So, you have learned how to start a blog and make money from gurus doing it, and you want to launch yours. However, one of the most challenging decisions beginners face is choosing the best blogging platforms to make money. How can you determine the best blogging platforms?
In this guide, you will discover the best blogging platforms for writers. And by the time you read to the end, you will know which platform to go for, how to start a blog and get paid.

If you're ready, let's get to it!

1. Wix
2. Wordpress.org
3. Squarespace
4. Medium
5. Blogger
6. Tumblr
7. Jekyll

Wix

Many veteran bloggers consider Wix the best blogging platform for writers who have learned how to start a blog and make money. Wix is a premium, fully integrated, and powerful blogging solution that offers an incredibly easy option for beginners.

The blogging platform comes with drag-and-drop features that allow you to create your customized blog in less than one hour. This is why small businesses worldwide use Wix as a solution provider when handling issues with their official websites.

And if you opt for Wix’s Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) tool, you can set up the blog within a few minutes. Setting up a Wix blog is so much easier when you use the platform’s blog templates.

Wix has 7 different niches, and each niche has more than 70 templates that anyone can use when setting up a blog. And every template comes with essential built-in blogging features.

Wix was launched in 2006 and was created solely for the creation of personal websites with zero codings. And now, this platform – which many online entrepreneurs consider as the best blogging platform to make money – has over 110 million users worldwide.

The basic Wix website builder is entirely free of charge. This means you can sign up and get a free account when you visit Wix.com. You will get a 14-day trial. However, you can get a custom domain at $4.50 per month. The blogging platform’s premium packages range from $8.50 to $25.50 per month.

Blogging Platforms Example

Some blogs powered by Wix include:

• Monica Pack Pilates
• Adam McCain
• Brown Owl Creative
• Sonja van Duelmen
• Tobias Becs, etc.

Pros

• Setting up a blog is incredibly easy and quick
• Create a blog with zero codings, thanks to drag-and-drop features
• Hundreds of customizable templates are available
• Third-party applications are available

Cons 

• Third-party applications are limited
• Templates cannot be changed at later stages or risk losing all edits
• The free account/plan has minimal options
• Lots of ads can affect usage

 

WordPress.org

If you are looking for the best open-source blogging platform today, WordPress tops the list. Digital marketers, freelance writers, and entrepreneurs refer to WordPress as the best blogging platform for writers.

WordPress was established in 2003 by Mike Little and Matt Mullenweg and currently has more than 58.7 percent market share. WordPress offers users an open-source platform where you can easily create a free blog within minutes.

To enjoy the best WordPress has to offer, you need a hosting provider because you can’t have complete control over your blog without it.

The WordPress software may be free, but you need a domain name that costs up to $14.99 per year. And hosting a website costs $2.99 per month.

WordPress is search engine friendly which makes it easy for you to create SEO-based URLs and tag posts. If you need additional features, several SEO plugins are available on the blogging platform. WordPress also offers an unlimited theme library for beautifying your blog and making it more search-engine friendly.

Take note that WordPress.org and WordPress.com are not the same. This review is about the latter platform.

Blogging Platforms Examples

WordPress powers more than 75 million sites and is a leading content management platform. Some blogs that WordPress.org powers include:

• The official Star Wars Blog
• BBC America
• The New York Times
• TechCrunch
• MTV News
• Sony Music
• The Walt Disney 
• 10Web
• The Rolling Stones, etc.

Pros

• You are in total control of your website
• Advanced user permissions and roles
• You can add extra features to your blogs such as forums, paid memberships, and online stores.
• Infinite design control
• You have access to scores of plugins and an unlimited theme library
• A massive community of helpful experts
• Built-in social sharing/media management
• Availability of WordPress mobile app and access to a super-fast, intuitive editor
• The Gutenburg block editor
• It is considered the gold standard in terms of blogging features

Cons

• You have to overcome some learning curves if you handle or manage the site on your own.
• A free-for-life plan allows the display of WordPress ads
• Payment is required in order to gain access to the platform’s vast plugin library
• Backups, security, etc. add to the risk of managing your WordPress blog

 

Squarespace

Squarespace is an excellent platform for writers and bloggers with several visual contents. It is the ideal platform for photographers, artists, and designers. It is an all-in-one website builder – using drag-and-drop tools – and is famous for its numerous aesthetically pleasing templates.

Any small business or entrepreneur that wants to build their presence online and attract lots of attention can use Squarespace. It is the easiest way to achieve a presence online without hiring a professional website designer.

Squarespace was established in 2003 and currently powers hundreds of sites today. The platform offers several pricing plans for websites and online stores. The cost for a personal site is $16 per month and $12 per month if you decide to pay for an entire year.

But for online stores, the price range from $26 per month to $40 per month.

Blogging Platforms Examples

Some blogging platforms examples include:

• Yellow Co
• Knapsack Creative
• Studio McGee
• TinySeed
• KeyNest, etc.

All these blogs are built with Squarespace.

Pros

• Aesthetically pleasing, professionally designed templates
• It is user-friendly and simple to use
• It offers domain names with eCommerce stores and SSL/HTTPS separately
• A few SEO tools are available
• Extra social media functions
• Excellent choice for beginners who are not tech-savvy

Cons

• Integrations are severely limited to a few select tools and services
• You can only use these features available within the proprietary platform

 

Medium

Medium was launched in 2012 and has grown since then to become one of the most significant communities of bloggers, journalists, experts, and even writers. This blogging platform works much more like a social networking site, as you need to create an account before you start publishing your articles.

After signing up, a website address is allowed, but you can’t use a personal domain. Medium is one of the most accessible blogging platforms to use, though it has minimal social networking features. Medium is free, but it lacks monetization and control features. However, it is the best for growing a target audience. Publishing posts is easy via the platform’s WYSIWYG editor with zero subscription fees.

You can sign up for the Partner Program and start earning money when people spend lots of time reading your posts.

Pros

• It comes with an already built-in target audience
• It is an excellent way to find and grow a massive following
• Easy-to-use editor
• Minimal effort
• Ready-made or built-in audience

Cons

• This platform's format limits users
• You can’t own a customized URL
• No other monetization options except the free Partner Program

 

Blogger

Blogger is one of the best free blogging platforms and the brainchild of Google. It is a rapid and easy method of creating blogs for those who are not tech-savvy. The platform was established in 1999 and is one of the earliest free platforms for blogging.

Google purchased the blogging platform in 2003 and has now re-designed Blogger into a simple product that anyone can use. All you need to start using this blogging platform is a Google account.

Blogger is entirely free to use, but it comes with a subdomain and an extension – i.e., blogspot.com. However, users can opt for a custom domain obtained from a third party. You can set it up within minutes, and you don't have to worry about storing your files or ensuring your site speed is super-fast. Google takes care of all that.

Blogging Platforms Examples

Some blogging platforms powered by Blogger include:

• The Official Google Blog
• Hullabaloo 
• Google Operating System
• Blogger Buzz
• The Daily Coyote
• Dark Roasted Blend
• Twitter Blog, etc.

Pros

• It is free of charge
• Using and managing this blogging platform is incredibly easy, i.e., almost zero technical stuff.
• Google integrations
• Monetizing your blog via Google AdSense is incredibly easy
• Users enjoy Google’s secure platform and robust reliability
• A free domain mapping and SSL certificate
• Image storage using Google Photos
• Automatic Google search indexing
• Near-zero maintenance blogging platform

Cons

• Users can’t add new features
• Limited blogging tools
• Limited design and template options
• Low-quality third-party templates
• Zero eCommerce options

 

Tumblr

Tumblr is considered the best for visual blogs and an excellent option that conveniently straddles social media and blogging platforms. However, it is not really the best blogging platform for writers. This is because Tumblr specializes in highly visual content. This includes GIFs, Spotify tracks, videos, images, etc.

Setting up Tumblr is free and easy, but it comes with a tumblr.com subdomain. However, you can decide to connect a custom domain name. It is also focused on creating a tightly-knit community of users. And this gives you lots of options for following, sharing, and even re-blogging content.

Tumblr has limited features that are impossible to extend, and you may end up outgrowing the platform as your blog continues to grow.

Pros

• Easy and free to use
• A perfect option for use on mobile devices
• Ideal for visual content
• Several options for following, sharing, re-blogging content, etc., are available.

Cons

• A limited set of features
• Features cannot be extended
• Users can’t monetize content

 

Jekyll

Jekyll is a file-based, open-source content management system, but without all the complexities that come with regular CMS. The platform takes your content, renders Liquid and Markdown templates, and generates a static and complete website. This website can be served by Nginx, Apache, or any other web server. 

Jekyll is the engine that powers GitHub Pages, enabling you to host blogs/sites from your repositories on GitHub. The platform comes with a GitHub.com free domain, though a custom domain is available.

Blogging Platforms Examples

More than 268 organizations use Jekyll in their tech stacks. This includes Sentry, GitHub, RazorPay, New Relic, Babbel, etc.

Pros

• It is the perfect choice for those who love CSS, Markdown, and HTML
• Users can check in their entire websites – including content, etc. – into version control. This means upgrading your blog is possible without losing any of your content
• Blogs powered by Jekyll are incredibly fast – due to static assets – with minimal effort from you
• You can run your Jekyll blog at almost zero costs. You can host your site on GitHub Pages for free. You will only get to spend approximately $10 per year on a domain name.
• You can do almost anything that can be done with a regular content management system.
• You can work without coding
• Open-source
• Gitlab pages integration
• Incredibly low maintenance
• Authoring simplicity and freedom
• Easy to deploy

Cons

• Jekyll is not as user-friendly as WordPress
• You may have issues with GitHub Pages later
• Limited plugins

Weigh Your Options Below:

Blogging Platform	Type of Plan	Standout Features
Wix	Free	User-friendly editor More than 70 blog templates Manage every post from a straightforward blogging dashboard
WordPress.org	Free, though hosting will cost a little extra	Free, paid, as well as custom plugins readily expand your blog's functionality in limitless ways. User-friendly software with limitless customization options.
Squarespace	Not free	Top-notch quality templates that are aesthetically pleasing A pretty solid selection of social media, email marketing, and SEO tools
Medium	Free	Every post is neatly designed Has an existing targeted audience
Blogger	Free	User-friendly blogging platform Beneficial product integrations from the parent company such as Google Analytics, Google AdSense, etc.
Tumblr	Free	Excellent choice for short-form, highly visual posts Grants almost instant access to more than 400 million users
Jekyll	Free, though domain name may cost a little extra	The ideal choice for those who want a very fast blog It runs at almost zero cost as it is hosted for free on GitHub Pages It can stand side by side with other content management systems. Huge plugins ecosystem

 

 

Conclusion

So, there you have it: the best blogging platforms to make money. The platform you choose depends significantly on what you want to achieve.

Medium, LinkedIn, etc., are social media-types platforms that can get millions of eyes on any content you post. But the truth is that anything can happen to these platforms overnight. And you will end up losing your audience.

The best way out is to set up your own blog using any of the best free blog sites shared in this guide.

Therefore, go through this in-depth guide; consider the features, costs, pros, and cons of each blogging platform. Then take a look at your budget before choosing any of the best free blogging platforms.