11 Best Blogging Platform for Beginners to Start a Blog in 2020

People wish to start their own blogs for many reasons. Maybe they want to share their ideas or feelings on different subjects, or perhaps they are interested in establishing a brand online. There are many reasons for starting a blog, but before deciding to start a blog, you have to make a few decisions. In this time, one common question will come on everyone’s head, which is – What is the best blogging platform and which ones should I use?

There are numerous paid and free blogging platforms available on the web, where you can start your blogging journey. But as a newbie, if you are searching for suggestions to choose the best blogging platform by going over the pros and cons, then you are in the right place.

So, In this post, we’ll go over all the different free and paid blogging platforms and give you the pros and cons of each.

Ready to get started? Let’s dive in.

Here are the 11 popular blogging platforms we are going to comparing in this article. If you’re interested in a particular platform, then you can click the link to skip ahead in the report.

WordPress.org is a free and open-source blogging software that has helped millions of people launch blogs online. It is the world’s most popular blogging software that powers more than 30% of all websites on the internet.

The reason it’s so popular is that you can have a dozen websites that use the same software and still make them all look different and unique, thanks to the countless compatible theme and plugins supported on the platform.

Don’t get confused with its .com counterpart. Remember to gain access to WordPress.org; you always required a web hosting provider to be able to self host your site/blog.

Pros

• An extremely flexible platform that gives you full control of every single aspect of your site.
• Almost every hosting provider offers a WordPress-specific plans Plan.
• You can build any type of website, personal blog, online store, forum, news sites, or anything you name it.
• Thousands of free and premium templates available.
• More than 60,000 free plugins, apps, and extensions available for your site customization.
• SEO and social media-friendly.
• It provides high performance with high security.

Cons

• Beginner-friendly, but there is a slight learning curve.
• Customizing your blog or website style can be a little difficult without a page builder plugin, especially if you’re new to the platform.
• Security and backup will be your responsibility.

Wix is another popular blogging platform that allows users to build their websites and blogs easily with the use of a drag and drop web building function.

WIX offers everything in one roof. It means here you can get everything you need to build and maintain your websites, such as a CMS, domain, hosting, themes, and other necessary stuff.

Wix was founded in 2006 as a web builder where anyone can easily create their own stunning website or blog without having any coding skills. The majority of users sign up for Wix to build their business websites, but it can be used for starting a blog also.

Pros

• Easy-to-use interface. Technical or coding skills don’t require to get started.
• Lots of third-party apps and templates are available to customize your site.
• With a premium plan, you can enhance the functionalities of your site, such as eCommerce storefront integration.
• Wix sites are mobile optimized and SEO friendly.
• The unique A.I. feature will help you to design your blog automatically.

Cons

• The free account is limited.
• The free version will display Wix brand ads until you upgrade to a paid version.
• Very difficult to migrate your site into another platform.
• Once you choose a template, you cannot change it.
• Free third party apps are limited.

Blogger is a free blogging platform by Google, and it’s a popular option among beginners. It has been around since the beginning of blogging. Blogger is similar to the WordPress.com, where you can easily create and launch a new blog without having coding knowledge.

Working with Google Blogger does bring perks. You can monetize your blogger blog through Google AdSense, which will add relevant ads to your blog. This is a more straightforward way to revenue than with a website builder.

Ask some old-time bloggers about which platform they used to start their blog with, and chances are they’ll answer that it was Google Blogger. Even I also started my blogging journey with the google blogger in the beginning, and I’m still running a few blogs there.

It’s the best option for personal blogs, but it’s not the best resource for professional use.

Pros

• Blogger is 100% free.
• The technology giant “Google” owns the platform, so it’s secure and reliable.
• Takes care of hosting, maintenance, and more. So you don’t need to worry about it.
• You can use your own custom domain instated of their free Blogspot subdomain.
• Lots of free and premium responsive templates available. You can design your custom theme also.
• Unlimited bandwidth and no downtime.

Cons

• Design and customization are limited.
• This platform does not receive frequent updates or new features.
• No plugins or extensions to improve the site’s functionality.
• Your account can be closed permanently if you violate their terms and condition.

Suggested Reading: How to Start a Blog using Blogger – A Step by Step Guide for Beginners

You might be confused by seeing the name WordPress again! Well, this is the other version of WordPress which available at wordpress.com. People get confused by the name WordPress.com and WordPress.org. Although they both owned by the same company, called Automattic, but there is a huge difference between them.

WordPress.org is the Content Management System(CMS) where you can develop or host your blog with a hosting service provider. On the other hand, WordPress.com is a free blogging platform similar to the blogger.com, where you can create your free blog on their site.

WordPress.com stores your site’s content for free on their servers. However, this means here users receive a limited version of the WordPress software.

Pros

• Easy to use and manage your blog.
• It’s completely free with the wordPress.com subdomain.
• You own your content, so you can switch anytime anywhere.
• Effortless to maintain. No backups to deal with.

Cons

• The free version is very limiting, a few customizations are allowed.
• You can’t monetize your free site with Google AdSense.
• Third-party plugins and themes allowed only with their business plan.
• You do not own your blog. WordPress.com can suspend your account if they find you are violating their terms of service.

Weebly is another drag and drop builder that you can use not only to create a website but also to sell products or showcase your portfolio. This platform currently powers more than 40 million sites on the internet.

It’s one of the best website builders because of its simplicity, just like Wix.com. Here you can easily create a website by drag-and-drop website builder and even integrate an eCommerce storefront onto your Weebly site.

The basic version of Weebly is free to use, but you always have an option to upgrade if you want to access more functionality and customization control.

Pros

• Easy to setup with drag and drop interface.
• Weebly themes not only look great, but they will also perfectly adapted to your mobile devices.
• A free plan is available that lets you start a website with a weebly.com subdomain.
• All plans come with a free SSL certificate.
• It helps you grow your email list.

Cons

• Free plan features Weebly branding with their subdomain.
• Exporting your Weebly site into another platform is difficult.
• Not ideal for e-commerce sites.
• Themes are limited. You have to pick from one of their templates for your site.

Tumblr is a little different from other blogging platforms on this list. It’s a kind of microblogging platform with social networking features. This means is that, with Tumblr, you post contents and people interrelate with your content by liking, commenting and sharing.

Tumblr has a great variety of sharing and reblogging options that makes promoting your content so much easier than any other blogging platform.

It can be a wise choice for visual bloggers who like to publish photos, art, illustrations, video, and gifs, but it’s probably not ideal for writers.

Pros

• Exceedingly simple to use.
• Tumblr is free with their subdomain like https://example.tumblr.com. You can also connect your custom domain there.
• It has integrated social networking.
• Can use Google Analytics to measure your traffic
• Tumblr is a great option for visual blogging and other posts with minimal texts.

Cons

• Limited flexibility and plugin support.
• Taking a back up of your Tumblr blog or import it into other platforms is very difficult.
• No spam or comment filtering.
• Tumblr does not support ads.

Ghost is a free and open-source blogging platform like WordPress. You can utilize Ghost in two different ways. Either you can host your site/blog into their platform by paying their monthly fees, or you can download Ghost CMS for free, and then you can install it on a web hosting server.

However, if you decided to get started blogging with Ghost, then I’ll suggest you go with the first option since its more straightforward.

Pros

• Ghost is very simple and flexible to use for beginners.
• Built on JavaScript, so it’s super-fast.
• No setup required for the hosted version.
• Offers 2 weeks free trial.
• No setup required for the hosted version.
• Built-in SEO.

Cons

• Compared to WordPress.org, running costs will be high.
• Not enough design to change the appearance of your site.
• The self-hosted version is difficult to set up.
• Not ideal for an e-commerce site.

Medium is a community-based blogging platform for writers, bloggers, experts, and journalists. Like Tumblr, it’s a very simple platform to use and has a ready-made audience for you to share your thoughts and stories with.

At Medium, publishers and readers can express their perspectives on various subjects such as business, society, health, relationships, civilization, design, technology, and more.

Medium is similar to the Tumblr where you can write posts and people can interact with them by not only reading, but by sharing, liking, and commenting. After you sign up, you’ll get a profile address like this – https://medium.com/@yourname.

The only downside is that you cannot use there your own domain, or you can’t run your blog on a different server.

Pros

• Medium is effortless to use, with no setup or coding required.
• With Medium, it’s possible to reach a wide online community.
• Takes the hassle out of designing your blog, so that you can focus on writing and creating excellent content for your readers.
• Excellent for a group of authors or individuals.
• It comes with a powerful reporting tool that helps you to understand how your readers engaged with your content.

Cons

• Limited control over your content.
• You cannot use your own custom domain.
• Monetization not allowed.
• Since there is no way to design your blog, it’ll make it nearly impossible to establish your own brand.

Squarespace is a SaaS website building and maintenance tool. To use their services, you need to pay their monthly subscription fee. Just like Wix and Weebly, Squarespace is an all-in-one service provider.

This means everything that you need to build and maintain your site/blog; they are going to provide you, such as a domain, hosting, themes, SSL, CMS, eCommerce, support, and more.

Squarespace allows you to choose from dozens of site templates for your site. Each design comes with a lot of customizable features. They mainly focus on small business owners who are looking for an easy way to create an online presence.

Pros

• Editing and customization are super easy, thanks to the drag-and-drop tool.
• It also allows you to easily integrate an eCommerce storefront into your site.
• One of the best stores and e-commerce solutions out there.
• A decent amount of stunning and professionally designed templates available.
• Offers 2-weeks free trial to get you started.

Cons

• Unlike other website builders such as Wix, Squarespace doesn’t allow you to build a free website.
• Expensive compared to some alternatives.
• Third-party apps and extensions are not allowed.
• Limited marketing tools are available.

Joomla! is another self-hosted and free open-source content management system (CMS), just like WordPress.Org. It means these CMS needs to be installed into your server after purchasing a web hosting provider and a domain name. This blogging software powers over 6% of the CMS Market Worldwide.

Joomla has a flexible interface that can be used not only for blogs but also for more complex websites. There are thousands of templates available, and you can choose from a variety of models and extensions to add custom functionality.

Pros

• Joomla supports more than 70 translation packs for multilingual content management.
• It can easily be migrated to any server and configured with any database.
• Joomla includes a lightweight PHP framework that you can use to write web and command-line applications in PHP.
• The core functionality is available to monetize your website with ads.

Cons

• Joomla offers limited options when it comes to templates and free designs.
• It’s not as aggressively easy and pretty as WordPress, and it’s not as developer-friendly.
• Joomla offers limited customization.
• You cannot allocate different pages to different CSS.

Jimdo has everything that a new site owner needs to build a successful online presence. They have helped in creating over 200,000 online shops since its launch in 2010.

Jimdo is incredibly easy to use. With their AI-based website builder, you can have an attractive and professional website up and running without having to do much work.

Jimdo is powered by HTML5, comes with modern and professional templates that are optimized for both desktop and mobile users.

Pros

• Easy to use even for beginners.
• Jimdo has numerous responsive templates.
• Their plans are cheap compared to others, and Free Plan also available.
• Jimdo sites are search engine friendly.
• Free domain and email included with their annual plan.

Cons

• Limited numbers of templates available.
• There is no import/export functionality.
• There are no third-party apps available.
• You can’t add multiple contributors to your Jimdo site.
• E-commerce functionality is not as professional as compared to other providers, especially where tax rates and drop shipping are concerned.
• Support is limited to email, and they are not available 24/7.

If you are serious about blogging, then I will suggest you start with self-hosted WordPress, i.e., WordPress.org. As a newbie, you might face some difficulty to set up and launch your blog in the beginning, but it’s not so challenging to go with.

A massive number of WordPress tutorials already available on the web, which can help you in your every step. Even you can learn almost everything from youtube and google search. So isn’t it sound interesting to start?

Ok, now it’s time to make your own decision.

You might also like – 25 Best Tumblr Alternatives in 2020 for Bloggers and Creators

So, which platform you going to use to start blogging? Don’t forget to let me know by commenting below.