Do you want to communicate more on the Internet to promote your activity or your business? It's time to choose a popular blogging platform to share tips, information, and useful examples for your potential clients.
Besides, for a blog to work, it's important to update it regularly with quality articles. Consider getting support from a web copywriter freelancer to receive quality content.
WordPress, Drupal, Wix, Squarespace, Joomla, Ghost, Weebly… Discover 20 popular blog platforms to get started with content marketing!
The tools in this article were selected by our team and are not sponsored. Find out how sponsor your tool.
The best blogging platforms in 2024
There are many CMSs and content-creation platforms on the market. Each tool has its advantages… To choose the popular blog platform that will meet your needs in terms of features, customization, hosting and SEO, here is our top 20!
1. WordPress.org: the most popular blogging platform
Number one on the CMS market, WordPress.org allows you to create a blog, a professional website or an e-commerce site. Among its key features, you will find:
- Simple operation and interface, even for beginners.
- Simplified installation.
- Unlimited customization thanks to thousands of flexible, editable themes.
- Additional options available for free thanks to extensions.
- The installation is free; however, you will need to purchase a domain name and a hosting plan.
- An active community ready to help and support you in creating a blog.
2. WordPress.com: the hosted version of WordPress
Here, this is the self-hosted version of WordPress, for which you do not need a domain name or hosting. Simply sign up for free to be able to publish your first content.
However, you will have an address like: blogname.wordpress.com. If you want a custom URL and to unlock customization features, you can choose from several paid plans ranging from €4 to €45 per month.
Thus, using WordPress.com is relevant for:
- Create a personal blog.
- Test an idea.
- Familiarize yourself with the WordPress interface before considering installing the CMS.
- Avoid the installation process on your own server.
3. Wix: a very popular turnkey blogging platform
Wix is one of the most popular blogging platforms because of its ease of use. To create a blog, programming skills are not necessary: you just need to create your account, customize your website design (although in a limited way) and start writing your content.
Wix is aimed at beginner bloggers looking for hosting and a blogging platform in one place. Nevertheless, that does not prevent it from being versatile and offering HTML features for those who want to further customize site design, monetize their blog, track performance (including traffic), etc.
On the pricing side, Wix offers plans between €6.60 and €34.80 per month. You can also entrust the creation of your Wix site to a professional developer. Unlike WordPress, the cost to create a Wix site by a professional is much more affordable because it is mainly an integration job rather than a development job.
4. Squarespace: another proprietary blogging platform
Popular blogging platform, ideal for creating image-rich content, Squarespace offers award-winning design templates! The tool even provides integrations with Getty Images, Unsplash and Google AMP, so you can create visually appealing content. Needless to say, if you want to launch a blog on a topic where photography is essential (fashion, travel, beauty, decor…), or share a portfolio, it is an essential CMS.
However, you have the option to launch a blog on any topic. With its sixty or so customizable templates, you will surely find something you like.
Squarespace does not offer any free plan. You will have to choose among plans between 11 € and €36 per month.
5. Jimdo: a blogging platform for beginners
Jimdo promises to publish your professional site in a few minutes! Just like Wix, Squarespace and WordPress.com, you only need to sign up to create a blog. Among its main options, you will find:
- Customizable themes.
- A drag-and-drop system to easily create a blog.
- The ability to connect your Facebook and Instagram pages to publish your articles with one click.
- A mobile-optimized display.
- A website compliant with GDPR.
- The purchase of a custom domain.
There is a free plan to try Jimdo. To unlock the maximum number of features, expect between €9 and €39 per month.
6. HubSpot CMS: a blogging platform for large businesses
The famous marketing automation platform offers a tool dedicated to blog creation: HubSpot CMS. With a starting price of €25 per month, the solution proves very comprehensive and includes the following features:
- Advanced SEO features for blog SEO.
- Professional, customizable themes.
- A statistics tracking tool.
- An integrated CRM, ideal if your blog aims to attract leads.
- A drag-and-drop editor to customize the site design.
- Multilingual content creation.
- The ability to run A/B tests on the same page.
7. Blogger: Google's blogging platform
If you are looking for an extremely simplified platform to publish your posts and experiences without much production, Blogger this is what you need!
You only need a Google account to access it. Even though it is free, Blogger offers interesting features such as:
- The purchase of a custom domain.
- Customizable SEO settings.
- Synchronization with other Google tools: Analytics, AdSense, Ads, YouTube…
- A free pre-installed SSL certificate.
8. Drupal: a self-hosted open-source platform
Very flexible open-source content management system (CMS), Drupal is perfectly suited to complex, large-scale blogs. It has hundreds of ready-to-use options and modules to fully customize the web design, structure, SEO, and display of your website.
Given the richness of its features, it is primarily aimed at users with CSS and HTML knowledge, complex requirements, and those seeking a self-hosted solution.
9. Joomla: another self-hosted open-source platform
A major alternative to WordPress and Drupal, Joomla is an open-source CMS equipped with advanced content management functions. Among its main strengths:
- The ability to create custom post types.
- Management of hundreds of users (useful if you want to add many contributors to your blog).
- Publishing content in multiple languages.
- A 100% customizable design.
- An extension marketplace to add features and functionality to your blog.
Like all open-source CMSs, Joomla is completely free.
10. Medium: an integrated blogging platform
Launched by one of Twitter's creators, Medium it aims to be a mix of WordPress and a social network. Its main goal is to draw attention to the published content.
In addition to encouraging quality articles, Medium lets you join a community of writers who, like you, are eager to showcase their projects and provide useful content. It's the ideal tool for managing your personal brand and getting known as a freelancer.
11. Weebly: a proprietary blogging platform
The builder Weebly offers a turnkey solution to quickly create a blog. Starting from a template, you have customization options and a drag-and-drop interface to design a site that reflects your brand.
There is a free plan. However, for a custom domain or advanced marketing, SEO, or analytics features, you'll need to choose a plan costing between €14 and €25 per month.
12. Webador: a free blogging platform
Free, the popular blogging platform Webador is aimed at beginner bloggers who want to test an idea or start a project quickly. With its intuitive interface and drag-and-drop system, you can easily add your logo, photos, videos, or any other elements of your visual identity.
The free plan gives you an address on webador.fr. If you want a custom domain, expect €1 per month for the first three months, then €6 per month. A good option for trying out this CMS!
13. E-monsite: another free blogging platform
A French leader among free blogging platforms, E-monsite allows you to quickly create a blog with a clean, simple, and modern design. If you want a stripped-down space that lets your content take center stage, this is the ideal solution. Thanks to the page builder tool, you can quickly customize the web design by selecting your favorite fonts and colors.
The interface is designed to be playful, with responsive templates to create a blog that is 100% consistent with your image!
14. Typepad: a blogging platform for sharing your passions
Do you like simple, retro designs? Typepad is the perfect solution! Its goal is to help you promote your passion rather than your professional activity. However, the two can be linked! So, if you’re looking for a platform to launch an authentic blog with an intuitive interface and the ability to schedule content, Typepad is still worth considering.
On pricing, the basic plan is $8.95 per month.
15. Tumblr: a microblogging platform
100% free, the popular blogging platform Tumblr is aimed at users who are looking for a visual, eye-catching design. It’s no coincidence that this tool attracts the artistic world as well as creative minds seeking authenticity and simplicity.
If you mainly have images, videos, and GIFs to share, this is where you need to be.
16. LiveJournal: an online blogging tool
LiveJournal was one of the first blogging platforms on the Internet. Like Medium, it’s a cross between a social network and an online magazine. Simple and free, creating an account offers several advantages:
- Publishing and scheduling content.
- Access to a large community of users seeking useful content.
- Visitor and traffic statistics.
- A clean, intuitive interface.
Most features are included in the free plan, but you can unlock more with a professional pack at $19.95 per year.
17. Ghost: another self-hosted blogging platform
Created by some of the developers of WordPress and Mozilla, this popular blogging platform offers an elegant interface for writing and publishing articles. Ghost offers two versions of its tool:
- An open-source CMS (so free!) that you can easily download and install on your server.
- A turnkey solution to create a blog in a few clicks, with the first plan starting at $9 per month.
However, if you need advanced features including SEO optimization, user passwords, content scheduling, or URL shortening, you'll need to choose a plan of $25, $50, or $199 per month.
18. Webnode: a free blog creation platform
Claiming more than 45 million users worldwide, Webnode is another website builder to know. Among its main advantages, we can list:
- Price: plans are affordable and start at €3.50 per month.
- Multilingual support for posts and pages.
- A drag-and-drop editor.
- Modern, mobile-friendly templates.
- The ability to add a small online store in a few clicks.
- Responsive technical support.
19. Blog4ever: create a small blog online
For freelancers and micro-businesses, Blog4ever it remains the ideal platform. With its free plan, you can easily create a blog and publish your first content. The design is very simplified, leaving full prominence to your articles.
If you need premium features, especially regarding template customization, security, and ad removal, choose a plan between €5.90 and €19.90 per month.
20. Alboom: a free blogging platform with no page limits
Brazilian blogging platform, Alboom allows you to create a professional, modern, responsive site with unlimited pages! If you plan to publish a lot of content, this editor is worth a look. The various templates give plenty of room to visuals and photos. If you work in a creative field, you'll surely find a template made for you.
Among Alboom's other advantages, we can list:
- The possible addition of a CRM.
- Customer review management.
- The ability to use Augmented Reality.
- A 100% customizable design.
- Affordable prices: there is a free plan, a €9/month plan and an €18/month plan.
Why use a blogging platform?
If you want to launch your site quickly and simplify content creation, using a popular blogging platform is the best solution! Here, in our opinion, are the top 3 advantages of this type of tool:
Suitable for publishing articles
No surprise, a blog-building platform gives you everything you need to write, schedule and optimize your posts.
You often have an intuitive editor to format your text and add images. Some tools even let you automatically publish your new content to your social networks.
Platforms suited to user management
Where there’s a blog, there are sometimes multiple writers! If you want to launch a collaborative webzine and involve several bloggers, as well as proofreaders or translators, these platforms let you create different user profiles.
You can manage each person’s access rights and maintain full control over your pool of collaborators.
Advanced SEO features depending on the platform
Most blog editors offer more or less advanced SEO options to optimize the ranking of your content. This is essential if you want to monetize your website or use it to increase your visibility with prospects.
What are the advantages of self-hosted blogging platforms?
WordPress, Joomla, Drupal… These CMSs offer templates, plugins and advanced features to develop your websites. With these self-hosted platforms, the customization possibilities are limitless.
You can create a blog 100% aligned with your expectations, one that will evolve alongside your needs and/or your activity.
What might lead you to choose a proprietary blogging platform?
Platforms such as Wix, Jimdo, Squarespace or WordPress.com cater to beginner bloggers who want to launch their site quickly. Users who need little customization or few features turn to these options, which are simple to use and implement.
No need to know HTML or CSS, to install the CMS on a server, or to secure hosting and a domain name yourself. Everything is handled through the same dashboard.
Our tip for choosing the best blogging platform
To choose the popular blog platform right one for your project, assess your needs, your budget and your web development skills. For maximum customization and flexibility, favour a self-hosted CMS—especially if you know at least some code. Conversely, for a simple, no-frills blog to put online quickly, proprietary solutions will suit you better.
In either case, you’ll need quality content for your blog to take off! Consider hiring a writer on our writing platform, Redacteur.com.
The article The 20 most popular blogging platforms in 2024 first appeared on Redacteur.com.
