Blogging platforms compared

Bloggers who want maximum flexibility and are comfortable with technical setup. WordPress.org (self-hosted) powers 43% of all websites; WordPress.com is the hosted version with less control.

WordPress.com free tier exists but is limited. Paid plans from $4/month. WordPress.org is free software but requires hosting ($5-15/month) plus domain.

Excellent, with plugins like Yoast and Rank Math providing comprehensive SEO controls. Self-hosted WordPress has the strongest SEO capability of any platform when properly configured.

Not built in natively. Requires a third-party plugin or email service integration. Additional cost and technical setup required.

Full flexibility — ads, affiliates, digital products, memberships, all supported through plugins.

Best for technically confident bloggers who prioritise maximum control and flexibility. Steeper learning curve than alternatives.

Writers who want to start a paid newsletter or build a subscriber community with minimal technical work.

Free to start. Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue. No upfront cost.

Moderate. Substack posts are indexed by Google but the platform lacks granular SEO controls (no custom meta descriptions, limited canonical URL management). Harder to rank competitively.

Core feature. Built-in email delivery, subscriber management, and paid tier management. Excellent for newsletter-first creators.

Paid subscriptions (Substack takes 10%), tips, and chat features. Limited compared to self-hosted options.

Best for newsletter-first writers who prioritise ease of use and do not need strong SEO. The 10% cut becomes significant at scale.

Serious independent publishers who want professional tools without WordPress complexity.

Ghost.org hosted plans from $9/month (basic) to $199/month (business). Self-hosted Ghost is free but requires a server.

Strong built-in SEO features including meta description control, canonical URLs, structured data, and sitemap.

Built in natively. Email delivery, subscriber management, and paid newsletter tiers are core Ghost features.

Paid memberships (Ghost charges 0% on revenue). Integrations with Stripe for payment processing.

Best for publishers who want professional features and take their content seriously. Higher price point than alternatives.

Writers who want to reach an existing audience without building their own from scratch.

Free to publish. Medium Partner Programme pays writers based on engagement from paying Medium members.

Mixed. Medium articles rank well in Google due to the platform's domain authority, but you share that authority with all Medium writers and cannot rank for your own domain.

Not available. Medium does not have a newsletter feature — you cannot build a subscriber list you own.

Medium Partner Programme (revenue share, amounts vary). No other monetisation options. You cannot run ads or sell products directly.

Good for audience reach but poor for audience ownership. No newsletter, no custom domain, no real monetisation. Best as a distribution channel, not a primary home.

Casual bloggers who want a completely free, simple solution with Google infrastructure.

Completely free, including hosting. Owned by Google.

Functional but limited. No granular meta description control, no structured data support, and Google has deprioritised Blogger development for many years.

Not available. Blogger has no email list or newsletter functionality.

Google AdSense integration available. No other native monetisation.

Best for hobbyist bloggers with no commercial goals. Not recommended for anyone building a blog with growth or monetisation ambitions — limited SEO, no newsletter, no real support.

Newsletter publishers who want advanced audience growth tools including referral programmes and recommendation networks.

Free plan (up to 2,500 subscribers). Paid plans from $39/month for advanced features.

Good. Beehiiv publishes issues as web pages that can be indexed by Google. SEO controls are improving but still developing.

Core feature with advanced growth tools: referral programme, recommendation network (cross-newsletter promotions), and detailed analytics.

Paid subscriptions (Beehiiv charges 0% on revenue), boosts (pay per new subscriber), and ad network.

Best for newsletter publishers focused on growth. More newsletter-specific tooling than Ghost but less general blogging capability.

Bloggers and creators who want blog and newsletter in one place without technical complexity, with full SEO controls and no commission on subscribers or revenue.

Free. No commission on revenue or subscribers.

Built-in SEO controls including custom meta descriptions, canonical URLs, structured data, and sitemap generation.

Native newsletter built in. Subscribers collected directly from blog posts; issue scheduling and email delivery included.

No commission on subscriptions, digital products, or affiliate revenue. Bloggers keep 100% of what they earn.

Best for bloggers who want a clean, integrated platform that grows with them — from free publishing to full monetisation without switching tools or losing audience.