Choosing the best blogging platform is one of the first major step in starting your blogging journey.
In this article I will introduce you to a comprehensive list of blogging platform that are preferred by many.
Some blogging platform in this list are even free. And some are self-hosted.
Most of the blogging platform in this list has been around for ages and has matured well through time.
Here are the best blogging platform in 2018.
1. WordPress.org
WordPress.org is the most popular blogging platform right now.
They control over 30% of all the active websites in whole world as we speak. And this number will just continue to rise.
The WordPress platform alone is completely free.
What would cost you money is buying a domain and hosting where you would install your WordPress platform.
I have created a list of the best cheap hosting and best managed WordPress hosting articles so you might want to check them out.
What makes WordPress really attractive is being highly customizable.
This is because there are tens of thousands of themes and plugins for you to choose from. You can literally make your website look exactly as you picture it in your mind.
2. WordPress.com
If you want to use WordPress right away but do not have the technical knowledge to buy a domain and hosting.
Then WordPress.com would be perfect for you.
WordPress.com is a free blogging platform hosted by Automattic. A company created by the cofounder of WordPress.org.
The best thing about WordPress.com is you can use it free forever.
The only time you would need to pay is when you decided to have your own domain, additional storage or subscribe to one of their powerful plans.
WordPress.com is very easy to use and similar to any WordPress website will allow you to install plugin and themes of your choice.
3. Blogger
Blogger is a Google owned free blogging platform that has been around for almost 2 decades.
This is best for beginner bloggers as this requires zero technical knowledge in order to be part of.
Changing your blog appearance and color scheme is also pretty straightforward.
You just need to go to the themes section and choose which theme you want to use then click the apply button.
Once your blog started to gain a steady amount of traffic. You can always purchase a domain from Blogger to finally establish your brand.
4. Wix
Wix is a free hosted blogging platform that allows you create beautiful looking websites very easily.
What makes Wix standout from the rest of the blogging platform in this list is they allow you to create and design your website from the front-end. So you can see what your website looks in real-time.
You can also easily control the elements of your website through drag and drop.
If you want to start with an existing template design you can also do so. Or you can let their Artificial Design Intelligence feature to design the website for you.
Overall, Wix is highly customizable and it doesn’t require you to know any coding skill. You can even add third party apps.
Once your website started gaining a steady amount of traffic. You might consider upgrading to their premium plans.
They also offer a free domain name if you upgrade.
5. Squarespace
Squarespace is paid hosted all-in-one platform that allows you to create websites easily.
Similar to Wix, Squarespace also allows bloggers to create their website easily in the front-end through drag and drop.
What makes Squarespace really standout is that they offer top class designs as your base template. Believe me their designs are just gorgeous.
They also provide powerful tools for online store. So if you ever want to sell services or products in your blog. You can do it here with ease.
Another thing that they offer are marketing tools such as social media integration and email campaigns.
Though Squarespace is a paid blogging platform, they do offer a trial period.
They will not collect your credit card details when you signup for the trial.
6. Joomla
Joomla is a free self-hosted blogging platform which is very similar to WordPress.
The platform is free but you will be the one to buy a domain and hosting so you can setup Joomla in your host.
Similar to WordPress, Joomla also offers a wide range of extensions and templates for you to choose from.
This basically allows you to shape your website to any appearance you may want.
Currently nearly 2 million websites are estimated to be running on Joomla.
7. Weebly
Weebly is a free hosted complete platform which is good for personal, online store, business, event and blog websites.
The Weebly platform offers a pure and powerful drag and drop website builder. This allows you to create website with no coding required.
They also offer amazingly looking templates for you to build from.
With Weebly you can easily sell services and products in your blog if you want to.
You can also grow your audience faster using their built-in marketing tools.
The other great feature of Weebly is that they currently have over 200+ apps available for you to extend the functionality of your website.
Once your website started to gain a steady number of audience. Consider upgrading your free plan to one of their paid plans.
8. Tumblr
Tumblr is a bit different compared to the blogging platform I mentioned above.
Basically a vast majority of people considers Tumblr a micro-blogging platform.
This is because Tumblr is best used for posting short blogs, quotes, videos, static images and animated images such as GIFs.
Tumblr also offers features similar to social media such as built-in sharing tools.
Another difference from the blogging platforms is that it offers very limited customization options to its users.
However, the fact remains that Tumblr is very easy to use.
And if you are into posting videos, images and animated images. Then you would love Tumblr as it is optimized for these kind of post.
Tumblr is 100% free to use but you can buy a custom domain and map it to your Tumblr account.
9. Medium
All I can say about the people that created Medium is that they are absolute geniuses!
Medium is a hosted blogging platform which has become very popular to bloggers, writers and journalists.
What makes Medium great is that they allow popular blog posts created by its members to show on their homepage.
This basically gave the website a newspaper magazine feel to it when you go to their homepage.
This is just 100% genius!
Many people consider the lack of customization options a turn off to joining Medium. But I honestly like the idea as it keeps the Medium blog posts really neat looking.
Though there is limited customization options, Medium offers a wide range of typography options.
Medium is 100% free however you can buy a domain and connect your blog posts to it.
10. Ghost
Ghost is a blogging focused platform which main goal is to provide a platform with simpler interface compared to WordPress.
With Ghost, new bloggers will not be intimidated with numerous options on the control panel unlike in WordPress.
Ghost features a very intuitive and clean looking user interface.
Editing and customizing your blog post texts are also very straightforward with their rich editor.
What makes Ghost standout is the fact that it is powered by Node.js which allows the user interface and the website to load very fast.
Ghost is also available at hosted and self-hosted options.
The hosted option is paid and a bit pricey at that. But the performance is comparable to premium managed WordPress hosting prices.
They also offer a free trial period so you can first test if this is the right blogging platform for you.
The self-hosted option is 100% free but setting it up would require some technical knowledge.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that WordPress is the #1 blogging platform right now. So I will not be surprised if you will go with it immediately.
However you are still free to use the other blogging platforms in this list especially the ones that are free.
Just remember that once your website started getting traction and getting a lot more visitors. Then consider buying a domain and upgrading your plan.
This will establish your brand and will make remembering your website easier.
Also do not forget to redirect the old links to their equivalents so your SEO ranking will not be affected by the move.