Starting a blog is exciting, but choosing the best personal blog platform can be overwhelming. With so many options promising simplicity, flexibility, and growth, how do you know which one actually fits your vision?
What if the most popular choice isn’t the best one for you? What if there’s a hidden gem that perfectly balances ease of use, customization, and affordability?
In this guide, we’ll explore the top blogging platforms for 2025, revealing surprising insights that will help you make a confident decision.
What to Look for in a Blogging Platform
Before diving into the list of the best personal blog platforms, let’s understand what truly matters when choosing one. Not all platforms offer the same level of flexibility, SEO tools, or growth potential.
Here are the key factors to consider 👇
1. Ease of Use
If you’re new to blogging, your platform should be intuitive and easy to navigate. Look for drag-and-drop editors, one-click publishing, and clean dashboards.
2. Customization & Design Flexibility
Your blog is your digital identity; it should reflect your brand and voice. Platforms that allow you to customize themes, fonts, and layouts give you more creative control.
3. SEO-Friendliness
Even the best content won’t rank if your platform isn’t SEO-friendly. Choose one that supports meta tags, alt text, custom URLs, and structured data for better search visibility.
4. Monetization Options
If you plan to earn from your blog, ensure the platform supports affiliate marketing, ads, memberships, or e-commerce.
5. Affordability
Budget matters, especially when you’re starting out. Some platforms offer free tiers, while others charge for advanced features.
6. Mobile Optimization
With most users reading on mobile, pick a platform that automatically optimizes your blog for all devices.
7. Scalability
Choose a platform that grows with your ambitions, allowing you to expand features, traffic capacity, and monetization tools as your audience grows.
Comparison Table: Top 9 Personal Blog Platforms in 2025
Platform
Ease of Use
Customization
SEO Tools
Monetization
Best For
Bullet.so
Easy
⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Notion users, simplicity
WordPress
Moderate
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Full control, scalability
Blogger
Very Easy
⭐⭐
⭐⭐
⭐⭐
Beginners, hobby blogging
Substack
Very Easy
⭐
⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Writers focused on newsletters
Drupal
Difficult
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Enterprise-level customization
Ghost
Moderate
⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Writers focused on premium content
Medium
Very Easy
⭐
⭐⭐
⭐⭐
Writers, built-in audience
Weebly
Easy
⭐⭐
⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐
Small business/personal use
Tumblr
Very Easy
⭐⭐
⭐
⭐
Creative and social blogs
Which is the best personal blog platform in 2025?
1. Bullet.so: Best AI Notion Website Builder for Personal Blogs
Pricing Breakdown: Bullet.so pricing starts from $0/site/month, and for advanced features, the pricing may vary
Bullet.so is an AI Notion Website Builder that transforms your Notion pages into professional websites or blogs. It’s perfect for anyone who already uses Notion for note-taking, planning, or organizing their ideas and wants to transform that content into a professional-looking blog seamlessly.
Bullet.so offers a very straightforward sign-up process. You can start using pre-built templates immediately without needing any technical setup.
Now you can style your entire site with AI-powered designs. Think of Notion as the structure and Bullet AI as the paintbrush: it changes how your blog looks (colors, fonts, spacing, borders) without any manual work.
Key Features:
Ease of Use: No coding required! You can easily style and customize your Notion blocks with just a click.
Custom Domain Support: Bullet.so allows you to use your own custom domain, making your blog more professional.
AI-Powered Styling: With Bullet AI, you can style your entire blog website simply by giving instructions like customizing colors, fonts, spacing, and borders without touching code.
Real-Time Customization: Instantly see changes made to your Notion blocks—customize fonts, colors, and alignments without needing to refresh the page.
Monetization Opportunities: You can monetize your blog by offering premium content or exclusive access to readers by creating membership site or paid portal.
Multilingual Sites: With Bullet.so, you can easily transform your blog into a multilingual site. It allows you to set HTML lang tags for different sections and add language-specific navbars and footers, offering a truly global experience.
It’s an intuitive platform that eliminates the technical complexities often associated with blogging. Perfect for minimalists, Bullet.so is ideal for anyone who values simplicity and ease of use.
Pros:
Clean, Minimal Interface: Bullet.so is designed with productivity in mind, offering a minimalist interface that helps users stay focused on their tasks.
AI-Powered Styling (Bullet AI): Instantly style your blog using AI - adjust colors, fonts, spacing, or even upload a screenshot/design to guide the look
Real-Time Collaboration: You can collaborate with team members in real time, making it perfect for remote teams or projects requiring constant updates.
Customizable Templates: The platform offers highly customizable templates that allow users to organize their projects, tasks, and notes in a way that works best for them.
💡 Pro Tip: Bullet.so is perfect for minimalist bloggers who want a seamless experience. Start your site in minutes - try Bullet.so here .
2. WordPress: The Titan of Blogging Platforms
Pricing Breakdown:
WordPress itself is free to use, but you will need to pay for web hosting and a domain. For advanced features, you might need premium themes or plugins, which can increase costs over time.
WordPress used to be complicated to set up, requiring manual installation of hosting, domains, and plugins.
The WordPress dashboard is user-friendly but can be overwhelming due to the sheer number of options available. For content creation, the block editor is intuitive, allowing users to add and arrange elements without coding.
WordPress generates XML sitemaps automatically, which helps search engines crawl and index your site efficiently. You can also customize meta descriptions and titles for individual posts and pages.
Pros:
Highly Scalable: WordPress is versatile and can handle everything from a simple blog to a complex website or e-commerce store. It allows users to easily scale as their website grows.
Customization Options: With thousands of plugins and themes, WordPress offers immense customization capabilities. You can change the look, functionality, and features of your site as needed.
Advanced SEO Features: WordPress comes with built-in SEO tools, such as customizable meta tags and automatic XML sitemaps, which help improve your site's visibility in search engines.
Cons:
Requires Plugins for Many Features: To unlock the full potential of WordPress, you'll often need to rely on third-party plugins, which can add complexity and potential compatibility issues.
Costs Can Add Up: While WordPress itself is free, costs associated with hosting, premium themes, and plugins can add up, especially if you're looking for advanced features or more storage.
Self-Maintained: Since WordPress is a self-hosted platform, you're responsible for maintaining your site, including updating WordPress, plugins, and themes. This can be time-consuming for beginners.
Still deciding if WordPress's flexibility is worth the self-maintenance? Compare Bullet.so and WordPress side-by-side to make your final choice.
3. Blogger: Best Free Option for Beginners
Pricing Breakdown:
Blogger is completely free if you use the default subdomain (e.g., yourblog.blogspot.com). If you want to use a custom domain (e.g., yourblog.com), you’ll need to purchase it, which typically costs around $10/year
Blogger is a free, hosted blogging platform owned by Google. It’s one of the oldest blogging platforms and is incredibly easy to use, making it perfect for beginners who want to start blogging without any technical hassles.
Setting up a Blogger blog is very straightforward. You can quickly sign up using your Google account and start creating posts.
The dashboard is minimal, with easy-to-use options for writing posts, changing themes, and organizing content.
Blogger offers basic SEO features, including the ability to edit meta tags and create custom URLs for posts. However, it lacks more advanced SEO customization that you'd find on platforms like WordPress.
Pros:
Free to Use: Blogger is a completely free platform for blogging, making it an excellent choice for beginners.
Easy Setup with Google Integration: Since Blogger is owned by Google, it integrates well with other Google services, like Google Analytics, AdSense, and Google Drive.
Simple Interface for Beginners: The interface is clean and easy to use, making it ideal for those new to blogging.
Cons:
Limited Customization: The customization options are very basic. While you can change the theme and layout, you cannot access advanced coding or design tools.
No E-commerce Tools: Blogger doesn’t offer built-in e-commerce features. If you want to sell products or services, you’d need to rely on third-party integrations.
Google-Controlled: Since Google owns Blogger, you’re subject to its rules, and they can suspend your blog if they find it violating their terms.
4. Substack: Best for Newsletter Blogging
Pricing Breakdown: Free to use with 10% taken from paid subscriptions. If you have paid subscribers, Substack takes a 10% cut. Although most subscription costs are between $5 and $15.
Substack is a platform that allows writers to publish newsletters and blogs directly to their audience. It focuses on email-based content delivery and subscription monetization.
Sign up, create your newsletter, and start posting. It’s a very simple process, especially for writers focused on email subscriptions.
The dashboard is straightforward, focused on managing subscriptions, sending newsletters, and creating posts.
Substack offers limited SEO features, with automatic handling of titles and metadata for email subscriptions.
Pros:
Great for newsletter-based content.
Built-in email subscription.
Easy monetization: You can set up paid subscriptions directly within Substack.
Cons:
No website design: Substack is primarily an email newsletter platform, with no focus on traditional website design.
Limited customization: The platform offers very few customization options for branding or design.
Audience is mainly newsletter-based: While you can post articles, the platform’s focus is on email and subscriptions.
5. Drupal: Best for Advanced Users
Pricing Breakdown: Drupal is free to use, but you'll need to pay for hosting, domains, and possibly custom development if you want a specialized site.
Drupal is a powerful open-source content management system (CMS), similar to WordPress but more complex and customizable. It’s widely used by enterprises, universities, and government sites.
Setting up Drupal requires web hosting and a database configuration. You’ll need more technical knowledge compared to simpler platforms.
While powerful, the dashboard is complex and is better suited to developers or those with technical knowledge.
Drupal provides advanced SEO tools through modules, allowing for precise control over SEO elements.
Scalable: Ideal for enterprise-level websites or websites with high traffic and complex needs.
Strong developer community: Drupal has a massive community of developers, offering solutions to any problem you might face.
Cons:
Steep learning curve: Drupal requires technical expertise to set up and manage, especially for beginners.
Resource-heavy: It can be slower than other platforms, especially if not optimized properly.
Fewer ready-made themes and plugins: Compared to WordPress, Drupal has fewer pre-built solutions, requiring more customization.
6. Ghost: Best for Writers & Content Creators
Pricing Breakdown:
Ghost is free if self-hosted. Managed hosting options start at $11 USD/month for basic features, with higher-tier plans for more advanced tools.
Ghost is a minimalist blogging platform designed specifically for writers and content creators. It’s optimized for publishing and is perfect for bloggers who want a streamlined, distraction-free writing experience.
Ghost’s admin panel is simple but may require some technical understanding to fully customize. It's optimized for blogging and content creation, with a distraction-free writing environment.
Ghost includes automatic SEO features like customizable meta tags, sitemaps, and structured data.
Pros:
Ideal for Blogging and Publishing: Ghost is a minimalist platform designed specifically for professional bloggers and content creators.
Built-in Membership Features: Ghost offers native membership and subscription tools, allowing you to create premium content.
Fast and Lightweight: Ghost is known for its speed and clean design, offering a fast user experience.
Cons:
Requires Technical Knowledge for Setup: While it’s a great platform, Ghost is self-hosted, meaning you'll need to have some technical knowledge or use a managed hosting provider.
Limited Integrations: Ghost has fewer integrations compared to WordPress, making it harder to connect with certain tools.
Not as Customizable: While it’s streamlined and fast, it’s less flexible when it comes to custom features and design compared to WordPress.
Considering Ghost's powerful, dedicated publishing focus but craving something simpler? See our side-by-side comparison of Bullet.so vs. Ghost to find out which platform requires less setup time.
7. Medium: Best for Built-in Audience
Pricing Breakdown:
Medium is free to use. There’s also a Medium membership for $5/month, which gives access to premium content and additional features.
Medium is a blogging platform that combines personal blogging with social media. It allows you to write and publish articles while also being part of a larger community. Medium is particularly popular for sharing personal stories, essays, and thought-provoking content.
Medium offers an incredibly simple sign-up process and a distraction-free writing environment. It’s ideal for writers who just want to publish and engage without worrying about the design.
Medium automatically handles SEO, but offers limited control over advanced settings like meta descriptions or title tags.
Pros:
Built-in Audience: Medium has a built-in audience of readers, making it easier for new content creators to gain visibility.
Simple Writing Interface: The minimalist editor helps writers focus on their content without distractions.
Social Features: Medium offers social features like followers, comments, and claps, which increase engagement.
Cons:
Limited Customization: Medium offers very little design customization. You’re limited to the platform's built-in layout.
No Control Over Monetization: Medium controls the monetization process, showing its ads and taking a share of the revenue.
Limited SEO Tools: Medium’s SEO features are basic, and you can’t customize the meta tags for individual posts.
8. Weebly: Simple and Affordable Option
Pricing Breakdown: Free plan with a Weebly subdomain. Paid plans start at $10/month for custom domains and additional features.
Weebly is an easy-to-use website builder that offers a simple interface for bloggers. It's designed to help users create websites and blogs quickly, with a focus on affordability and ease of use. Weebly’s drag-and-drop editor makes building a blog as simple as arranging elements on a page.
To set up, choose a template, customize with drag-and-drop elements, and your site is live in no time.
Weebly offers an intuitive dashboard that's perfect for users without any technical experience. Weebly provides basic SEO tools such as meta tags and URL management.
Pros:
Drag-and-drop builder: Weebly is incredibly easy to use, especially for beginners.
Affordable pricing: Weebly offers competitive pricing, making it a good option for small businesses and personal websites.
Built-in e-commerce: Weebly includes integrated e-commerce tools that allow you to easily set up an online store.
Cons:
Limited flexibility: Customization is more restrictive compared to platforms like WordPress.
Basic design options: The templates are basic and may not suit advanced users looking for highly customized designs.
Limited third-party integrations: Not as many integrations as more popular platforms.
9. Tumblr: Best for Creative Blogging
Pricing Breakdown:
Free to use with a Tumblr subdomain.
Paid plans start at $10/year for custom domains.
Tumblr is a social networking site that allows users to create blogs and share multimedia content such as text, images, quotes, links, and videos. It's a platform that combines blogging with social interaction, allowing users to follow and interact with others' blogs, creating a community-driven experience.
Tumblr is easy to set up—just create an account and start blogging with customizable themes.
Tumblr’s dashboard is minimal, focusing on quick posting, media sharing, and social interaction. Basic SEO features like tags are available for categorizing your content.
Pros:
Great for social blogging: Perfect for creative blogs and social engagement.
Easy to use: Very simple to start and maintain.
Customization options: Use third-party themes for greater control over design.
Cons:
Limited monetization options: No integrated e-commerce tools.
Niche audience: More suitable for specific groups like creative artists or fans.
How to Choose the Best Personal Blog Platform
If You Want To…
Choose
Create a blog fast with AI styling
Bullet.so
Build a scalable, professional site
WordPress
Start for free as a beginner
Blogger
Monetize a newsletter
Substack
Focus purely on writing
Ghost
Express creativity socially
Tumblr
Conclusion: The Best Personal Blog Platform for You
In this guide, we've explored the top blogging platforms for 2025, each offering unique strengths for different creator needs.
From AI-powered simplicity to complete customization control, the right choice depends on your goals and technical comfort.
The best platform balances ease of use, design flexibility, SEO capabilities, and monetization options that align with your vision. Whether you're sharing stories, building a business, or growing an audience, the right tools make all the difference.
What is the easiest blogging platform for beginners?
Blogger and Wix are user-friendly and great for beginners with minimal technical skills.
Can I monetize my personal blog?
Yes, platforms like WordPress, Bullet.so, and Ghost support monetization through ads, memberships, or premium content.
Which platform is best for customization?
WordPress offers the highest level of customization with its plugins and themes.
Can I use a custom domain for my blog?
Yes, platforms like Bullet.so, WordPress, and Squarespace allow you to use a custom domain for a professional look.
Is SEO important for personal blogs?
Absolutely! SEO helps your blog rank higher in search results, driving more traffic to your site. Platforms like WordPress and Bullet.so have built-in SEO tools.