began as a blogging platform alone, before evolving into a full website building solution. Although it is still an excellent blogging platform, this means that you will be able to develop and add features to your site in the future, such as creating your own online classes or adding a merch store.
To do so, you may use tens of thousands of themes (which control the look of your blog) and plugins (which add new functions to your blog) — the majority of these extensions are free!
It's crucial to remember that, while the WordPress software is completely free, you'll need hosting to operate it, which may cost you money.
You may discover free WordPress hosting that would be suitable for a hobby blog. However, for a serious blog, I recommend enrolling in a premium hosting provider, which may start as little as $5 per month when you're just starting out. You can look at our recommendations for the top inexpensive WordPress hosting companies.
Advantages of WordPress.org (Self-Hosted WordPress)
The most freedom of any blogging platform is provided by self-hosted WordPress.
Themes allow you to quickly modify how your blog appears and plugins allow you to add new features.
You have complete ownership and control over your blog, which is not true of many other free blogging sites.
You may use a variety of content editors, such as the simple default editor or visual, drag-and-drop editors via page builder plugins.
Disadvantages of WordPress.org (Self-Hosted WordPress)
While the WordPress software is free, professional bloggers will want to spend on premium hosting, so it is not a completely free option.
It is more difficult to use than other free blogging platforms since you must pay to host and install the WordPress software.
2. WordPress
WordPress.com is a particular implementation of the WordPress.org software mentioned above. While WordPress.org/self-hosted WordPress is an open-source, non-profit enterprise, WordPress.com is a for-profit venture built on the open-source WordPress software from Automattic.
WordPress.com makes it much easier to start a basic blog using WordPress, but the trade-off for that ease is that you lose a lot of the flexibility of self-hosted WordPress software (unless you pay for one of WordPress.com's more expensive premium plans).
WordPress.com allows you to set up a free blog with a wordpress.com subdomain, such as yourblog.wordpress.com. To utilize your own custom domain name and/or have access to more features, you must upgrade to a premium WordPress.com account.
Advantages of WordPress.com
WordPress.com eliminates the requirement to acquire separate hosting (as with self-hosted WordPress), making it much easier to set up a basic blog. All you must do is create an account.
WordPress.com provides more functionality than most other free blogging systems, even on the free plan.
Disadvantages of WordPress.com
Because you can't install your own WordPress themes and plugins unless you pay $300 per year for the Business plan, the free edition of WordPress.com is significantly more restrictive than self-hosted WordPress.
Unless you upgrade to a premium plan, you will be unable to utilize your own custom domain name.
WordPress.com advertisements are included in the free plan.
3. Substack
Substack is a new platform that has swiftly gained traction, particularly among big-name journalists wanting to strike off on their own, such as Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi.
Substack bills itself as a platform for creating email newsletters, but it's basically simply a blogging platform with email capabilities integrated with. When you post material, it displays on your site in the same way that a typical blog does, but it also goes out to all of your email subscribers.
Substack is completely free until you decide to charge for access to any or all of your writing. That is, you are free to publish as much free stuff as you want without ever having to pay. Substack will take 10% of the money you earn once you start publishing premium content, but there are no further fees.
Advantages of Substack
Substack makes everything really simple – all you have to do is write content.
Instead of one-time visitors, you receive built-in email list tools to create a community of subscribers.
Substack makes it relatively simple to charge for content (though keep in mind that Substack will take a 10% cut).
Disadvantages of Substack
You can't add functionality, and you don't have any design flexibility - Substack is essentially only for publishing material.
To be able to utilize your own custom domain name, you must pay a one-time cost of $50. (instead of a Substack subdomain).
4. Wix
Wix is a comprehensive website creation platform, not just a blogging platform. However, it does have blogging capabilities, so you can simply use it to establish a blog while still having access to those website-building tools if necessary.
Most people are undoubtedly familiar with Wix's premium plans, but it also has a free plan that works for basic blogs, albeit there are some significant constraints, such as required Wix advertisements on every page and the usage of a Wix subdomain.
To utilize your own custom domain name, you must subscribe to the $4.50 per month Connect Domain plan, and to remove advertisements, you must subscribe to the $8.50 per month Combo plan.
Advantages of Wix
Wix provides a visual, drag-and-drop editor for creating your website/blog.
It features full website building capability, giving you more options than many other blogging systems.
Disadvantages of Wix
Wix credit is displayed on every page of the free Wix plan.
You will be unable to utilize your custom domain name until you pay.
Wix's blog editor isn't as good as specialized free blogging platforms.
5. Medium
Medium is an intriguing hybrid of a blogging site and a publishing platform. As a writer, you can join up and begin writing in the same way that you would on any other blogging site. However, because you are publishing on Medium, you have the opportunity to have your material showcased to Medium's readers, which is similar to having your content published in a magazine.
The disadvantage is that you are essentially trapped onto Medium's platform. So, in the near run, it is advantageous to have access to this pre-existing audience. However, if your objective is to make a career from your blog, it may be more profitable in the long run to develop your own platform using something like WordPress.
Medium, on the other hand, can be a wonderful alternative if you don't care about money and simply want to get your work in front of people's eyes.
Advantages of Medium
The Medium content editor is a delight to use and makes creating material a pleasure.
Medium offers a built-in reader community, which provides you with access to an audience if Medium decides to promote your material.
You may earn money by participating in the Medium Partner Program (though probably not a lot). For real money-making blogs, building your own platform is definitely a better choice, however, Medium may be useful for side hustles or beer-money profits.
Disadvantages of Medium
You don't have complete control over the appearance of your blog, and you can't create your own unique features like you can with WordPress. You're committed to utilizing the Medium platform "as-is."
To use your own custom domain name, you must be a Medium member, which costs $5 per month or $50 per year.
6. Ghost
Ghost is similar to WordPress in that it is free, open-source software that you may install on your own web hosting to create a blog. However, unlike WordPress, Ghost is only focused on blogging/publishing.
Ghost also contains built-in tools to enable you to establish a membership community around your blog and even charge for access if you want to monetize your blogging. In that regard, it is similar to Substack, but you have greater control because you host the Ghost program on your own server.
Advantages of Ghost
Ghost is a free and open-source application.
Because it is self-hosted, you have greater control over it than with many other blogging sites.
Ghost has membership and monetization mechanisms built-in.
Disadvantages of Ghost
Installing Ghost is a little more difficult because you'll need your hosting (unless you want to pay for Ghost's hosting service).
Because Ghost is a self-hosted program, it is also a little more complex to use.
While the Ghost software, like WordPress, is free, most professional bloggers will still want to invest in premium hosting, so it is not a completely free option...
7. Weebly
Weebly is another full-featured website builder that, like Wix, provides blogging functionality, making it a viable alternative for a free blog site.
It has nearly identical advantages and downsides as Wix, thus the choice between the two should really come down to the UI and templates.
That is, it provides the benefit of a full website builder, but the free plan includes Weebly advertisements and does not allow you to use your own domain name. You'll need the $5 per month Connect plan to utilize a custom domain, and the $12 per month Pro plan to remove advertisements.
Advantages of Weebly
Weebly allows you to build your website or blog using a simple visual editor with drag-and-drop functionality.
It provides full website construction capability, giving you more options than platforms like Substack or Medium.
Disadvantages of Weebly
Weebly logo appears on every page of the free Weebly plan.
Unless you upgrade to a premium subscription, you will be unable to utilize your own domain name.
8. Tumblr
Tumblr is a free microblogging site, thus it's ideal for short-form material and visual media but not so great for long-form blog entries. Consider Tumblr to be halfway between a Facebook status update and a full-fledged blog article.
If you want to publish this sort of short-form material, Tumblr is one of the finest free blogging platforms to do so because of its built-in social network, which allows your content to be noticed by other Tumblr users, especially if they share/quote one of your pieces.
It's worth noting that Tumblr has been owned by Automattic, the same company that owns WordPress.com, since 2019. However, the two are still independent blogging sites.
Advantages of Tumblr
Tumblr is extremely simple to use and requires no technical knowledge.
There is a built-in community that will assist you in gaining visibility.
You may get a free custom domain name.
Disadvantages of Tumblr
Tumblr is not a suitable place to post long-form material.
Aside from basic styling choices, you don't have much power.
9. Jekyll
Jekyll is a fantastic blogging platform for more technical users with some coding experience. If you are a non-technical user, you should select a different platform. However, if you're a developer wanting to create a simple blog, Jekyll is a wonderful free option.
In a word, Jekyll provides a database-free method for converting text/media material into a blog, replete with categories, pages, posts, and so on.
You can build a blog from the command line with a few lines and then host it for free on GitHub Pages.
Advantages of Jekyll
Although Jekyll does not require a database, your blog will be incredibly light, and you will be able to quickly transfer it and host it on free solutions such as GitHub Pages, DigitalOcean's free static site hosting, and so on.
Jekyll offers a straightforward templating framework that makes it quite simple to develop your own unique design. You may also utilize a pre-configured Jekyll theme.
Disadvantages of Jekyll
Jekyll is not suitable for non-technical users because it needs some development expertise. This one is only for developers or other expert users who understand the technical fundamentals of website creation.
10. Blogger
Blogger is a free blogging platform created by Google, the developer of a well-known search engine.
You may simply establish a free blog using the.blogspot.com subdomain (e.g., yourblog.blogspot.com), or you can pay for your own domain name and use it for free with Blogger.
Overall, it may be a good choice for simple blogs, however, it might seem a little antiquated at times, and other blogging platforms offer more current features and interfaces.
Advantages of Blogger
Blogger provides all of the essential elements of a blogging platform.
Blogger, because it is from Google, makes it incredibly simple to monetize your site using Google AdSense advertising.
For the same reason, integrating free web analytics via Google Analytics is simple.
Disadvantages of Blogger
Blogger doesn't appear to get much attention from Google, thus there aren't many updates, and it feels a little old. Basically, what you see is what you get, and you shouldn't expect anything to alter. WordPress, for example, just received a completely new content editor, but Blogger is still using the same editor it's had for a decade.
Where Should You Begin With Your Blog?
All of these free blogging platforms offer advantages and disadvantages, making it difficult to pick a single winner. It is instead a matter of selecting the finest free blogging tool for your requirements. If you want to create your own blogging brand, there is no better platform than WordPress. And, if you want to use the full capability of WordPress on a tight budget, self-hosted WordPress is your best bet. To get started, see our tutorial on how to establish a WordPress blog. If you want to establish a paid community but don't require the flexibility of WordPress, Substack (or Ghost) is a wonderful alternative, while Medium is a nice option if you want to target an existing audience.
The others each have their own set of advantages and disadvantages, but I believe they are the greatest places to begin your search.
Do you still have doubts about how to choose the finest free blogging platform for your needs? Please leave your questions in the comments area!
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