Best Free Blogging Platforms to Make Money:

1. Wix

Wix is a website building tool that is being used by millions of various individuals for their blog posts and different businesses in order to develop their website. Here you can develop your website or blog for free. The main deal is that Wix will have their own adds on your developed site or if you want to put your own adds, then you will have to buy your own domains and hosting services.

This is basically a drag and drop based website development tool which can be considered the best option for many individual bloggers and business individuals.

Pros

• Easy to design and develop because of drag and drop methods.
• Security guaranteed.
• Various options are available for customization including third-party services.

Cons

• You can’t have your own ads over the free version.
• The free version has some limitations in terms of options.

2. Medium

This platform has gained a lot of popularity in a very short time just because it is very suitable for writing blogs. This is the reason is very popular among writers, journalists, and bloggers because it gives a very easy to use interface. Another interesting things as that the people who are going to post here, need only to make their account and it is all free for them but the people who will be reading the content present on this platform have to pay for getting the services.

This money is paid to the writers. There is not much need for any designing and all you need to do is to write and share your content which can earn you money.

Pros

• Easy for everyone because there is no need for coding.
• Absolutely free.
• You can even earn from Medium.

Cons

• No advertising
• Not reliable
• Limited features.

3. Weebly

Weebly is a website development platform that is suitable for bloggers and business individuals because you can design simple and eCommerce sites here with almost no skills in development required. It is a very secure platform with email and chats support. It works on the principles of drag and drop designing.

Pros

• Very fast and secure websites.
• Editing and maintaining are very simple and easy.
• There are many different templates.

Cons

• Limited options
• You can’t have your own advertisements.

4. Ghost

Ghost is a blogging platform with many services like it is very easy to set up yet there are no compromises to be made on elegance, it comes with built-in search engine optimization and social sharing services and the loading speed is very good. It is a perfect WordPress alternative where you can build entire websites for personal blogging or business needs.

Pros

• Fast and secure.
• Easy to set up and use.
• Built-in functionalities.

Cons

• There are no customization options available.
• Limited themes to select from.
• Programming skills required.

5. Blogger

This platform comes with many templates from which you can choose, and it is a great option for beginners. As it is owned and managed by Google itself, you can also make money by posting adds if you are approved by Google AdSense. You need to do nothing as only your approval will be enough for Google to start displaying adds on your site.

Pros

• An excellent choice for beginners.
• No programming skills required
• Free
• You can make money from it.

Cons

• Limited options.
• The owner can close your blog if you violate their terms and conditions.
• No updates will be coming frequently with new features.

6. Tumblr

Tumblr is a bit different from other blogging platforms where you don’t even need to create your own content, you can simply share the content of other people. This is a little bit like a social networking platform. It is completely free but there are many different posting options where you can post even videos and GIFs.

Pros

• Very easy to use.
• Fast and versatile.
• Social media sharing.
• An excellent platform for creative people to showcase their talent.

Cons

• Limited features.
• Almost no customization.

7. Webflow

Webflow is a website designing tool just like WordPress with the availability of customization. It is the most suitable option for the beginners of the field or the people who have no programming skills because designing, maintenance, and customization are all very easy here.

Pros

• No programming skills required.
• Customizations are exceptional.
• There are various designs and templates already available.

Cons

• The interface is not very easy.
• No customer support options are available.

8. Joomla

This platform can be used for many purposes like building a website for blogging, small business, and huge website but the best use which can be made out of it is for building blogging websites. This works like WordPress, but you will need to have your own hosting service provider.

Pros

• Easy to set up.
• Many customization options are available.
• Secure and fast.
• Multilingual support is available.

Cons

• There are some compatibility issues with some plugins.
• You have to manage your blog yourself.

9. Jimdo

Jimdo is a website designing tool that can be used to design websites for blogging or eCommerce stores. You can design and host your website here for free. There are many templates that are provided but you can also use your own code for designing your website which can be HTML or CSS code.

Pros

• Easy to use.
• You can choose template designs.
• You write code for your own design.
• You can edit the code of your design.

Cons

• Support functionality is limited.
• There are no options for importing or exporting content or data.
• No third-party app support available.

10. Typepad

Typepad is another tool for website building that has many templates that are provided out of the box. There is also no programming skill required for building your own website. there are also some options regarding photo albums, multiple author support, and mobile blogging.

Pros

• Easy to start and use.
• Excellent customer support.
• You will be the owner of your blog.

Cons

• A limited number of blogs.
• Very few widgets are compatible with the ecosystem.

Best Paid Blogging Platforms to Make Money Online:

11. Managed WordPress Site with WPengine

One of the best hosting services for WordPress users, it is known in the field for added features like technical reliability, security, speed. It is sure that these services will not be free, and the best services also make this a not so cheap option. This could be the best option for you if you are not looking forward to seeing your site having errors or unexpected crashes.

Pros

• This is a fully managed hosting service.
• You are provided with a free site migration option.
• Only the experts in the field will be working at your service.
• Very secure and reliable.
• There are free themes available.

Cons

• It is very expensive.
• Only limited for the WordPress users.
• There is no domain registrar.
• For security reasons, some plugins are not allowed.

Pricing

There are many different pricing policies available for every kind of user.

1. A startup plan will give you all the basic services which can be a reasonable option for a small business website or a blog. IT will cost you $24 per month or you can pay annually and get a $4 discount per month.
2. The growth plan is for those business websites which are in emerging state and they need more than basic features. This will cost $115 per month and if you pay annually, you will have to pay $95 for every month which means a $20 per month discount for an annual subscription.
3. Scale plans will be the most expensive that they are currently offering. It is for the higher features and it will cost you $290 per month and it gives you a $49 discount per month on an annual subscription.
4. If you are still not satisfied with these packages and want an even bigger one, then you can contact them and decide any other package which suits your needs.

12. Managed WordPress Site by SiteGround

It is a cPanel web hosting service that is integrated with google cloud infrastructure. Here you can get all the assistance in getting your website built and you can have all their premium features.

Pros

• There is an option for free site migration.
• WordPress installs automatically.
• Very fast with the help of innovative technologies.
• Daily backups and restore is automatic and free.

Cons

• There is limited data storage.
• The data usage policies are very strict.

Pricing

There are three basic plans out of which you can choose the one that suits you.

1. The startup plan starts at a price range of $3.95 to $11.95 per month ranging according to the subscription plan duration which you choose. It is suitable for web starters or smaller websites or blogs.
2. Growbig plan starts at a price range of $5.95 to $19.95 per month ranging according to the subscription plan duration which you choose. It is suitable for bigger and emerging websites or blogs.
3. Gogeek plan starts at a price range of $11.95 to $34.95 per month ranging according to the subscription plan duration which you choose. It is suitable for web starters or smaller websites or blogs.

13. Squarespace

This website building platform is based on drag and drops designing principles. The main highlight is that it is very efficient for beginners or the people with no knowledge about going and designing because they can easily design and develop their website using drag and drop techniques along with a variety of templates that are available.

Pros

• Stylish templates according to modern trends.
• The easy interface at the convenience of beginners.
• Drag and drop make things easy.

Cons

• You can make customized templates, but this will need programming and coding by yourself.
• There are limited integration options available in comparison to the competitors in the market.

Pricing

They are currently offering 4 price plans which are as follows:

1. Personal plan which will cost you $16 per month or $144 per year. This service includes no free domain if you pay monthly.
2. A business plan which will cost you $26 per month or $216 per year. This service includes no free domain if you pay monthly.
3. Basic online store plan which will cost you $30 per month or $312 per year. This service includes no free domain if you pay monthly.
4. Advanced online store plan which will cost you $46 per month or $480 per year. This service includes no free domain if you pay monthly.

14. Gator by HostGator

This site builder tool can be used for making your own website for an eCommerce store or a personal or business blog. It works charms with almost every browser, and it works better than other site building tools that are providing free services. There are many options for designing your site which include colors, elements, design and layout, and many more.

Pros

• No limits on storage and bandwidth.
• Free website transfer.
• Excellent customer support.
• One-click WordPress installation.

Cons

• Some features are limited to some packages.
• It gets expensive sometimes.

Pricing

Their packages are:

1. Starter package at $10.95 per month for a monthly subscription, $8.95 per month for a 1-year subscription, and $7.95 per month for a 2-year subscription.
2. Premium package at $11.95 per month for a monthly subscription, $11.95 per month for a 1-year subscription, and $10.95 per month for a 2-year subscription.
3. eCommerce package at $24.98 per month for a monthly subscription, $19.98 per month for a 1-year subscription, and $18.95 per month for a 2-year subscription.

15. Constant Contact Website Builder

This website designing tool is also based on drag and drop techniques for designing purposes. It is very simple to use, and it also allows operations as simple as mobile-optimized templates. The basic highlight is email marketing services.

Pros

• Easy to use.
• Simple one-click integration with WordPress.
• Good online community.

Cons

• In emails, only youtube video clips can be embedded.
• Limited options
• Built-in templates is very simple.

Pricing

There are two main packages:

1. The Email option is starting at $20 per month and it gives one free month when you signup.
2. Email plus starts at $45 per month and it gives one free month when you signup.

The good thing is that you are getting a 6-day free trial period for checking their services.

Conclusion

There are many options available which sound good but all of them being better than others makes it difficult for people to choose the best for them. Often, they end up buying the wrong subscription, after reading this guide, you can easily select the tool which fulfills your needs in the best ways regarding the services and the prices.