The best free blog sites can help you launch a blog without spending a dime. Depending on how you plan to use your blog, these six free blogging platforms could fit your needs. We evaluated free blog platforms based on top features, such as ease of use, reliability, platform security, and design flexibility.
Free blog sites are right for many people, but all free blog platforms come with limited features. If you want to monetize your blog, then launching a self-hosted WordPress.org blog with DreamHost is a better option. For as low as $2.59 a month, you can create a full-featured website with DreamHost. Visit DreamHost today.
Top 6 Free Blog Sites
Free Blog Platforms | Best For |
|---|---|
(Best overall) General free blog site for people who need an easy-to-use blogging platform | |
Tech-savvy bloggers who are just starting out but intend to grow their blogs | |
Bloggers who just want to write but don’t want to set up a private blog | |
Anyone who wants to create a personal blog to share with friends and family | |
Business professionals who want to blog to boost their credibility and expand their network | |
People wanting to create a small, simple blog for personal use or business services |
How We Evaluated the Best Free Blog Platforms
There are dozens of free blog sites available today. To narrow down the list to the six best, we took an in-depth look at the most important features and functionality that bloggers need. The most important blogging platform trait for most new bloggers is that a site is easy to use. Design flexibility, site reliability, and security are all important factors, too.
We evaluated the top free blog sites based on the following criteria:
- Ease of use: Each free blog platform was reviewed for ease of launch and interface simplicity.
- Target audience: Not all blogging platforms are right for every blogger; some are better for personal sites while some are better for business websites.
- User reviews: Satisfied users are the best testament to how well a free blog site performs.
- Blog site reliability: You need a blog that you can count on to work seamlessly with minimal to no downtime.
- Security: Your blogging content needs to be kept safe and secure, so each free blog site was reviewed for its security features.
- Design flexibility: Most free blog sites come with varying levels of design flexibility. Each free blogging site was reviewed for the ability to customize it to the blogger’s tastes and needs, so you don’t start a blog on the wrong platform.
Wix: Overall Best Free Blog Site for Non-Techies
If you want to launch your blog fast with minimal hassles, then you should consider creating your blog with Wix. You can design and publish your blog in less than 30 minutes. Plus, your blog will look great and will be easy to maintain.
While Wix offers a terrific free blog site option, Wix also has premium plans available. Paid plans offer more features, such as ecommerce functionality, which is important if you plan on monetizing your blog.
Choose from more than 500 Wix templates to design your blog
Wix Pricing
The Wix free plan is ideal for bloggers who want a simple interface and basic features. If you want access to advanced features such as a custom domain, ecommerce functionality, and a blog that’s free of Wix ads, you can choose from one of Wix’s premium accounts. Fees for paid accounts range from $13 to $49 per month paid annually.
Wix Features
Your free Wix blog comes with everything you need to start blogging. The Wix interface is easy to understand, your blog is optimized for viewing on both desktop and mobile devices, and you get access to the feature rich Wix Editor to customize your site.
Wix’s Intuitive Blog Development Tools
Wix is known as the best free blog platform for non-techies because everything about this free blog site is intuitive. The blog setup feature walks you through a short series of questions so your blog is developed for your unique needs. If you feel comfortable designing your blog, you can do it yourself with the Wix drag-and-drop editor or use a Wix template. The Wix dashboard offers easy-to-understand directions for managing and updating your blog.
Wix Design Features
Wix has over 500 designer-made templates in dozens of blog categories, including lifestyle, health and wellness, fashion and style, beauty, travel, business, and more. You also have access to over 100 fonts. You can choose from hundreds of free photos in the Wix collection or upload your own images and videos to your free blog site. The page editor makes it easy to create a beautiful site.
The Wix Help Center
The Wix Help Center offers step-by-step video tutorials that walk you through every aspect of building your blog. In addition, you can visit the Help Center to ask your questions, and you’ll receive your answer through WIX’s comprehensive frequently asked questions (FAQs) library. Even better, the Wix blog is always adding new posts to educate you on new ways to improve your blog and grow your audience.
The Wix drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to design your free blog site
What Wix Is Missing
While Wix hosts your blog for free, that means you don’t receive a custom domain. For example, instead of “mysite.com,” your blog’s Wix domain would be “username.wixsite.com/mysite.”
Another key thing missing with a free Wix account is the ability to monetize your blog. You cannot add ecommerce functionality to a free account. In addition, storage on a free account is limited to 500MB, which means you could run out of blog storage space if you blog frequently. Also, customer support is limited with free accounts. If you want advanced features on your blog, you can upgrade to a paid Wix account; plans range from $5 to $49 per month.
What Users Think About Wix
If you peruse Wix user reviews, you’ll see that people love that Wix is so user friendly. Wix users also give high praise for Wix instructional videos. A few drawbacks about Wix that users sometimes cite include slow load times and limited features on the free plan. Users who want to upgrade to a premium plan don’t like that paid plans must be paid annually, which makes for a bigger out-of-pocket expense for new bloggers.
Where to Find Wix
Wix is an easy-to-use free platform that makes it simple to launch a blog quickly. Even better, the Wix drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to create a great-looking blog. Try Wix today for free.
WordPress.com: Free Blog Site for Tech-savvy Bloggers
WordPress.com is a fully hosted blogging platform that is often confused with the self-hosted WordPress.org, where you must purchase a hosting plan. With WordPress.com, you can create a free blog and site hosting is done for you. WordPress.com also allows you to upgrade to paid plans with more features. Whether you choose a free or paid plan, WordPress.com always hosts your website for you, so you’ll never need to acquire separate website hosting services.
WordPress itself is a content management system, or CMS, which means it’s a system that manages digital content; in this case, your blog. WordPress is a comprehensive free CMS for both new and advanced bloggers. Some people get a little tripped-up on WordPress’ more advanced features and functions, and that’s why we recommend it for people who are comfortable learning new technologies.
Blogs built with WordPress are popular because WordPress is such a powerful CMS. According to W3Techs, more than 34% of websites on the web run on WordPress.
To be crystal-clear on this, WordPress.com is an all-in-one service, which means you don’t need a separate website host. The downside is that you cannot monetize your blog with the free WordPress.com plan. You can’t even have a custom domain with free WordPress.com plan; you’ll pay $5 per month for a custom domain, which is nearly four times what you’d pay for a domain on a self-hosted WordPress website. You’d have to upgrade to a $25 per month plan on WordPress.com accept simple payments.
While WordPress.org requires that you secure hosting services, it is a far better choice if you plan to monetize your blog. You have more control over blog design and have more access to plug-ins and other integrations for selling products and services. You can launch a self-hosted blog on WordPress.org through DreamHost for as low as $2.59 per month.
The WordPress Editor offers many options for customizing your free blog site
WordPress.com Pricing
WordPress.com is a hosted option so you don’t have to secure your own blog hosting plan. Premium paid plans with advanced features are offered and range from $5 to $45 per month. You don’t need to upgrade to a paid account to create your blog, though it is an option later down the road if you decide you want access to premium features.
WordPress.com Features
One of the reasons WordPress.com is such a popular blogging option is because it is a feature-rich platform. Thousands of apps, plug-ins, and templates are available for use on WordPress sites. Other blog platforms simply can’t beat the level of customization available through WordPress.
All these features come with a drawback, though. WordPress can be difficult to navigate, especially if you’re not familiar with building websites or blogs and have limited technical skills. Also, not all of the integrations available for the platform work with the free version of WordPress; for example, free accounts do not permit plugins.
With WordPress, you first install a theme and then you can start adding your posts using the WordPress post editor, pictured here
WordPress Themes
If the look of your blog matters to you and yet your design skills are a bit lacking, take heart. With WordPress, you can choose from hundreds of themes to get the right look and feel for your website. Even better, many WordPress themes are designed to appeal to niche blog categories. That means you can find a design that’s been specially developed for the type of blog you’re creating, including blogs about lifestyle, family, travel, business, hobbies, and health.
WordPress Publishing Tools
You have a lot of flexibility when publishing your WordPress blog. With WordPress, you can schedule blog posts to go live immediately or on a later date. You can also choose to password protect blog posts and other pages on your blog, thereby limiting content access only to those to whom you grant viewership privileges.
WordPress and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
WordPress is well-known for being a powerful platform that supports SEO. That simply means the source code on which WordPress is built facilitates optimization; it does not mean your blog will be automatically optimized simply by using the WordPress platform. If you want your blog to get recognized by Google so your posts show up in search results, you need strong SEO for your blog.
What WordPress.com Is Missing
Like all free blog platforms, WordPress.com limits what you can do with your blog. You can’t use your own custom domain. You can’t add plug-ins, which are the workhorses of many WordPress blogs. You also can’t add ecommerce functionality to your WordPress site, so you won’t be able to make money from your blog. Customer support for WordPress.com users is minimal; paid accounts have access to both chat and email support.
With many free platforms, upgrading to a paid plan resolves all the issues surrounding feature limitations. If you already know you want the robust features not offered on the free plan, you’re far better off starting with a self-hosted WordPress site with DreamHost as your hosting provider from Day One. That’s because moving from WordPress.com to a self-hosted WordPress site can get complicated. You can get started with DreamHost for as low as $2.59 per month, which is considerably less than you’ll pay for premium plans on WordPress.com.
What Users Think About WordPress.com
Overall, WordPress.com user reviews show high marks. While WordPress.com is easy to navigate, it isn’t as functional as some users would like. Users acknowledge that using third-party plugins helps extend functionality, but updates can break a blog’s design or functionality. When this happens, it can be time consuming to fix.
Where to Find WordPress.com
WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms in the world. If you’re serious about launching a blog that could one day turn into a business, then starting with a WordPress site is a smart decision. You can sign up for a free account on WordPress.com to start using this free blog platform.
Medium: Free Blog Site for Writers
Medium is an online publishing platform that launched in 2012. Medium prides itself on being a place where writers can add insightful posts that matter most to today’s readers. If you’re not particularly interested in building a private website, but you are eager to get your writing published on the internet, then Medium could be the free blog site that’s right for you.
It’s easy to get started blogging on Medium. All you have to do is set up a free writer’s account, develop your blog post, and post it on the site. Medium’s editorial team reviews many of the works that are posted. If an editor reads your post and likes it, he or she will recommend it to readers across Medium.com as well as its app and email digests. Hundreds, thousands, or if you’re extremely fortunate and your piece goes viral, millions of people could read your blog posts on Medium.
When you join Medium’s partner program, you could even start earning money from your blogs, provided enough Medium users read and applaud your work. Medium prefers articles that offer unique insights or dive deep into your subject matter of choice. It’s not the right forum for fluff and listicles, so you’ll need to bring your A-game if you want to excel on Medium.
Medium is a free blogging platform that’s perfect for anyone who just wants to write and not manage a blog website
Medium Pricing
You never pay a dime to post on Medium. This is one of the few blogging platforms that won’t try to upsell you on a paid plan. Readers, on the other hand, are encouraged but not required to become a member and pay $5 per month or $50 per year to get access to all that Medium has to offer.
Medium Features
Medium is so simple to use. Bloggers don’t have to learn a complicated editor to master this platform. That means you can focus on creating your best work instead of struggling to understand technical jargon and complex page-editing tools.
Medium’s Editor
If you have ever used Microsoft Word or Google Docs, you already have the know-how it takes to use Medium’s blog post editor. All you need to do to submit your blog post is drop your title where the editor says “Title,” and then insert the remainder of your post below the title. Medium has basic blog editing tools, like bold, italics, add a link, and add image, but that’s as complicated as it gets.
When you’re ready to post, you click on the publish button, preview your story, and add up to five relevant keyword tags so Medium readers understand what your blog post is about. Then you can decide to publish it immediately or schedule it for a later date. It really couldn’t be easier.
Medium’s Vast Audience
Medium has millions of readers each year, many of which are paid subscribers. Most new bloggers have to work diligently for years to build a large audience, and most never achieve an audience this size.
To be clear, your blog posts won’t necessarily be seen by Medium’s full audience. The more people who read and like your posts, the greater the likelihood that your post will be promoted to a larger audience.
Writers still need to create strong content that’s optimized for search engines. You also want to create awareness for your Medium blog posts through your own social media channels. Still, Medium’s vast audience gives you an advantage that you won’t receive from the other blogging platforms included in this list of six best free blog sites.
Make Money with Medium’s Partner Program
Most free blog platforms don’t allow any form of monetization through their sites. Medium is the exception. Writers can join the Medium Partner Program and earn money for their work based on how many people read their posts and comment favorably on them.
Truth be told, most writers don’t make money on Medium, but that’s because most writers don’t write frequently enough to build an audience. Roughly 8% of Medium writers earn $100 or more each month. The highest-paid writers with the most readers and positive feedback can earn anywhere from hundreds to thousands each month.
When you join the Medium Partner Program, you could earn money for your published work, provided enough people read and like it
What Medium Is Missing
For all the advantages discussed here about Medium, the one big disadvantage that you lose with Medium is control. You don’t control the design. You don’t control where your posts appear on the site. You don’t control anything except what you write.
Even worse, if Medium would shut down one day, as websites sometimes do, all the hard work you’ve done would disappear when the platform disappears. For that reason, new bloggers may want to start out blogging on Medium, but it’s unwise to blog exclusively on Medium. Setting up your own blog gives you much greater control over your blogging future.
The other big missing link on Medium is that bloggers can’t sell anything. The site does not allow links to affiliate products or sales pages. If you plan to turn your blog into a business, using Medium to build awareness about you is a smart strategy, but Medium should not serve as your primary blog.
What Users Think About Medium
Bloggers on Medium enjoy the simplicity of the Medium platform. They also like that they don’t have to struggle with technology or build their own audience. Many users report that they use Medium to expand their reach and build their online presence.
Where to Find Medium
Medium is a contemporary blogging platform that reaches far more people than an average blog could ever reach. Writers need to follow Medium’s strict editorial guidelines and put their best foot forward to get exposure on Medium. For many writers, Medium is the best free blogging site available today. Learn more about Medium for writers by visiting Medium’s creator’s page.
Blogger.com: Free Blog Site for Personal Blogs
Blogger was launched in 1999, which makes it one of the oldest blogging platforms on the market. Through the years, millions of people have created free blogs on Blogger, and it’s still a viable free blog platform today. Blogger makes this list of six best blog sites because it is an excellent platform for beginners, especially those who intend to create personal blogs.
Google purchased Blogger from its original owner in 2003 and the editing tools for the site are very similar to the editing toolbar on Google docs. Blogger accounts are included in every Google account, though most Google account holders don’t realize this. Like Wix, Blogger is an all-inclusive blogging platform; you don’t need to secure outside hosting services to create a blog on Blogger.
When you create a free account on Blogger, your domain will contain “blogspot.com” in the name rather than blogger.com. That’s because Blogger is the free blog publishing platform while BlogSpot provides free domain services. It’s all arranged seamlessly when you set up your free blogging account on Blogger.com. Both Blogger and BlogSpot are owned by Google.
Blogger.com is one of the oldest blogging platforms and millions have published their blogs through this site
Blogger Pricing
Blogger is free to use; there are no strings attached. When setting up your blog, Google will give you the chance to purchase a custom domain, but that’s optional.
Blogger Features
Setting up a blog on Blogger is as easy as 1-2-3. First, you enter a name for your blog. Second, choose a blog address which will be added to your blogspot.com URL. In the third step, you choose a blog theme. If simplicity and ease of use are your top priorities, Blogger may be the right free blog site for you.
Blogger Themes and Layout
If your technical and design skills are limited, you’ll appreciate Blogger’s simple interface. Blogger has dozens of themes to use and you can also purchase and upload themes from third-party vendors, but it’s not necessary. Blogger also gives you multiple page layout options so you can set-up your blog posts to meet your unique needs.
Blogger Accounts Can Link to Google AdSense
Most free blog platforms don’t allow advertising of any kind, which means you can’t make money through advertising. Since Blogger is owned by Google, your Blogger site can earn money through the Google AdSense, provided it meets the platform’s standard advertising qualification requirements.
The blog editing interface on Google resembles the editing toolbar on Google docs
What Blogger Is Missing
While Blogger is a simple-to-use, basic blog platform, it lacks the depth of features and functions that other sites with premium plans have. There aren’t any upgrade options with Blogger. If you start blogging here and decide you want to access more advanced features, transferring your existing content over to a new platform can be a headache, and the more content you have, the bigger that headache will be.
Google has full control of your free Blogger account. If Google decides you’ve done something to violate its terms of service, even if you feel you haven’t, Google will shut your blog down with no warning. While this certainly is the exception, you need to be aware that this can happen.
What Users Think About Blogger
Blogger is extremely popular among personal bloggers who need an online presence but don’t necessarily look at blogging as an avenue to building a business. Some users feel the templates and design features are too limiting. Others like that Blogger is owned by Google, and hence, comes with the same standard of reliability and practicality users have come to expect from the most popular search engine in the world.
Where to Find Blogger
Blogger is a simple free blogging site that lets you quickly and easily create a personal blog. If you have a Google account, navigate to your Google apps menu and look for the orange “B” icon that links to Blogger. You can also visit the Blogger website directly.
LinkedIn: Free Blog Site for Business Blogging
While professionals have been adding posts to LinkedIn since Day One, many don’t realize that LinkedIn also offers blog functionality to its subscribers. LinkedIn users have been able to blog on the free platform since 2014, but the blogging feature on LinkedIn (known as article writing on the site) has grown in popularity in recent years.
If you’re a business professional who wants to blog, you should definitely consider blogging on LinkedIn. The platform is also a perfect blogging platform for anyone who runs a consulting or B2B business and needs to reach a business audience.
Blogging on LinkedIn is as easy as opening your LinkedIn profile and clicking the “write an article” link in your profile’s header
LinkedIn Pricing
There’s no fee for blogging on LinkedIn. You will need to set up a LinkedIn profile if you haven’t already done so, but after that, there’s nothing else you need to do or pay to get started blogging.
LinkedIn Features
Since LinkedIn is a professional social network, blogging on this platform is quite a bit different than on a site designed specifically for blogging. You don’t need to select a theme or template and your blog is hosted by LinkedIn, so you can’t secure private hosting services.
Using LinkedIn’s Simple Blog Interface
You don’t need design or technical skills to blog on LinkedIn. You also can’t get fancy. You can add links, subheads, and lists. You can do only minimal text formatting, such as bold, italics, and underline. The only place to add an image is on the page header. While every blog entry has the same simple design, LinkedIn posts have a clean and professional look about them that says you mean business.
LinkedIn’s Publishing Menu
All you have to do is add an image, write a headline, create your blog post, and hit publish. While there are no blog scheduling tools on LinkedIn, you can create your blog articles ahead of time, save them as drafts, and then publish when you want your post to go live.
LinkedIn’s blog/article editor is simple to use
What LinkedIn Feature Is Missing
The LinkedIn blogging platform (called article writing on LinkedIn) focuses on simplicity. It would be easier to set your blog apart from everyone else writing blog-style content on LinkedIn if there were more post design customization and interactive options available.
What Users Think About LinkedIn
People give rave reviews for LinkedIn as a professional networking tool. The blogging feature is not used extensively, but those who are employing the platform for blogging report that it is a helpful tool in their professional toolbox.
Where to Find LinkedIn
LinkedIn is already the online business network of choice for many professionals. It only makes sense, then, that if your goal is to reach a business audience, blogging on LinkedIn is a smart option. Visit LinkedIn and navigate to your professional profile page and click on the “write an article” link to get started.
SITE123: Free Blog Site for Small, Simple Blogs
You may not have heard about SITE123 yet because it’s only been around since 2015, which makes it new relative to the other free blog platforms discussed here. SITE123 is gaining in popularity and there are a lot of reasons for that. SITE123 features an intuitive interface that’s especially attractive to new bloggers with minimal to no design and technical skills.
Paws Waste Patrol of Zanesville, Ohio, built their website using SITE123
SITE123 Pricing
Like all the blog platforms options listed in this guide, SITE123 offers free hosting, which means no money out of your pocket. If you want to upgrade to advanced features like a custom domain name, ecommerce functionality, and more content storage, paid plans range from $12.80 to $20.88 per month and an annual commitment is required.
SITE123 Features
Setting up your SITE123 site is as easy as answering a few questions about what kind of website you’re creating. The platform then generates a basic site that you can modify. SITE123 does not offer a drag-and-drop editor for building your blog but rather the platform guides you in making template and design selections.
SITE123 Offers an Intuitive Website Editor
Designing your blog on SITE123 is fairly straightforward. Adding images, adjusting text, uploading videos, and modifying site colors and layout are all performed through a design editor on the site’s left sidebar.
SITE123’s Blogs Feature SEO Functionality
SITE123 was built with SEO in mind, which means the platform has tools embedded within it to help Google find you online. You’ll still need to do your part by employing effective SEO strategies, but SITE123 will get you off to a good start.
SITE123’s intuitive design editing interface makes it easy to create simple blogs even if you have no design or technical website-building experience
What SITE123 Is Missing
With SITE123 you’re building a single page website that has blog post functionality. If you want a site that has a navigation bar with multiple pages so your blog can operate more like a full-fledged website, SITE123 is not the right blog platform for you.
If working ahead on your blog is important to you, there is one more drawback to using SITE123. Many blog platforms let you schedule your posts in advance; SITE123 does not.
What Users Think SITE123
Overall, people give positive reviews for SITE123, largely because it’s so easy to build great-looking blogs. You can monetize your site if you upgrade to a paid account. SITE123 provides 24/7 online chat, which is extremely unusual for free blog platforms. Users appreciate the level of support SITE123 offers.
Where to Find SITE123
SITE123 has been growing in popularity as a blogging platform in recent years. SITE123 is an easy-to-use platform for personal blogs and small businesses that focus on services rather than physical products. The SITE123 Support Center offers amazing video tutorials that walk you through every step of building and launching a blog on SITE123. You can learn more about SITE123 on its website.
Alternatives to the 6 Best Free Blog Platforms
This guide has already mentioned the six best free blog sites available today. There are other paid and free blog platforms available that might be better alternatives for you.
Here are a few more platforms that you can use to build a blog:
- A Self-hosted WordPress blog with DreamHost: As mentioned previously, a self-hosted WordPress site offers more control and functions than a free WordPress site. You can launch a self-hosted WordPress blog with DreamHost for as low as $2.59 per month. The modest fee can save you a lot of frustration and radically improve the quality of the WordPress blog you build.
- Tumblr: If you prefer to keep your blogs short and focused on visuals (both images and videos), Tumblr is a popular free blogging platform that might meet your needs.
- Squarespace: If you want an all-in-one blogging platform that’s super easy to use and comes with absolutely gorgeous design templates, you might want to check out Squarespace. Plans range from $12 to $40 per month when paid annually.
- Postach.io: This basic free blogging platform transforms your Evernote notebook into a blog.
- Weebly: This is another all-in-one blogging platform that offers both free and paid plans. Paid plans range from $12 to $38 per month.
As a blogger, it’s important to know that free blog sites do not always offer the best solution for you. Each of the blog sites listed on our best free blog platforms list offers an easy way to start a blog. If your goal is to make money blogging, you’ll find that going with a low-cost paid plan through DreamHost, Wix, Weebly, or Squarespace might be the smarter option for you in the long run.
Bottom Line
While we’ve introduced you to six different free blog sites, and noted what each is best for, Wix remains our top choice for best overall free blogging platform. Wix’s drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to create stunning blog pages and the intuitive interface makes it simple to launch a blog quickly and easily.
If you want to build a professional presence, and maybe even launch a business through your blog, Wix is the way to go. Whether you choose a free plan or go with a premium plan with advanced options such as additional online storage, a free private domain, analytics, and ecommerce functionality. Visit Wix now.
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