I’m listing some blog platform recommendations for a friend, so figured I should just make that list public.
The following are platforms I’m familiar with:
Bear Blog: Simple and loved in the blogging community. I believe it’s free with a paid option. If I didn’t have a custom site, I’d probably use Bear, or Write.as.
Write.as: Also simple and loved. No free version though. Price starts at $6/mo. I used write.as for a few months and enjoyed it.
NeoCities: Nostalgia! I love this concept. I haven’t been through the set up process, but it looks like you may need to know some basic HTML/CSS. There’s a social element with featured blogs. Service is free with a paid option. Some of my favorite blogs are on NeoCities.
Ghost: Feature-rich. Geared toward professional publishers, but anyone can use. If you’re just starting out, might be overkill. I used Ghost a few years ago, before its glow-up. It’s a great platform. Starts at $9/mo. If you’re adventurous, self-hosting a ghost blog is much cheaper.
Micro.blog: Simple to use but has some cool features. There’s also a social element which I like. I use micro.blog daily for sharing interesting links. But long-form works just fine. Starts at $5/mo.
omg.lol: Their blog feature “weblog” is still in beta. But I’m adding them to the list because I love their service so much. It’s also sort of difficult to explain. You get your own web address, a linktree-esque webpage, a Mastodon account on their server, plus some other cool stuff for $20/year. Not bad.
A few platforms I’m unfamiliar with but looked cool
Are.na: described as Tumblr meets Wikipedia.
PostHaven: Up to ten blogs for $5/mo.
Blot: Turns a folder into a website.
TypeShare: Comes with an idea generator and outliner
A few recommends from the Mastodon community after posting:
Note: Some of these perhaps fall on the more technie side and may require some set up..
smol.pub: “Your journal on the small net.”
prose.sh: “a blog platform for hackers” (hell yeah)
mataroa.blog: “Naked blogging platform, for minimalists. Just write.” (Love)
telegra.ph: Opens to a blank canvas and a publish button. Nice.
pika.page: “Pika makes blogging easy and beautiful.”
