There are many blogging platforms on the web right now. Some are free and some require a premium monthly or annual subscription. But should you choose a free or a self-hosted blogging platform?
You should choose a self-hosted blogging platform because it gives you full control of your blog. With a self-hosted blogging platform, you can control your blog’s layout, optimize every part for search engines, and monetize your content in whichever way you choose.
While self-hosted blogging platforms require recurring investment, they don’t limit you in any way.
After all, it’s self-hosting is the only option if you want to create a blog that you can build into a brand that stands out as the go-to platform for a specific niche audience.
What is a Free Blogging Platform?
A free blogging platform is an option where you can sign up for an account, get sub domain on the primary domain of the host, and set up a blog at no cost.
With a free account, your website's files are on the servers of your blogging platform. While there may be additional expenses after the first setup, you don’t necessarily have to pay anything to keep the free blog running.
Free blogging platforms such as Webs, Blogger, Medium, and Site 123 are ideal for those who are just getting started with blogging for fun and those who are not serious about blogging for business. If you're simply interested in blogging for pleasure, nothing should stop you from starting a blog on a free hosting platform.
What is a Self-hosted Blogging Platform?
The term "self-hosted" refers to a blog hosted on a server or a hosting platform. This option requires that you pay a third party platform to host your blog, and you get all the advantages of a self-hosted service.
Some of the most popular, reliable, and top rated web hosting agencies include Kinsta, Bluehost, NameHero, Cloudways, and Namecheap.
Essentially, what these businesses do is the rent out digital storage space to customers who want to create an online presence by maintaining a website.
Self-hosted blogs are ideal for bloggers who need to have full control of their online business. If you wish to expand the functionality of your website beyond the obvious, and if you want to have a blog with a 100% professional spin, a self-hosted solution is the way to go.
Free Vs Self-Hosted Blogging Platforms: How Do They Compare?
Because I’ve used the free and self-hosted blogging platforms myself, it’s only fair that I show you the comparison between the two so that you understand why I’m advocating for self-hosting instead of the free plans.
Free Blogging Platforms
There are no upfront costs to incur with the free blogging platforms and, with Content Management Systems such as Bloggers and WordPress, setting up and maintaining the blog should be very easy.
But that’s it as far as the benefits go.
I never recommend free blogging platforms because they never let you build a unique brand name of your own. You’ll have their domain name slapped on to yours, which limits you from standing out as a blogger who wants to become an authority in your niche.
With a free blog, there’s limit to what you can do. For example, you can’t extend the functionality of a free blog to include multiple monetization options, which means you’re unlikely to make money blogging if you build your platform on top of another.
While you can create content and publish them on the free platform, you don’t own the right to the platform. If the platform decides to change their terms and conditions of service, and it turns out that your site doesn’t meet those terms, you could get your blog discontinued.
Again, free blogging platforms limit your SEO visibility. I can tell you from experience that you can create a free blog on Blogger but never have any of your posts appearing in Google search engines.
And given just how significant blogging SEO is, creating a blog on a free hosting platform is a recipe for failure and, in my opinion, a complete waste of time.
Self-Hosted Blogging Platforms
You’re going to pay a monthly or annual fee to host your blog, but the benefits often outweigh the cost.
First, self-hosting gives you complete control over your blog, so you can modify its appearance, enhance its search engine visibility, have multiple monetization channels, and so much more.
I’m the ilk that loves to have full control if there is an opportunity. And given that I take blogging as a business, branding and personalization are two things I take seriously.
With full access to files, themes, plugins, and additional blogging software solutions, self-hosting gives you everything you need to grow your blog from scratch and transform it into whatever you want it to be.
Best Self Hosted Blogging Platforms to Consider
Now that you know how free and self-hosted blogging platforms compare, here are top self-hosted blogging platforms that I strongly recommend:
1. Kinsta
Kinsta is a fully managed WordPress hosting platform powered by Google Cloud Platform. I’ve been on Kinsta in the $100 a month plan for over a year, and I must admit it’s one of the best fully managed WordPress hosting platforms on the web right now.
The platform doesn’t give you access to the standard cPanel admin to manage your hosting account. Instead, they give you with their own custom solution, which, in my opinion, is far more user-friendly and gets you right to the important details about your blog.
It provides you the strength of a major hosting platform – Google Cloud Platform – but in a very user-friendly way, so you don't have to worry about what's going on behind the scenes.
Kinsta WordPress hosting is perfect for speed and it can handle any traffic surges you throw at it. Moreover, it provides excellent security while also ensuring that everything you get regular backup for your website.
2. Bluehost
Bluehost has been in the web hosting business since 1996 and it has grown to become the most popular brand in the WordPress hosting business.
In fact, the company falls right at the very top of WordPress’s recommendation for the best hosting platform for its CMS.
You'll never have to worry about your website being sluggish with Bluehost, even when there's a lot of traffic. Their skilled customer support team is available 24/7, and you can reach them via email, live chat, or phone call.
Overall, Bluehost is a great pick for beginners to blogging since it includes everything you'll need to get started with WordPress, from a free domain name and automated WordPress installation to a free drag-and-drop page builder and detailed instructions.
3. NameHero
NameHero is a website hosting company that provides shared, reseller, VPS, and high-speed cloud hosting. The agency operates on a private cloud with strong Intel CPUs, solid-state drives, and high availability bandwidth built on unique technologies.
Instead of Apache, the hosting service use LiteSpeed, and that means you don't need a third-party caching technology to speed up your website. The LiteSpeed caching does that for you.
Instead of MySQL, NameHero uses Maria DB, which allows you to transition from one database to another without seeing any differences in website performance. Moreover, you get free access to advanced security features, which you have to pay for most NameHero alternatives.
There are a few problems with NameHero worth noting.
First, the company have data centers only in Europe and the United States. Second, the user interface is particularly clunky and it could use some improvements. Third, site backups stay on the server only for 24 hours.
Despite the drawbacks, NameHero is the best hosting platform for those looking for a cheap hosting service, especially new bloggers on a tight budget.
4. Cloudways
Cloudways is one of the few businesses that strikes a good mix between price and capability in cloud-based hosting.
Like Kinsta, the company offers fully managed hosting, ensuring that your WordPress sites load quickly and that you don't have to worry about WordPress hosting issues.
Their software-as-a-service platform cloud servers give you access to a ton of features, and you can scale your hosting resources up or down as your website expands. It’s hard not to love how hard the team behind Cloudways work to ensure that your blog’s speed, performance, and security are up to the standard.
Conclusion
Unless you just want to keep an online journal where you share random thoughts about anything and everything, I don’t recommend choosing a free blogging platform.
I’d like to imagine that you want to create a blog because you want it to be a source of income for you some months down the line. And given that you’ll be in blogging for business, the right place to start is to look for the best web hosting service that fits your budget.
Finally, I hope that this guide has helped you to understand why I advocate for self-hosted blogging platforms instead of the free options such as Medium, Site 123, and Blogger.