7 simple blogging platforms for the writer in you
Most blogging platforms today are built for growth hacking. Algorithms, subscriber funnels, analytics dashboards that make you feel like you're running a business instead of writing a sentence. If you just want a place to put your words where people can read them, the search gets harder than it should be.
Here are seven platforms that still remember blogging can be simple.
1. lykhari
I'll say upfront that this is the one I built, so weigh it accordingly. lykhari is for writers and personal bloggers who want a free subdomain, a simple editor, and the option to add a custom domain, email newsletter, and comments later if you need them, without ever feeling like you're renting space in someone else's growth strategy. It's small. I run it myself.
Pricing: Free (editor, free subdomain, built-in SEO, pages, images, RSS, scheduled posts). PRO is $5/month or $50/year (custom domain, email newsletter, comments, inspiration feed, themes).
Top features:
- Free subdomain with a simple, markdown-friendly editor
- Email newsletter and comments bundled in once you're ready
- One flat price for everything, no revenue share, no metered paywall
2. Bear Blog
About as minimal as it gets. No JavaScript, no tracking, no clutter, just markdown in and a fast page out. It's free, and it stays free unless you want a custom domain. If you want the internet the way it used to feel, before every page tried to sell you something, this is close to it.
Pricing: Free forever on a bearblog.dev subdomain. Upgrade is $5/month, $49/year, or $189 once for life, unlocks a custom domain, image uploads, analytics, and up to 10 sites.
Top features:
- No-JS pages that load instantly
- Markdown editor, nothing else to learn
- Genuinely free tier, no ads or tracking bolted on
3. Write.as (and WriteFreely)
Write.as is built around one idea, you write, it publishes, nothing gets in the way. It's markdown-based, privacy-respecting by default, and if you ever want to leave, WriteFreely is the open source version you can run yourself. Good for people who want their writing to outlive any one company.
Pricing: Free (1 blog, capped daily posts). Pro is $6/month billed yearly ($9/month monthly), custom domain, newsletters, photo hosting, up to 3 blogs. Team is $25/month billed yearly ($30/month monthly).
Top features:
- Distraction-free plain-text and markdown writing
- Privacy by default, no tracking
- Open-source self-hosting path via WriteFreely if you want full ownership
4. micro.blog
Sits somewhere between a blog and a small, quieter version of a social feed. You can post short thoughts or full posts, and it plays well with the wider indie web (RSS, webmentions, that kind of thing). A good fit if you like the idea of a blog that also functions as a place to think out loud.
Pricing: No free tier. Starts at $5/month for blog hosting on your own domain. Premium is $10/month (up to 5 blogs, newsletters), Family $15/month, Studio $20/month (video and podcast tools).
Top features:
- Cross-posting to Mastodon, Bluesky, and other networks
- RSS and podcast support built in from day one
- Indie web extras like webmentions
5. Ghost
More of a publishing platform than a simple blog, but worth including because it does one thing very well, memberships and newsletters for writers who want to eventually charge for their work. It's more setup than the others on this list, especially if you self-host, but the writing experience itself is genuinely good.
Pricing: No free hosted tier (self-hosting the open-source software is free if you run your own server). Ghost(Pro) starts at $18/month for Starter, $29/month for Publisher (adds paid subscriptions), $199/month for Business, all billed annually.
Top features:
- Built-in memberships and paid subscriptions
- Structured editor with cards for embeds and layout
- Newsletter delivery and blog publishing from one system
6. Substack
The one most people have already heard of. Social media first, blog second, and it's the easiest way to get your writing into someone's inbox with zero technical setup. It does have algorithms and social elements. The tradeoff is that it's built for growth in a way the others aren't, recommendations, cross-promotion, that whole machine. Great if that's what you want, less so if you don't.
Pricing: Free to write and publish. No cost unless you charge readers, then Substack takes 10% of subscription revenue plus Stripe's processing fees (roughly 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction).
Top features:
- Strong email deliverability, straight to the inbox
- Discovery network of recommendations from other writers
- Zero setup, pay only if and when you earn
7. Medium
The closest thing to writing where the readers already are. No setup, a genuinely clean editor, and built-in discovery through tags and curation that the others on this list don't offer. The tradeoff is ownership, your posts live inside Medium's ecosystem and algorithm, custom domains and design control are limited, and a lot of what readers see now sits behind its metered paywall. Good for reach, less good if you want the blog to feel like yours.
Pricing: Free to write. Reading membership (required to paywall your own stories or join the Partner Program) is $5/month or $50/year. A "Friend of Medium" tier runs $15/month or $150/year.
Top features:
- Built-in audience through tags and curation
- Partner Program payouts based on reader engagement
- Clean editor with no design decisions to make
Pick based on what you actually want from writing publicly. A place that disappears into the background (Bear Blog, Write.as), a place built for an audience and income (Ghost, Substack, Medium), or something in between (micro.blog, lykhari). The best platform is the one that gets out of the way of the sentence you're trying to write.