Top 4 Free Blogging Platforms

Thousands of people search every day and ask about what free blogging platforms they should choose or which free blogging platform best fits their needs. That’s why I took the decision to explain the pros and cons of each platform and make a comparison table.

Are you a fan on micro blogging? (Tumblr)

Compared to blogger and wordpress, Tumblr is the youngest member of the free blogging platforms. Its blogging environment is simple to use for fast blogging. You have a variety of choices when you publish a blog post, as you it supports posts, images, quotes and other media files.

That’s what makes it a super fast blogging platform. Because it’s super fast, it doesn’t have some many extensive features as the others, but that’s what made Tumblr one of the most famous blogging platforms. If you want a personal and simple blog, then Tumblr may be your best shot.
 
Advantages

  • It has simple and stylish backend.
  • It allows third party tools integration
  • Thousands of fancy themes to choose from.

 
Disadvantages

  • The plugin support and flexibility is limited
  • No commenting (but you can integrate a third party platform like disqus)
  • Troublesome in terms of archives
  • WordPress.com (Developer Hosted)

Check out Tumblr

Wordpress.com

If you want a non commercial site or blog, then Wordpress.com is the best recommendation. It is extremely easy to use and has a wide variety of features compared to the other blogging platforms (like Tumblr or Posterous). Just like all the free blogging platforms, wordpress.com allows bloggers to setup their blog without the need of a web hosting account and you can use your own subdomain to setup your site.

If you want a domain name, you can buy one from their own services and have your own name. Wordpress doesn’t allow custom themes or plugins integration, so if you plan to expand it, then switching to wordpress.org and to a self hosted wordpress site, might be your number one choice.

Advantages

  • Wide variety of themes
  • Excellent commenting system
  • Multilanguage support
  • It has the best supporting community

Disadvantages

Check out Wordpress

Blogger

Blogger is one of the most incredible and famous blogging platforms that have been created. It is owned by Google and has amazing infrastructure. Beginners will love it as it is extra simple to create a Google Account (if you already don’t have one) and start creating blogs related to your niche.

Advantages

  • Maybe the largest variety of themes
  • Support for third party plugins
  • Support for custom themes
  • Allows advertising and has easy integration with Google adsense

Disadvantages

  • The html code in the blogger templates is a bit outdated (compared to the other platforms) and sometimes buggy.

Check out Wordpress

Posterous

Posterous is another great blogging platform, but is limited when compared to the above mentioned blogging platforms. It has recently been acquired by Twitter

Advantages

  • Supports most file types

Disadvantages

  • No monetization system
  • Limited themes (less than 20)
  • Limited widget system

Check out Posterous
 
Now let’s take a look at the following comparison of Blogger, WordPress.Com, Tumblr and Posterous

Factors Blogger WordPress.Com Tumblr Posterous
Owner of each blogging platform Google, Inc Automattic, Inc (The creators of wordpress) Tumblr, Inc Posterous, Inc
Cost Free Free Free Free
Scheduling of posts Yes Yes Yes Yes
Custom Domain Mapping Yes Yes, but you need to buy it from wordpress.com Yes Yes
Custom themes Yes No Yes Yes
Optimized for better SEO results Excellent choice as it is made by Google. Yes, but it’s limited in the free version YES, Limited YES, Limited
Storage of images and media 1 GB + 1GB from Picasa for storing pictures 3 GB 1 GB 1 GB
Bandwidth Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Analytics Google Analytics and support for 3rd Party Tools WordPress Stats, No Support for 3rd Party Tools Google Analytics and support for 3rd Party Tools Google Analytics and support for 3rd Party Tools
Advertising Easy integration with Google adsense. You can start monetizing your site as soon as it’s live No Limited No
Javascripts Yes No YES, Limited YES, Limited
Mobile Apps Yes Yes Yes Yes

My personal preference for the choice of free blogging platform is blogger. It has excellent features and maybe the biggest variety of themes and integration with third party applications. Wordpress.org (self hosted version) is the best choice for those who want extended performance for their blog, but they need to pay for their own web hosting package and domain name.

This blog is on Wordpress.org, runs on the Thesis Theme and is hosted on Hostgator.

As I mentioned above, you should create a free blog in case that it won’t have any commercial value. In case that you’re thinking of making a commercial blog, then it would be better for you to create a self hosted wordpress blog for the following reasons:

  1. Self hosted wordpress blogs allow more control over your blog!
  2. They can be better optimized for SEO.
  3. They have wide variety of Plugins and themes.
  4. You can easily place any advertisement you want.
  5. You can resell your blog anytime you fill like it..
  6. Ability to backup files via FTP.
  7. Unique domain name from the domain registar of your choice.
  8. Larger space storage.
  9. The content belongs to you! Most free blogging platforms have the right to suspend your account anytime they want if you break their rules.
  10. All free blogging platforms have their own advertising policies. With a self-hosted blog you set the terms and call the shots

So if having a self hosted blog is so cool, why people still prefer developer hosted blogging platforms? well, the main reasons are:

Complicated setup: Setting up your blog on a self hosted server can be a little bit frustrating at start, but most web hosting providers allow one click installation of various blogging scripts.

Cost: Though most of the blogging platforms (such as wordpress, drupal or joomla) are free, you have to pay for the web hosting plan, in order to host your site on their servers.

Updating: The developer hosted blogging platforms update by themselves. Having your own blog on your own web space, you will need some technical experience over the updates.

Hosting Providers: There are thousands of web hosting providers out there. Some web hosting companies do an excellent job, but there are many that can cause problems to your blog or go down from time to time.

This blog is hosted Hostgator. Get a 25% discount on hosting

Which is your favourite Blogging Platform ?

Image Credit: Ed Kohler

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23 comments

Alex@ web hosting hub March 14, 2012 - 5:05 pm
I chose Tumblr over Posterous. I love Tumblr simplified blogging platform because its super simplified plus it allowed to reblog things. With Posterous you have to email stuff to your blog and I don’t like using email. With Tumblr you have a nice community and you can customize your blog and you can make it very good.
Jasmine March 19, 2012 - 2:05 am
Me too, given Tumblr and Posterous, I will choose Tumblr. It's simple to use and gets the job done!
Becca March 14, 2012 - 7:59 pm
I will choose worpress and tumblr , easy to use and there are plugins that can utilise for your site.
SEO Manchester March 15, 2012 - 12:55 am
I would choose Tumbir instead of wordpress becaUSE IT IS A NEW DISCOVERY.
Nanvy @ CRM Software Solutions March 15, 2012 - 1:25 am
I have experience of Wordpress and Blogger. They are really good blogging platforms. Tumbler, I haven't used. The only new blogging platform for me is Posterous and it seems another useful blogging platform as it has been recently acquired by Twitter.
Ben West March 15, 2012 - 2:54 am
Personally, I really like Tumblr. I also have a Wordpress and Blogger account but I eventually ignored those in favor of my Tumblog. Wordpress is a little too messy for me and Blogger doesn't have enough oomph, if you know what I mean. I also like the themes on Tumblr better.
ZK March 16, 2012 - 2:37 am
You said it.... Blogger lacks oomph and Tumblr has a lot of it :), its themes are better than Blogger. Google has not done any innovation or added any value to Blogger after acquiring it.
Jasmine March 19, 2012 - 2:07 am
ZK, maybe we should acquire Blogger from Google, eh? :)
Hello Kitty March 15, 2012 - 4:40 am
I like Wordpress and Blogger, and actaully i have my own wordpress blog, it's very easy to use and don't need any cost (beside the domain and hosting of course).
Search Engine Optimization Services March 15, 2012 - 6:44 am
Really good information for bloggers to decide which platform suits their needs.
Bill Roberts March 15, 2012 - 2:05 pm
I have used Blogger.I don't like it though.I am into building affiliate sites and like wordpress for that.I like using my own theme and plugins.That Thesis theme looks very nice.
JamesW March 15, 2012 - 5:44 pm
Great post, wordpress is winner but blogger is everyone's first love :) thanks for sharing
Abrielle@Article Submission March 15, 2012 - 6:40 pm
I find tumblr and wordpress platforms very useful for me. Besides being free, you can actually personalize it easily to make it more attractive and useful.
ZK March 16, 2012 - 2:34 am
Tumblr is awesome if you are a hobby blogger or have a personal blog, if you are looking to monitize your blog then there is no match to a self hosted wordpress blog
Jasmine March 19, 2012 - 2:10 am
You are definitely right, ZK. Self-hosted WordPress blog allows you maximum flexibility and customization. You can tweak it however you like and make it work the way you want it. Cheers!
Stuart Barker March 17, 2012 - 11:17 am
I have just started my first ever blog. Because i wanted more control i have bought a domain and hosting. I decided to go with wordpress as i feel its got great plug ins and the pages look great.
Jasmine March 19, 2012 - 2:11 am
You have chosen a good blogging platform. I love WordPress too, as it's features rich and easy to setup.
Cellphone Diary March 19, 2012 - 8:52 am
Started out with Google's Blogger ....but decided I should be more serious and I decided to get my own domain names and host with a reliable provider. I have absolutely nothing against free platforms......BUT..... if you want to be a serious blogger , then my opinion is to purchase a relevant domain name, get reliable hosting and of course use WordPress. I bought my domains through godaddy and and got hosting through hostgator. But if you're a newbie....or you just want to get a free "feel" of blogging, then you can try one of those freebies 1st. But serious bloggers go the "paid" route so to speak.
ZK March 19, 2012 - 12:58 pm
Good move :) no point blogger on free platforms if you are looking to make money from your blog. I also recommend a self hosted blog on wordpress....
Website Development Australia March 23, 2012 - 8:30 am
I prefer Wordpress because I love more plugins and Wordpress provides more plugins. And I have just started with it to make fashion blog. Good discussion..
Jasmine March 26, 2012 - 10:28 pm
Oh yes, the best feature with WordPress is the availability of a huge list of plugins, both free and premium ones. These plugins extend the features and capability of this open source software. Cool eh?
irenelim March 29, 2012 - 1:00 am
I am using Wordpress, but the disadvantage is it's limited in custom themes. I would try to check out Tumblr, seem like it's very easy to use.
Due Diligence Investigations June 12, 2012 - 4:43 am
I think, it is very informative information for bloggers to judge which platform suits their requires. Thanks for sharing best information.
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