Blog · Platforms, Domains and Hosting

Blogging Platforms Compared: WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Ghost and More

The fastCMS team · 9 October 2026 · 8 min read

The best blogging platform is the one that still fits your blog in two years, not the one with the prettiest homepage today. Picking on looks is the usual mistake. The wall shows up later, when you want to add an affiliate tool, change your design or move to a cheaper host, and find the platform won't let you.

So before comparing names, you need to understand one split. Everything else follows from it.

The big split: renting or owning

Every blogging platform falls into one of two camps.

Hosted platforms run the software and the servers for you. You sign up, pick a template and write. Wix, Squarespace, WordPress.com, Medium, Substack and Blogger all work this way. You're renting. That's convenient, and for many people it's the right call, but the landlord sets the rules: what you can install, what the site can look like, what it costs next year and how easily you can leave.

Self-hosted platforms are software you install on web hosting you pay for yourself. WordPress.org, Ghost (when you run it yourself) and fastCMS are examples. You own the files and the database. You can move to another host whenever you like, add whatever you want and nobody can switch your site off because a policy changed. The price is a little more setup and some responsibility for updates and backups.

One point that confuses people: on a hosted platform you still own the copyright in your words. What you don't own is the platform, the site structure or, often, an easy way out.

The main platforms at a glance

Costs below are rough ranges and change often, so check current pricing before you sign up.

Honest notes on each

WordPress.org

WordPress powers far more websites than any other system, and it has by far the biggest ecosystem: tens of thousands of themes and plugins, every web host supports it, and almost any problem you hit has already been answered somewhere online. If you need a feature, someone has built it. You download it free from wordpress.org and install it on your own hosting (most hosts do this in one click).

The downsides come from the same freedom. You're responsible for updates, security and backups. Plugins pile up, some are badly made, and a site with twenty of them can get slow and fragile. For a complete beginner the admin area can feel crowded at first.

WordPress.com

Same core software, run for you by the company Automattic. You get WordPress without touching a server, which is a fair trade for many people. The catch is that the free and cheaper plans are restricted: you're on a wordpress.com address unless you pay, and installing your own plugins and themes is limited to the higher-priced plans. People also mix the two up constantly. If a guide tells you to "install a plugin" and you can't find the button, you're probably on WordPress.com.

Wix

Wix has one of the easiest drag-and-drop editors around, and everything (hosting, design, forms, booking, a shop) lives in one place. It's a sensible pick if you run a small business and the blog is one part of the site. The free plan shows Wix branding and uses a Wix address. Its blogging tools are fine but less deep than dedicated blog software, and moving a Wix site to another platform later is awkward because there's no simple full export.

Squarespace

Squarespace's templates look very good out of the box, which is why photographers, designers and small brands like it. It's all-in-one and well supported. There's no free plan, the blogging features are fairly basic, there are far fewer add-ons than WordPress, and exporting your content takes you only part of the way if you ever leave.

Ghost

Ghost is open-source software built purely for publishing. The editor is clean, pages are quick, and newsletters and paid memberships are built in rather than bolted on. You can pay for Ghost's own managed hosting (Ghost(Pro)) or run it yourself for free. Self-hosting usually means a virtual server rather than basic shared hosting, which is more technical than a one-click WordPress install. The theme and integration choice is much smaller than WordPress's.

Substack and Medium

These two work differently, but the trade-off is similar: very easy, a built-in audience, little control.

Substack is a newsletter with a website attached. Posts go straight to subscribers' inboxes, and its app can help new readers find you. It's free to start and takes a percentage of paid subscriptions. You can export your subscriber list, which is a real point in its favour. Design options are limited, and the site side is basic if you want readers to arrive from Google over time.

Medium gives you readers from day one with no setup at all. But you're one author among many on someone else's site, under their branding and rules, and the ways to earn are whatever Medium's programme offers at the time. It works well as a second home for posts that first appear on your own blog.

Blogger

Blogger is free, owned by Google and has been around since 1999. You can connect your own domain at no extra cost. It's simple and stable for a hobby blog. The templates feel dated, new features arrive slowly, and there's far less you can add than on WordPress or Ghost.

fastCMS

fastCMS is a newer self-hosted blogging system, made by us, so weigh this paragraph accordingly. It's sold for a one-time price rather than a subscription, has optional AI writing built into the editor (you can ignore it entirely), and serves very fast, static-style pages. Its ecosystem is much newer and smaller than WordPress's, with fewer themes and add-ons, and it needs hosting that runs PHP.

How to choose for your situation

There's no single winner. There's a best fit for what you're trying to do.

You want zero technical work

Go hosted. If the blog is part of a business site, Wix or Squarespace will get you a good-looking result quickly. If it's a hobby or a personal journal, Blogger or the free WordPress.com plan costs nothing. Accept that you're trading control for convenience, and that's fine if you go in knowing it.

You want to own it and earn from it long term

Go self-hosted. This is the situation most people reading a blog like this are in. Ads, affiliate links and your own products all work better when you control the site, the speed and the email signups (more on that in how bloggers make money).

WordPress.org is the safe default here, mainly because of that ecosystem. Ghost and fastCMS are reasonable alternatives if you want something lighter, as long as you're comfortable with fewer add-ons.

Your newsletter matters more than your website

Substack if you want the simplest possible start. Ghost if you want your own site and domain, more design control and to keep more of your subscription revenue. Either way, make sure you can export your list.

You're testing whether you even like writing

Medium or a free Blogger site is a low-stakes way to find out. If you stick with it for a couple of months, move to something you own before the archive gets big.

Questions to ask before you commit

Switching later is possible but annoying. Your web addresses usually change, and if you don't set up redirects properly you can lose the search traffic you've built. So spend ten minutes on these first:

1. Can I use my own domain, and does that cost extra?
2. Can I export everything (posts, images, subscribers) in a standard format?
3. Can I add the things I'll need later: affiliate links, ads, an email signup form, analytics?
4. What will this cost per year once the introductory price ends?
5. If the company changed its rules tomorrow, what would I lose?

If you're weighing up budgets, our breakdown of what it costs to start a blog puts real ranges on hosting, domains and tools.

FAQ

What is the best blogging platform for beginners?

If you want no technical work at all, a hosted platform like WordPress.com, Wix or Blogger is the easiest start. If you plan to earn from the blog, self-hosted WordPress.org is the most common choice because of its huge ecosystem and support.

Is WordPress.com the same as WordPress.org?

No. WordPress.org is free software you install on your own hosting and control fully. WordPress.com is a hosted service built on that software, with free and paid plans that limit what you can install unless you pay for a higher tier.

Can I make money with a free blogging platform?

Sometimes, but free plans often restrict ads, plugins or your own domain, and some platforms take a share of what you earn. If income is the goal, a self-hosted blog on your own domain gives you the most options.

Can I move my blog to another platform later?

Yes, but how easy it is depends on the platform. WordPress and Ghost export cleanly; some all-in-one builders make it harder. Set up redirects from your old addresses so you keep your search traffic.

Which blogging platform is best for SEO?

Any of the main platforms can rank well. What matters far more is useful content, a fast site, a sensible structure and your own domain, which is easiest to control on a self-hosted blog.

What to do next

Pick the situation above that sounds most like you, shortlist two platforms and spend half an hour in each one's free trial or demo writing a real draft. The one that gets out of your way wins. Then sort out your address: our guide to choosing a blog domain name walks you through it, and how to start a blog covers the rest of the setup step by step.