Choosing the Best Free Blogging Platform (15 Great Options Reviewed)

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Blogging can be a game-changer for businesses looking to expand their reach and connect with their audience. But choosing the right free platform can feel overwhelming with so many options. This guide compares top free platforms to help you make an informed decision and start your business blogging journey with confidence.

Feather's notion to blog simplifies this process, helping you find the best platform for your business needs.

What's a Free Blogging Platform?

Free blogging platforms let you create and publish blog posts without spending a dime. These services are designed for ease of use, enabling anyone, regardless of technical skill, to get started. You typically receive a subdomain, like yourblog.platformname.com, which the service hosts.

Free platforms also offer basic templates and customization options. Popular examples include Notion

Blogger

WordPress.com

Medium

Hassle-Free Blogging: Let Them Handle the Dirty Work

One of the perks of free blogging platforms is that they manage the technical stuff for you, like:

Maintenance

Security

Hosting

They also provide tools to track your traffic, make your blog more SEO-friendly, and connect with social media. This means you get to focus on what you love: writing and sharing your ideas.

No Experience? No Problem!

These platforms are so user-friendly that you don’t need technical skills or knowledge. They come with templates and tools that make it easy to create a professional-looking blog. This is perfect if you want to:

Write about your hobbies

Share your expertise

Promote your business

You can do it all without breaking the bank.

How to Create a Business Blog

Blog Hosting

Types of Blogs

SEO Best Practices for Blogs

Blogging for Ecommerce

How Much Does It Cost to Start a Blog

Substack vs WordPress

Most Profitable Blog Niches

Pros of Using Free Blogging Platforms

Free Publishing: No Wallet Required

One major plus of free blogging platforms is the ability to publish without spending a dime. Just imagine posting your thoughts and stories for the world to see without the headache of hosting fees. Plus, these platforms often provide a variety of built-in publishing tools. To get started, you won’t need to hunt down extra apps or services. It’s like getting a complete toolbox for free.

Quick Setup: Straight to the Point

Setting up a blog doesn’t have to be a tech nightmare. With free blogging sites, the process is usually quick and easy. These platforms are often designed for the average user, so anyone can start blogging with just a few clicks. You’ll be writing your first post before you know it.

Built-in Analytics: Know Your Audience

Tracking your blog’s performance is crucial. Free platforms often come with detailed analytics to help you understand what works. See how your posts are doing, which topics hit the mark, and gain insights into your readership without paying extra software. This kind of data is invaluable when crafting your next piece.

Zero Maintenance: Focus on What Matters

Nobody wants to spend their time dealing with technical issues. Free blogging platforms handle maintenance for you. The developers take care of the updates and fixes, leaving you to focus on creating great content. This hands-off approach is a big draw for many users who prefer to write rather than worry about upkeep.

15 Best Free Blogging Platforms To Kickstart Your Blog

1. Feather: Notion to Blog in Minutes

Feather offers a seamless connection between your Notion workspace and your blog, allowing you to publish SEO-friendly content without coding or design skills. This service lets you manage your entire publication process within Notion, making it easy for teams to collaborate.

With Feather, you can:

Customize your blog with CSS

Gather emails

Send newsletters directly from Notion

Feather supports subfolder blogs, which are better for SEO and even provides a HubSpot-like experience for CRM and blog management.

Run your blog and newsletter with Feather today! Create a new account and send emails from Notion, or go from notion to blog in minutes!

2. Medium

Medium is one of the trendy platforms when it comes to free blogger sites. If you have an idea or a story to share, this platform is one of the best places since it doesn’t require any paid registrations to get started. While you can support the platform and authors by purchasing a membership starting from $5/month, most of the posts on Medium are available to read and publish for free.

Medium's Essential Tools for Blogging and SEO

As the second-best free blog platform on our list, this solution provides tools for basic text formatting that are available before you publish the post. Like WordPress, the platform allows you to share your publications and add links and featured images. This will help to attract readers’ attention. Medium supports customizing SEO data to correctly display your post in search results using the best free blogging sites:

Title

Description

3. Wix

One of the popular website builders and the best blog websites, Wix, also provides considerable tools for publishing and sharing your ideas and posts. For example, using various pre-made designs, you can easily create personal blog websites with this platform. Besides, feel free to add blogging functionality and enjoy the experience while providing quality content the way you want.

Wix's Free vs. Premium Blogging Plans

Wix provides easy and free access to its blogging and customization tools. However, you may purchase a premium plan starting from $4.50/month to unlock all the features and fully understand this solution.

4. Weebly

Weebly is a website builder like Wix that provides an extensive choice of themes and blogging tools. It is a perfect starting point if you don’t want to pay for your site’s hosting and domain and just want to start publishing using one of the several provided designs.

As one of the best personal blog websites currently offering eight ready-made themes for blogs, Weebly delivers basic customization features with full access to text formatting and publishing tools. As a result, you get everything necessary to create any kind of blog in a few clicks, be it about:

Lifestyle

Food

Fitness

You can get access to extra features, such as connecting a custom domain for a small monthly payment.

5. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the next online solution on our list and one of the best blog websites for

beginners. Used primarily for establishing professional connections, this social network provides free-to-use publishing tools. If you don’t plan to develop a separate website with a unique web design for your blog, this way of creating written content is worth checking out.

Limitations of the Free LinkedIn Post Scheduler

While being completely free to all registered users, the included tools are limited. For example, you can only choose out of 2 heading styles. The final result will be displayed in the LinkedIn layout. Nevertheless, you can schedule your posts for later and even provide an SEO title and description to appear higher on Google search results.

6. Tumblr

Tumblr is one of the few best blog websites oriented towards visual content more than just text. This solution provides a perfect place to publish your thoughts and ideas. Combining the best from the worlds of blogging and social networking, Tumblr allows you to express yourself in various ways.

Consider giving Tumblr a try if traditional blogging feels too dull and lacks the multimedia elements commonly seen on social media platforms like:

X (formerly Twitter)

Instagram

Facebook

Unlike some social networks, Tumblr doesn’t offer a strict word limit. This makes the platform a perfect choice for personal blog websites. You can connect a custom domain without additional payments or buy a domain from the platform starting from $5.

As for the content, Tumblr supports various types of posts, ranging from traditional text to:

Images

Video

Audio

Chat

Getting started with publishing is free and may even help you build a greater community than any other blogger site.

7. Substack

Substack is a newsletter-based blogging solution that allows you to deliver written content regularly to your subscribers. Regardless of the content you want to publish, this is the best free blog platform to get started for free if you aim to earn from your blog in the future.

With support for audio, video, and text-based publications, Substack is one of the best blog websites for publishing:

Ideas

Tips

Anything else on your blog

This is ideal if you already have fans or followers on other resources and social media. While creating and publishing with this platform is free, once you decide to provide members-only content and monetize it, Substack will charge 10% off each subscription, while the remaining 90% goes to you (minus credit card fees). This makes the mentioned solution great for new bloggers who want to grow their audience.

Luckily, you can export all your subscriber data to CSV at any time and move to any other blogging platform with similar features, such as:

Ghost

Medium

8. WordPress.org

WordPress.org is open-source software, meaning you can use it to build your blog for free. Its abundant features offered via plugins and themes make building your blog relatively easy compared to other open-source options.

Over 55,000 plugins, many of them free, are available to users, including drag-and-drop builders. You can combine this drag-and-drop functionality with free templates to create a custom blog site quickly.

Free Software, Separate Hosting

As open-source software, WordPress.org does not come with website hosting or a domain. You must buy them elsewhere and connect them to your WordPress account. However, many hosting services offer a free domain with their paid plans.

Free Domains with Paid Hosting

GoDaddy, for example, offers a free domain with WordPress hosting starting at $8.99 per month. Hosting providers’ customer support is often willing to help plan users add hosting and a domain to a WordPress account.

9. Drupal

Drupal is a free open-source content management system (CMS). You can download the software for free to build your blog. Drupal's beauty is that it can be used for blogs with high traffic and customized with granularity.

An endless array of plugins allows you to expand your blog’s functionality. If you can imagine it, you can build it with Drupal. Most Drupal developers customize their blogs via coding, which requires a steep learning curve.

Drupal allows you to reach large and diverse audiences. Its analytics offer the ability to segment audiences sincerely and then send content via email based on the following:

Demographic

Interest

Behavior

Reaching a Wider Audience

Accessibility tools mean you can reach audiences that need unique support to access your content, such as structured metadata that is readable by screen readers. Further, Drupal’s multilingual capabilities automatically translate content into over 100 languages.

Drupal's Financial Implications

Despite being free, open-source software to download, building a publishable website via Drupal can be costly. You must pay for hosting and a domain name. A hosting provider will ensure your website is accessible to your audiences once built. You must pay a developer if you want a customized Drupal blogging site and must be versed in coding.

10. Craft CMS

Craft CMS offers a free forever plan with content organization features (such as categories and fields) and the ability to run multiple related sites on:

One account

Localization capabilities

A single admin account

The platform offers advanced content management features such as built-in category and tag support and Structures (which store content in a set hierarchy or order).

Craft CMS’s Matrix also allows you to create mixed-content posts easily. If you are a content manager at an agency, you may want to build content projects for clients.

The free plan limits your ability to do so by restricting users to:

Only one admin account

Control panel branding (that adds a professional look for clients)

Developer support

In addition to these limitations, as open-source free software, you must pay for a hosting solution and custom domain.

So, if you would like to build a professional blog with an advanced content strategy for a client, it is best to go with Craft CMS’s paid plans. The good news is you can pay per project. Its $299-per-project Pro plan, for example, gives you:

Unlimited user accounts

Enhanced content previewing

System branding

Developer support

One year of updates

And more

Then, updates cost $59 per year. You can pass that cost to clients or pay them a fee to update the blog site.

11. Write.as

Write.as used to offer a free platform for building a minimalist blog. However, it transitioned to completely paid plans last year. To continue servicing people who want to blog for free, Write.as provides the WriteFreely open-source software.

Using WriteFreely, you can build a minimalist blog without the distractions of traditional blogging. This means there are no claps, likes, alerts, or comments to distract you from your primary task of writing.

However, as open-source software, it doesn’t offer free blog hosting. You must also pay for a custom domain to brand your site. So, you will likely need to turn to Write.as’ paid plans to make WriteFreely’s deployment easy.

The Write.as Pro plan is $6 a month (if billed annually) and hosts up to:

Three personal blogs

Unlimited posts per day

Unlimited views per month

A custom domain with SSL

Email publishing and

Up to 500 newsletter subscribers

Ideal for Overcoming Writer's Block and Anonymous Publishing

Bloggers looking for a distraction-free environment to help them push past writer’s block and freely express their ideas should consider Write.as. In addition, writers who would like to publish their thoughts anonymously should consider Write.as.

12. Joomla!

If you’d like to publish using a CMS rather than any other best free blog platform on our list, we recommend trying out Joomla! Being less popular than WordPress but still feature-rich, this solution is an excellent package for a new blog. It can be helpful if you want something more flexible than Medium or Substack.

Joomla! has certain downsides, too. For example, the visual design of the built-in content editor is outdated. Just like WordPress, this tool requires hosting and a domain to work. But if you are looking for one of the simplest and best blog websites that works out of the box and is fully customizable, Joomla! has got you covered. With diverse extensions and templates, it can be an excellent choice for any blog.

13. Hashnode

Many web developers may need a blog to share their knowledge and build a community of supportive readers. However, regardless of your experience as a developer, it is sometimes easier to create content with a blogging CMS that is pre-configured to your needs. Hashnode is the best free blogging platform for modern developers who not only like publishing but also need features such as:

Webhooks

Analytics

Being a free solution built just for developer bloggers, this one of the best blog websites provides extensive advantages even on its free plan. Their variety makes Hashnode a CMS rather than just a simple blogging solution. For example, you can not only control your content but also:

Customize the blog’s design

Use the powerful blog dashboard

Apply APIs to enhance your blog and more

14. Site123

Site123 claims to be “by far the easiest website builder”. And while this may be an ambitious claim, its creators could be correct. If you’re looking for a simple, effective solution and aren’t concerned about having all the bells and whistles, Site123 offers all the basics, including:

Free design templates

Drag-and-drop editor

Social media integration

Comments section

Surprisingly, for a free product, the company offers 24/7 online chat, which is handy for blogging newcomers. But while Site123’s simplicity may be appealing if you’re not tech-savvy, it could mean your blog lacks some of the features rival platforms provide.

Also, note that the free version only offers a subdomain, and you’ll need to upgrade to a paid version if you’d like a complete domain name. The free plan also limits you to 250MB of storage.

Site123's Enhanced SEO Features for Bloggers

Site123 has recently improved its SEO capabilities. The platform now offers more advanced SEO settings, making it easier for your blog to rank higher in search engine results. These include:

Options for meta tags

Custom URLs

Alt text for images

This is a significant improvement for bloggers looking to increase their visibility and attract more readers.

Site123 has introduced new integrations and widgets aimed explicitly at bloggers. These include tools for embedding:

Social media feeds

Video content

Podcasts

This allows for a richer content experience, engaging your readers with various media types beyond text and images.

15. Blogger

We’ll look at Blogger, one of the best blog websites initially launched in 1999 and owned by Google. If you don’t want to develop a blog from scratch and need to start your blog quickly and trouble-free, Blogger may be a suitable choice, especially for personal blogs. From analytics to design customization, the platform provides the essentials without overwhelming you with dozens of settings and interface elements.

Blogger's Customizable Themes and Design Options

As a modern solution and the best website to create a blog, Blogger delivers everything you’d expect from the best free blogging platform. For example, you can choose from 12 themes and multiple color variations for your blog’s design.

User-Friendly Blogging Experience on Blogger

As a blog owner, you can freely modify the layout and add widgets to the sidebar or other areas. Regarding creating new posts, Blogger provides a workspace similar to Google Docs with varied formatting tools and extensive text customization. While not an innovative platform for bloggers in its functionality, it certainly delivers everything necessary for beginner bloggers for free.

Should You Use a Free or Paid Blogging Platform?

Have you Ever thought about starting with a free blogging platform or investing in a paid one? Free platforms like WordPress.com or Blogger are great for beginners and casual bloggers. They’re easy to set up and won’t cost a dime. There is no need for technical skills here. You get to focus on producing content. They come with strings attached. You’re stuck with a subdomain and limited customization. Plus, ads you can’t control might pop up. These limitations can be frustrating if you want to make money or build a brand.

On the flip side, paid platforms offer a lot more freedom. You can have:

Custom domain

Premium themes

Control over ads

You need this if you’re aiming for:

Professional look

Monetization

Bigger audience

Of course, there’s a cost involved:

Hosting

Domain registration

Some plugins or tools

So, if you’re serious about blogging, going for a paid option is worth the investment.

Introducing Feather: A Notion-Based Blogging Solution

Say goodbye to complex blogging setups with Feather. It lets you create an SEO-friendly blog and newsletter, all through Notion, without any coding or design headaches. Write your content in Notion, and Feather will publish it to your blog.

Feather's SEO-Friendly Subfolder Blog and Additional Features

Want a subfolder blog? Feather’s got you covered, which is fantastic for SEO. You can even manage your CRM and blog like a pro. Feather gives you design flexibility with custom CSS and tools to collect emails. Plus, you can send newsletters directly from Notion.

Run your blog and newsletter with Feather today! Create a new account and send emails from Notion, or go from notion to blog in minutes!

What Are the Limitations of Using a Free Blogging Platform To Publish Content

Free blogging platforms often restrict how you can customize your blog. You're usually stuck with a handful of templates and limited options for tweaking:

Colors

Fonts

Layouts

This makes establishing a unique brand identity challenging. If you want your blog to stand out, those constraints can feel like a straitjacket. Customization is key to making your blog yours, and free platforms don’t offer much leeway.

Subdomains and Ads: The Not-So-Professional Look

When you use a free platform, your blog often ends up on a subdomain like yourblog.wordpress.com. It doesn’t convey the same level of professionalism as a custom domain.

Free platforms often display ads on your blog to cover costs. These ads can disrupt the user experience and make your blog appear less polished. If you’re serious about your content, you don’t want it to look like a freebie project.

Storage and Bandwidth Limitations: Running Out of Space

Free plans usually come with strict limits on storage space for your blog content and media files. Plus, they cap the bandwidth or traffic your blog can handle. Hit those limits, and your blog might get suspended, or you’ll have to shell out extra cash. If your goal is to expand, these limitations can become significant roadblocks.

Monetization Restrictions: You Get What You Pay For

Monetizing a free blog can be a headache. Many platforms prohibit you from placing ads, steering you toward their networks, which pay peanuts. Selling products or services directly is also often off-limits. So, a free platform isn't the best starting point if you’re hoping to turn your blog into a revenue stream.

Lack of Support: You're on Your Own

Free blogging platforms don’t offer much support. If you run into technical issues or need help customizing your blog, you’re mostly flying solo. Paid plans usually come with more robust support options. In other words, if you want a helping hand, you might need to pay for it.

Portability Concerns: Stuck in One Spot

How about moving your blog to a new platform someday? That might be harder than you think. Free blogging platforms often make it difficult to export all your content, leading to:

Lost posts

Formatting nightmares

Broken links

If you value flexibility, this is something to consider seriously.

Reliability Concerns: Is Your Blog Safe?

Free blogging platforms can be less reliable than their paid counterparts. Your blog might go down more frequently or be unavailable for periods. Paid plans usually offer better uptime guarantees, which means your blog stays available when you need it to be.

Is Blogger 100% Free?

Blogger offers a completely free blogging platform. You won’t face hidden charges or surprise fees. The platform gives you a blogspot.com subdomain at no cost, along with unlimited storage and bandwidth. This means you can focus on growing your blog without worrying about limitations.

Customization and Features

Blogger isn't known for its customization options compared to paid platforms. You get basic tools, but advanced features are excluded. If you want a custom domain, you'll need to buy it separately. The simplicity might appeal to beginners, but those looking for more control might find it restrictive.

Managing Multiple Blogs

You can manage up to 100 blogs under one Blogger account. This feature allows you to experiment with different ideas or niches without needing multiple accounts. However, remember that each blog shares the same limitations regarding customization and features.

Built-In Analytics

Blogger includes built-in analytics tools to help you understand your audience and track your blog’s performance. While these tools are not as powerful as other analytics software, they provide enough data to understand your blog’s traffic and growth.

Monetization With Blogger

You can monetize your Blogger site through Google AdSense. The seamless integration allows you to earn revenue without complex setup processes. Although the monetization options are limited, they offer a straightforward way to start earning from your content.

Limited Support for Free Users

One downside to Blogger’s free service is the lack of dedicated customer support. Users must rely on community forums and self-help resources to resolve issues, which can be frustrating if they encounter technical problems or need assistance.

Weighing the Pros and Cons

While Blogger is an excellent option for those seeking a free, low-maintenance platform, it comes with limitations. Whether you’re just starting or looking for a simple way to share your content, Blogger offers a viable solution.

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Can a Blog Be Completely Free?

Creating a blog doesn't have to drain your wallet. Free platforms like Blogger, WordPress.com, and Medium let you fire up your blog without wasting cash. They offer free subdomains, meaning your web address might look like yourblog.blogspot.com. These platforms often come with ready-to-use templates, so you can get started even if coding isn't your thing.

Customization Without the Fuss

Free means boring, but these platforms come with various design options. You won't get all the bells and whistles of a paid setup, but you can still make your blog look good. Free platforms usually provide basic customization to let your personality shine through, even if you're just starting.

Built-In Tools: More Than Just a Blog

Launching a blog on a free platform doesn’t mean you’re left without tools. Many come with built-in analytics to track how your posts are doing. You’ll also find SEO features to help you get noticed and social media integration to share your content effortlessly. It’s like having a mini-marketing team at your fingertips.

The Catch: Understand the Limitations

Before you jump in, know that free platforms have limits. You might be stuck with a subdomain, and some ads could pop up on your site. Unlocking advanced features or getting a custom domain usually requires a paid upgrade. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it's worth knowing if you plan to grow your blog over time.

What Is the Best Platform To Start a Free Blog?

Choosing the right platform is an essential first step when starting a blog. Your choice will largely depend on your needs and comfort. Are you ready to dive into web design and coding, or do you want something simple and intuitive? Think about the time you want to build your blog and the aesthetic you aim for.

Considerations: Ease, Flexibility, and Upgrades

Some platforms are easier to use but have limited design options. Others offer more control but require some technical know-how. Ease of use, design flexibility, and the ability to upgrade to a paid site should all be on your checklist. If you need something straightforward with a smooth interface, start with a trial on Feather or try Wix or Weebly. They’re user-friendly and offer free plans with potential upgrades.

Specialized Needs: Content Types and Functionality

If your content focuses on newsletters, consider Substack. It specializes in that area and can offer a more tailored experience. Each platform has strengths, so identify what’s most important to you and test different options. Since these platforms are free, your main investment is time. Hands-on experience will help you figure out if a platform meets your needs.

Go From Notion to Blog With Ease Today With Feather

Feather is what you're looking for if you need a simple, no-fuss way to publish blog content and newsletters. It lets you do everything from Notion, so you don’t have to be a tech wizard to get things done. Say goodbye to the messiness of traditional platforms. Feather gives you a clean, efficient route to sharing your ideas with the world.

SEO and Subfolders: The Smart Choice

Why is having your blog on a subfolder (like domain.com/blog) rather than a subdomain (like blog.domain.com) better for SEO? Search engines see your blog and website as cohesive when they're on the same domain. This can improve your site's authority and search rankings. Feather makes it easy to set up a subfolder blog so you can focus on creating great content without worrying about the technical stuff.

The HubSpot Experience With Notion

Feather brings the power of HubSpot to Notion. You can manage your CRM and blog from one place, making things much more accessible. This integration is perfect for teams that want to streamline their workflow and keep everything organized. With Feather’s collaboration features, you can work with your team to create and publish content.

Customization and Email Collection

Feather gives you the freedom to change the design of your blog with custom CSS. You can also collect emails from your readers, which is a great way to build your audience. These features are easy to use and don’t require any coding skills, so you can focus on what matters most: creating unique content.

From Notion to Blog in Minutes

Feather makes it easy to publish your Notion pages to your blog. It takes just a few clicks and is hassle-free. This is perfect for busy teams that want to get their content out quickly and efficiently.

Send Newsletters From Notion

Feather also lets you send newsletters directly from Notion. This is a great way to keep your audience engaged and informed about your latest content. With Feather’s email collection features, you can grow your subscriber list and reach more people.