3 Best Blogging Platforms (All FREE) to Start a Blog in 2024

Finding the right blogging platform is all about who you are and what you want to achieve. If you’re just starting a blog for the first time, you’ll probably want a comprehensive solution that takes care of all of the nuts and bolts for you.

Meanwhile, those with more technical know-how might be willing to sacrifice a bit on ease of use for extra creative control and functionality.

Either way, the platform you choose should make your blog look good and come with plenty of customization options, so that you can represent yourself properly.

As your blog grows, your platform should be flexible enough to grow with you, with a ton of additional features. And – most importantly of all – it shouldn’t cost the earth. Blogging should be fun, not a financial burden.

Keeping all of this in mind, I put some of the most popular platforms to the test to find out how they compared on these key features. Wix, in particular, stood out as the best blogging platform. Not only does it feature over 70 unique blogging templates, but it also offers the best design flexibility so you can let your personality shine across each post.

You can try Wix for free or read on to learn more about my other top picks for blogging platforms.

1. Wix – The Best All-Round Blogging Platform (and the Easiest to Use)

One of the most popular website builders on the market, Wix offers some great tools for aspiring bloggers. But what I like most about Wix is that it offers a fully-integrated blogging solution that is very easy to use – especially if you start with one of Wix’s blog templates (there are 70+ for 7 different niches), which come with essential blogging features built in. Or you can easily build a custom blog from scratch using Wix’s powerful suite of AI tools.

While you won’t be able to change templates without losing all your edits, Wix offers so many customization options – from fonts and colors to buttons and layouts – that you’re never going to be stuck with a template that can’t be customized to accurately represent your brand. And since the drag-and-drop editor is so easy to use, it can all be done with just a few simple clicks.

In terms of blogging features, Wix has more than enough for budding and established bloggers alike, including tools to help you interact with site visitors and drive traffic to your blog. To make your life even easier, Wix offers a dashboard where you can create new posts, add categories, manage comments, and examine blog analytics. There’s also an automatic email subscription feature that helps you collect leads directly from your website.

Wix does offer a free plan but it’s relatively limited and will populate your blog with Wix branding. It’s great for getting started and working out whether the platform is for you, but most bloggers will probably decide to upgrade.

Features

• Built-in analytics tool. Wix’s blog analytics gives you all the data you need to optimize your blog and grow your readership. You can see your top posts and analyze site traffic by time of day or over a period of time.
• Membership features. Your blog members can create and customize their own profile pages, like and follow posts, comment, interact with one another, and even become contributing writers – all great for driving people back to your blog.
• Monetize your blog. Wix offers multiple options for monetizing your blog. These include displaying ads, offering subscription plans for paid posts, providing courses and events, and running a small online store.
• Translate your blog. You can easily enable both Wix Blog and Wix Multilingual features to translate your blog content into other languages and reach an international audience.

2. Webador – The Fastest Way to Get Your Blog Online

If you’re itching for your blog to make its world debut, you can’t go wrong with Webador. Its simple interface and drag-and-drop builder can have your blog set up in less than half an hour. Unlike most platforms, Webador doesn’t categorize its 50+ templates so you don’t have to be stuck in a box when it comes to selection. If you want even faster site creation, you can alternatively use Webador’s AI website generator to provide you with a starting point.

While it’s not the most comprehensive blogging platform on the market, Webador’s simple yet effective tools like comments, social media buttons, custom forms, and rating system allow you to engage and interact with your readers. You can also share files, videos, and audio (on paid plans) to further enhance your content.

Webador’s free plan is pretty comprehensive. It includes the blogging feature plus unlimited pages, unlimited storage, and free stock photos. However, if you want to connect your own domain name, you’ll have to sign up for the Lite plan. Upgrading to the affordable Pro or Business plan will remove advertising and allow you post unlimited photo albums, host HD videos, and add e-commerce functionality.

Features

• Engage readers with photo galleries. If you use your blog to share personal photos, Webador offers dynamic photo galleries and slideshows to display your images. It will also automatically optimize your images for different screen sizes so you don’t have to crop or edit your images.
• Swap templates. You can keep your blog fresh by seamlessly switching between templates without losing any of your site’s content.
• Add external content. Webador allows you to embed external content to enhance your posts. For example, you can embed YouTube videos, add attention-grabbing popups, poll readers through Google Forms, and set up a live chat function with tawk.to by simply adding a short HTML snippet to your site.
• Add contributors. On the Pro plan and above, you’ll have the option to add other users to your site. You can add contributors to help you manage the blog or post as guest bloggers.

3. SITE123 – Best for Keeping a Low-Maintenance Blog

If you want to build your own blog rather than use an external platform like Medium or LinkedIn, using SITE123’s all-in-one website builder is one of the easiest ways to do it. It has all the basic tools you’ll need to build a blogging website and is very easy to use – but that doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t have the functionality you need.

While SITE123 only offers a handful of blog templates, you could easily customize any of its 80+ mobile-friendly templates to suit your style. One major drawback is that this platform reserves a lot of its customization options for the paid plan. But on the plus side, its blog editor lets you easily add images and videos, reorganize sections, and attach files that your readers can download.

The free plan does include blog pages, which come with essential features like analytics, social bookmarking, a search function, and an RSS feed. Once you upgrade, you can remove ads, connect a custom domain, get more storage and bandwidth, and send more marketing emails each month.

Features

• Free videos & icons library. SITE123 gives you free access to hundreds of royalty-free videos, images, and symbols to create visually engaging blog posts.
• Free SEO tools. SITE123’s standard yet effective SEO tools will help you drive traffic to your blog. You can edit meta tags, add a sitemap, and use its redirect tool to boost your site’s performance.
• Add posts with the help of AI. If you’re in a creative rut or need a little guidance to start writing, SITE123’s AI assistant can help you ideate and write blogs. Based on a few prompts like content length, keywords, and style, SITE123 will generate a list of topics and blog posts that you can use right away or further edit.
• Third-party plugins. You can add extra features to your blog with plugins from SITE123’s app market. There are dozens of apps for things like live chat, email and newsletter lists, analytics, and contact forms.

There’s a Best Blogging Platform to Suit Every Blogger

Ultimately, which platform is right for you will depend on what you’re looking to get out of your blog.

For a comprehensive, all-rounder solution, my go-to choice has to be Wix. Its well-designed templates and intuitive editor make it super easy to get your blog up and running. And as your blog grows, you can easily add more features thanks to the App Market.

Still weighing your options? Here’s a neat table that compares them all side-by-side: