If, for some reason, you decide you’d rather trust a platform with your hosting instead of choosing self-hosting for your blog, you will probably choose either Blogger or WordPress.com. These are, by far, the best free choices for blogging. WordPress vs. Blogger – Which one will you find better?
Before we go any further, it’s important to point out that WordPress.com is different than the WordPress script you can install through your own hosting. These are not the same thing and we will be comparing Blogger to WordPress.com, not the script.
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WordPress vs. Blogger-What do You Get with WordPress.com?
WordPress.com provides you with many things free of charge, if you want to start a blog. This is a commercial venture and plenty of time and money have gone into creating the open source blogging platform we know today. With WordPress.com you get:
- 3GB of free storage for posts, pages, images, and other files
- A blog with both dynamic and static capabilities
- Free visitor tracing
- Publicize, helps to connect your blog to your social networks
- The ability to use hundreds of free themes
- Access to WordPress.com apps for iPhone, Android and Blackberry
These features all come free of charge. You can also add upgrades to your WordPress.com blog including:
- Custom Domains – $13 per blog, per year
- Custom design – Custom CSS and fonts for $30 per blog , per year
- Ad-Free Blog – This takes away the advertisements shown on your free blog for $30 per blog, per year
- Premium Themes -Price varies
- Guided Transfer – The moving of your blog to your own hosting for a $129 one-time fee
- Additional storage space – Varies in price
- VideoPress – Allows you to upload and host videos on your blog for $60 per blog, per year
- A Redirect of traffic from your WordPress.com blog to another domain for $13 per blog, per year
After it’s all said and done, you can end up paying quite a bit, if you use the upgrades listed above.
What do You Get with Blogger?
On the other hand, Blogger isn’t a commercial service and is owned by Google. This blogging platform is very old and still mentions using some of Google’s other programs, which don’t exist any longer. They don’t provide any upgrades and you won’t pay a single fee, even with a custom domain name and you get all the custom options Blogger offers.
With Blogger you get:
- A custom template designer
- Free Hosting from Blogger or BlogSpot with a sub-domain name
- The option to use a custom domain name registered through Blogger or one you already own
- Ability to add media without a maximum storage limit
- Access to Google AdSense
- Ability to create static pages
- Mobile access for smart phones
Blogger does offer quite a bit for free, but they don’t give you the option to upgrade with any of the options you may decide you need in the future.
Which is the Better Choice Between Blogger and WordPress.com?
There are quite a few other features we could get into, but when it comes to themes, customization, advertising opportunities and user-friendliness, the battle between WordPress.com vs. Blogger really comes down to personal preference.
Both of these free blogging platforms provide quite a bit. If you just want a personal blog without much customization or upgrades, Blogger may be the better choice. However, if you think you may want to do more with your blog that post to it occasionally, WordPress.com is the better choice.
Should You Even Use Free Blogging Services?
Both WordPress.com and Blogger have their merits. However, if you plan to make money from your blog, you may want to think twice about using a free blogging service.
With a free blogging platform, you give up some of the control and custom options. Instead of using WordPress vs. Blogger, you can choose to open a hosting account and use the WordPress script. This is much more powerful and it comes free with just about every hosting account out there.
You have options when it comes to your blog. Make sure you do your research and choose the right option for your needs. The 2 real choices are WordPress vs. Blogger and who you will use.
