As you probably know, there are many free blogging platforms to choose from if you want to start a blog at zero cost. However free is not always the best option, but it all depends on where you want to take your blog in the future.
If you are just starting out or experimenting with blogging, then it is best to try it out on one of the many free platforms out there. So, what are the best free blogging platforms for beginners?
Best Free Blogging Platforms
Let’s look at some of the free blogging platforms available and see if they are a fit for you.
Blogger
Blogger is owned by Google, and as you know, Google already offers a ton of free services to the public, like Google docs, Gmail, YouTube and more.
Google makes its money back in advertising so they benefit by having you create content on their platforms. Blogger was where I first started my blogging journey, but as my blog expanded, I found that I needed more freedom to advertise products I wanted to, without breaking the terms and conditions set out by Google, so I ended up transferring my blog away to a paid platform. However, having the free platform allowed me to build my blog up over time without having to pay any extra costs.
Freemium Blogs
I am sure that you have seen a lot of these floating around, but beware that there is always a catch, as you will end up paying something in the end to get something to work on the blog that you need. Freemium is a great way to attract clients as they promise a free blog, and when you get there there are always conditions. There are always limitations that end up forcing you to upgrade in the end.
Tumblr and Wix are examples of Freemium blogs if you want to take a look.
Freemium blogs also come with ads that tend to annoy some people.
WordPress.com
This is another very popular option but it also has its limitations and ads.
WordPress.org
This is the only free blogging platform that I would recommend. There are many themes to choose from and plugins that can help you to customize your blog.
WordPress.org is the most used blogging platform worldwide, and the most popular choice amongst most bloggers.
There is a bit of a learning curve here, and you will need to be a bit tech-savvy, and it will be confusing at first.
With WordPress, you will however need to pay for hosting, so it is not totally free.
However, there is a way around this which I will discuss below.
Free Blogging Platform Pros:
- Free, free and free
- Ease of use especially Tumblr
- Don’t need a separate hosting account
- Don’t need a degree in programming to set it up
Free Blogging Platform Cons:
- Lack of freedom when it comes to what you can publish
- You don’t fully own the blog that you create
- Lack of ability to customize the site as you want it
- Lots of ads on your site unless you upgrade
- Your blog ends up looking a lot like other blogs on that platform
- Blogger allows monetization using AdSense, but this is the only method of making money through ads
- You cannot have your own customized domain name
Who Should Use A Free Blogging Platform?
- People who want to start a blog, but want to try it out first to see if it is something they want to do.
- People wanting to blog for fun and not necessarily to make money.
- Content writers who want to get their content noticed.
- People who start a blog as a hobby.
If you are going to become a serious blogger, then the free options are probably not going to be the best fit for you.
Why Are Paid Blogging Platforms Better?
The good news is that paid blogging platforms are not all that expensive, but you will have so much more freedom to customize your blog and sell whatever you like on it.
Choosing a blogging platform is an overwhelming task, as there are just so many options out there, and it seems like there is a new blogging platform popping up every week.
If you want to start a free blog that you have the option to customize, update and upgrade later then the best option for you is to use Site Rubix.
Site Rubix can be accessed by first opening an account at Wealthy Affiliate. Once you are a member of this platform, you will be able to use their platform to host a free website powered by WordPress.
It is super simple as you can get your new website up and running within five minutes, as well as grab some valuable training. You can keep your free account for as long as you like, and when you feel that you are ready to take your website to the next level, simply upgrade. You will be able to purchase a domain name for your blog and take your training up a few more notches.
To read more about what Wealthly Affiliate can offer you, read my review here.
I did not know that there were WordPress dot com and WordPress dot org platforms. Thank you for explaining the differences between them. I have always liked to write, and blogging suits me well. So, I have been researching a lot about blogging these past few days. I will start using WordPress dot org since it’s the only free one you recommend.
Best of luck with your blogging efforts Ann. Although there is a big learning curve using WordPress dot org, I strongly recommend this platform. In the long run you will be glad you went this route. If you go through Wealthy Affiliate, you can make the learning curve so much easier too.
Excellent post; thank you for sharing “Best Free Blogging Platforms for Beginners”. I enjoyed reading this article and found it helpful. Excellent pros and cons for a free blogging platform. It might be a good idea to try it first, but if you want to do it for a long time, the paid version is the way to do it. Thank you for sharing it. Have a great day. Regards. Vlad
Thanks for stopping by Vlad. Yes the free blogging platforms are great to experiment with and get your feet wet, but if you want a serious online business, a paid platform is definitely the way to go.
My wife and I were searching the internet for a business that we could run to make some extra money and supplement retirement. Everyone’s offer looked too good to be true. Then we came across your very informative article which clearly provided us with several choices that we will continue to research, but if not for your article, we may not have come across some of these paths.
Thank you!
-Mike & Linda
There are a lot of programs that do promise riches overnight, but this is never the case. It does take time and hard work to make any business work. The great thing about starting an online business, is the costs are very low.
Thank you very much for this valuable detailed post about best free blogging platform for beginner. I have actually used blogger for the first time. But I think the best one from this list is wealthy affiliate. Because the free training in it is very valuable. Keep posting like this. I definitely share this.
Thank you for sharing Pasindu.