The Easiest Way to Start Blogging
So, you’re interesting in blogging but don’t know where to start?
I’ve put together this list of blogging platforms that do not require any knowledge of coding or markdown. For the most part you can be up and writing within just a few minutes.
Pika
- The easiest to use.
💰 First 50 posts free then $6 a month or $60 a year
✅ IndieWeb
Scribbles
Currently Invite Only
- Scribbles may be even easier to use than Pika, but currently it’s invite only.
💰 To Be Determined
✅ IndieWeb
Micro Blog
- Micro.blog is a blogging platform/social network. It’s a bit more advanced to use than Pika or Scribbles, but offers more in networking and customization.
💰 $5 a month
✅ IndieWeb
Medium
- Medium is free to write but readers only get three free articles a month unless they pay for a membership.
💰 Free
❌ Not IndieWeb
Substack
- Substack is primarily a newsletter company, but it also hosts your posts. Substack has garnered some criticism as of late for its handling of Nazi propaganda.
💰 Free
❌ Not IndieWeb
Wordpress.com
- A good portion of the internet runs on Wordpress. If you choose Wordpress make sure you turn off the AI firehouse option unless you want all your posts to be sold off to an AI company.
💰 $4 a month or $48 annually
❌ Not IndieWeb
Ghost
- Ghost began strictly as a blogging platform but has expanded into newsletters and such.
💰 $9 a month
❌ Not IndieWeb
Blogger
- Blogger has been abandoned by Google for years now. I could see it being dissolved at any time. It’s not a bad place to start, but if you plan to write for a while I’d choose elsewhere.
💰 Free
❌ Not IndieWeb
All of these platforms have pros and cons and the pricing can vary depending on how much or how little you need. In some cases, you can self host and reduce the price even more. However, I find most articles about beginning blogging get bogged down with too much commentary, so I wanted to keep this as simple as possible.
This is also not a complete list of platforms nor is there a “best blogging platform”. The best platform is the one that you will use to write. I’d recommend experimenting with all of these choices and see what works best for you.