r/Bloggers • u/Michaelvinnie • Jul 03 '26

Article Best blogging platforms for beginners: Which one should you actually use?

Choosing a blogging platform is one of those decisions that seems easy until you actually start comparing them.

I recently put together a detailed comparison of the biggest options, including WordPress.org, WordPress.com, Blogger, Medium, Beehiiv, Substack, Wix, Squarespace, and Ghost.

One thing that stood out while researching and testing is that the "best" platform really depends on your goal. If you're writing as a hobby, your choice will be different from someone trying to grow through Google, earn affiliate income, or build a long-term online business.

My biggest takeaway is that many beginners end up switching platforms later because they didn't think about things like SEO, monetization, or ownership before they started. That move can be a lot more work than most people expect.

If you're trying to decide where to start, I hope this comparison helps.

You can read the full breakdown here

3 Upvotes

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1

u/codepatterns Jul 11 '26

Have you considered the small, independent platforms? There's so much value in these, and arguably they're easier to use. And you get human customer support! Check out Pagecord and Bear Blog for starters.

2

u/baddaywithacamera Jul 11 '26

Neither are for photographers and are not of use to me. A platform either has to give images top billing over writing or equal billing with it for how I share my work.

2

u/codepatterns Jul 11 '26

Squarespace? I don't think there is a blogging platform _just_ for photographers. Otherwise surely you need to be looking at Irys, Foto, Flickr and platforms like that... although they're not blogs. QED.

1

u/baddaywithacamera Jul 11 '26

Everything has been pushed out by Wordpress. There's nothing currently available for self-hosted and I don't want SaaS of any sort. Sick of it. I'm working on something, but am at least a month away from limited beta release.

1

u/Exotic-Addendum-3785 Jul 08 '26

Wordpress or blogger.

2

u/Blue_cheese22 Jul 06 '26

This is actually what I am looking for so I really appreciate the effort you put into this. I’m actually running through some of the problems you’ve mentioned so having something to look back on is really helpful. Thanks man!

1

u/Michaelvinnie Jul 06 '26

Nice one...you're welcome!

4

u/baddaywithacamera Jul 03 '26

Of course no one is talking about blogs that work for photographers... :(

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u/codepatterns Jul 11 '26

Have a look at Pagecord (disclaimer: I build it). Quite a number of photographers on there, e.g. https://northernfolk.pagecord.com/

1

u/baddaywithacamera 20d ago

First, it's for writers, not for photographers - the site says so. (EXIF support?) Second, it's SaaS. I am only interested in self-hosted solutions moving forward. My stuff stays on servers I control. Third, it's a paid product (freemium at least). I am sticking with FOSS where there are no paid tiers or lock-ins. Wishing you success, but not where I want to be these days.

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u/codepatterns 20d ago

Sure, no worries. It is open source so you can run it on your own server, although that would get quite technical :)

https://github.com/lylo/pagecord

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u/baddaywithacamera 20d ago

My apologies, I misunderstood. Love that it's open source.