Whether you start a blog for your business or as a hobby, the benefits of blogging are unlimited. Although the content quality of your blog is the most important part, the blogging platform is also one of those factors that determine whether your blog is going to be successful or not. So choosing the right blogging platform becomes very important and challenging too because there are too many choices. In this article, we are going to discuss the best blogging platforms you should consider using in 2022.

What are Blogging Platforms?

A blogging platform is an online tool or a web-based service that allows authors to create, publish, and manage written and visual content online in the form of blog posts. There are many blogging platforms or blogging sites available online, from professional website builders like Wix and Squarespace to WordPress and Blogger. But which blogging platform you should choose completely depends on your needs, requirements, specific use cases, and most importantly your budget.

Before choosing a blogging platform, make a list of your requirements and then find out which blogging platforms or blogging sites meet them. If you want to create a personal journal or share your thoughts and ideas with the audience, we would suggest you choose free blogging platforms like WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger, Weebly, Medium, etc. But if you are planning to make money from your blog or you want to use it for any commercial purpose, you should avoid using free options. Instead, you should consider using a self-hosted blog on WordPress. This will give you complete control over your blog, i.e. you can do whatever you want.

Top 7 Best Blogging Platforms

There are many blogging platforms or blogging sites available. Sometimes one platform may be better than another. So it becomes very challenging to choose the right blogging platform. When there are too many choices, it is always difficult to choose the best option. So to make it easy for you to choose the right blogging platform, we have come up with the top 7 best blogging platforms you should consider using. These are the most flexible blogging platforms that do not require any prior coding knowledge, and they all are easy to set up.

#1 – WordPress.com

When we are talking about the best blogging platforms, WordPress needs no introduction. It has been the most popular and highly preferred blogging platform for years. It is available in two versions – WordPress.com and WordPress.org. WordPress.com is a free platform whereas WordPress.org is the premium one, although the software is free to download. And both these hold #1 and #2 positions in our list respectively.

WordPress.com is a free online platform that is highly popular for blogging. Do not get confused between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. Both are different. Although WordPress.com is free, you can purchase a custom domain name, additional storage, and other premium features if you want. But that completely depends on your budget and requirement.

The reasons why we have put WordPress.com on the top of our list are – 

• First of all, it is absolutely free if you are fine with a WordPress.com sub-domain. Even getting a custom domain name is very affordable, i.e. $14 for a year.
• Unlike WordPress.org, WordPress.com does not have any setup process. You do not have to set anything. Just create a WordPress account, that’s it.
• The best part of WordPress.com is that it is very easy to use and manage. Even a newbie can start a blog on WordPress.com with ease.
• If you are using the free version, this does not mean that you cannot use the plugins. You can still use them to make your blogging experience even better.

Being one of the best blogging platforms, WordPress.com can give you a great blogging experience, especially if you are a new blogger. So overall, WordPress is the best platform to start a blog.

#2 – WordPress.org

WordPress.org holds the second position in our list of the top 7 best blogging platforms. If you want to have full control over your blog, then WordPress.org is the best option for you. It is open-source free blogging software that allows you to build a blog or even a business website with ease. Since WordPress.org is a self-hosted platform, you need to sign up with a WordPress hosting provider. After purchasing the web hosting and a domain name, you can install the WordPress software on your computer and start using it to build a blog or even a website.

Read – How to Create a Blog on WordPress – DIY Guide for Beginners

WordPress.com is a free blogging platform, whereas WordPress.org requires you to purchase web hosting and domain name, although the software is free. But spending money on WordPress.org is more like an investment. So we would recommend you to consider using WordPress.org because it gives you full control over your blog.

#3 – Wix

Over the last few years, Wix has gained immense popularity as a website builder. And today, it is the only platform that is giving a tough competition to WordPress. Although it is commonly known as a website builder, it can also be used as a free blogging platform. Wix is perhaps the best drag & drop website builder so you can easily create a blog or even a website. It has a variety of blog templates and third-party apps to choose from, making it one of the best blogging platforms. With Wix, it is easy to create new posts, edit content, manage comments, share posts on social media, etc. So whatever you need from a blogging platform, Wix has everything.

Starting a blog on Wix is very easy. You need to create an account by signing up with your email. You can also sign up with your Gmail or Facebook profile. Once your Wix account is created, you need to answer a few questions, e.g. what kind of website you are creating. Since you are creating a blog, select Blog in the options. Then you need to choose how you want to create your blog – either you can let Wix AID create a blog for you or you can create your blog with the editor.

Wix is a free platform. You get a Wix subdomain with a free Wix account. But if you want to have a custom domain name for your blog, you should upgrade your Wix account with a premium plan.

#4 – Blogger

Being one of the oldest blogging platforms, Blogger holds the 3rd position in our list of best blogging platforms. Although it is very old, i.e. launched in 1999, it is still one of the most preferred blogging sites for those who want to start a blog without spending any money. Blogger is free and easy to use. Just like any other blogging platform, it does not require any prior coding knowledge, i.e. even a newbie can use it. Since it is provided by Google, you can easily sign in with your Gmail ID and start creating your blog right away.

Blogger provides you with a wide range of easy-to-use templates, making blog creation effortless. You just need to choose the right template that best fits your style. You get a free blogspot.com subdomain when you create a blog on Blogger. And if you want to make your blog look more professional, you should consider buying a custom domain. Blogger comes with a built-in analytic tool, Google Analytics, that helps you know your audience and monitor your blog’s performance. Although Blogger does not offer as many features as other blogging platforms, it is still a great blogging tool for new bloggers.

#5 – Squarespace

Without Squarespace, our list of best blogging platforms is incomplete. It was started in 2004 as a blog hosting service. And now Squarespace is known as one of the most popular website builders. It allows you to create your blogging website without requiring any prior knowledge. The visual drag & drop editor of Squarespace makes it easy even for a newbie to start a blog. With this blogging platform, you get beautiful and professionally designed templates to showcase your ideas online. Currently, over 2.5 million websites are using Squarespace around the world.

It is very easy to start a blog on Squarespace. Simply click the Get Started button, and then you need to answer a few questions. This will help Squarespace understand what your blog is about and what your top goals are. As a result, you get the best template suggestions for your blog. The pricing plans offered by Squarespace are highly affordable. For a personal website/blog, the plan starts from $16 a month. If you purchase the annual plan, it will cost you $12 a month. The business plan starts from $26 a month, and $18 for the annual plan.

If you are a small business owner and want to create an online presence of your brand, Squarespace is one of the best options for you. You can start your blog on Squarespace at any time to increase your brand awareness.

#6 – Tumblr

Tumblr is another blogging platform that we have included in our list, although it is not very similar to WordPress and Blogger. It is a microblogging website that provides you social media features too like sharing your blogs, following other blogs, reblogging, etc. So Tumblr is a blogging cum social media platform. Although it has very limited features as compared to other blogging platforms, still there are around 500 million blogs on Tumblr. And this number is enough to tell how popular Tumblr is as a blogging platform. If you are looking for the easiest way to start blogging, Tumblr is perhaps the best free blogging platform.

With Tumblr, you can quickly publish your content. Just like any other blogging platform, Tumblr is also easy to set up and use. You just need to sign up with your email to start a blog on Tumblr. Being a social media platform, it helps you connect with other users on the network instantly, i.e. right after you create your blog. Since Tumblr is free, you get a Tumblr subdomain for your blog, something like this – www.yourblogname.tumblr.com. If you are not fine with that, you can buy a custom domain name, giving your blog identity and uniqueness.

If you want to bring a good amount of traffic to your main website, you should consider using Tumblr as a blogging platform. No matter on which platform you have built your website, use Tumblr to create your blog.

#7 – Medium

Many of you might be familiar with the website Medium. It is quite popular as a blogging platform among writers, bloggers, and journalists. Just like Tumblr, it is also a blogging cum social media platform. Creating posts on Medium is relatively easier than any other blogging platform. This blogging platform does not have much to do with designing. It focuses on writing. Being one of the best blogging platforms, Medium provides you with a simple content editor that hardly takes a few minutes to publish a post. Besides writing, this blogging platform allows you to add images and videos to your content.

Medium has a high domain authority, making it the best source of backlinks. If you have a blog on Medium and you publish new blog posts regularly, you will get a good amount of traffic to your business website. The best part of using Medium is that you always can export your blog posts in HTML format. If you switch to a new CMS platform in the future, you can easily import those HTML posts to your new blog.

It is very easy to create an account on Medium, i.e. no setup is required. And once your account is created, you can start publishing your articles on Medium. Unlike other blogging platforms, Medium does not allow you to use any custom domain name.

So if you are a writer and you want to start a blog without getting into design, Medium is the right blogging platform for you.

Conclusion

Which blogging platform is best for you completely depends on your requirements. Generally, WordPress and Wix are considered the best blogging platforms. But they are not the only options, and even they are not for everyone. All the names included in our best blogging platform list offer both free and premium plans. So whether you are a solo blogger writing for fun or a professional managing a large publication business, we have an option for everyone on our list. Tell us which is your favorite blogging platform in the comments section below.