Free Blog or Paid Blog? Which one is better to earn an income? | Free Blog Vs. Self-Hosted Blog

Free Blog or Paid Blog

In modern times, blogging is becoming the most popular way to earn money while sitting at home. But for a new blogger, the most common question is whether to start from a free blog or paid blog?

There are free platforms like Blogger, WordPress, etc. to create a blog. Still, people have this curiosity in their mind, why should they use the paid blogging platform.

This blog “Free Blog or Paid Blog? Which one is better to earn an income?” will provide answers to all your questions. In the end, you will be able to choose the best option to start a blog.

So let’s dive in to know which is better? Free blog or paid blog?

What is Free Blog Hosting?

A FREE blog is a blog in which a blogging platform gives you a FREE website to publish a blog. This is the facility through which you can express your views with the help of your website absolutely free of cost.

If you want to start your own free blog then it is very easy to do it. WordPress is the best website for this.

You can easily name your blog by creating an account by signing up for free on WordPress.com and at the same time, you can start writing a blog by choosing one of the free templates given.

If you’re ready to start a blog, making sure it is fast and simple. And this can be a very important step in your blogging journey.

You can generate a limited revenue in free blog hosting, that too not in the long run.

There can be a few limitations  with the free blog as mentioned below:

• Branding

You cannot have your own brand blog domain in free hosting. For Example – You will not have a domain address as mybloggingsite.com. You will either have mybloggingsite.wordpress.com or you will have mybloggingsite.blogspot.com. Which looks quite unprofessional. And it also seems that you are not serious about your blogging site.

• Resources

Free blogs have limited resources, which means you can only host a certain number of files.

• Templates

WordPress.com only allows you to choose from a selection of templates, which means it’s hard to make your site stand out from the others. Blogger allows template editing but is not user-friendly and requires a lot of hard work and technical knowledge to fix.

• Advertisement

You cannot post ads on your WordPress.com blog, which means you cannot generate any kind of advertising revenue. However, Blogger allows Google Adsense if your site is accepted.

• Plugins and Widgets

WordPress.com does not allow the installation of new plugins, widgets, or any other additional features.

What are the Pros of a free blog?

1. No initial start-up cost.
2. Free platforms like WordPress and Blogger are easy to set up and you don’t need any technical knowledge to maintain the website.

What are the Cons of a free blog?

1. You will have domain addresses like example.blogspot.com which has a WordPress or blogger domain attached to yours unless you buy your own domain.
2. The free blog seems less professional than the paid ones.
3. In the case of a free blog, you have less control over your blog. For e.g. you cannot download plugins to expand your website capabilities. Also, you have limitations to use CSS functions and theme selections.
4. Free blogs limit you with bandwidth, video time, and memory space.
5. The advertising options are also limited so it’s a bit harder to make money from your blog.

Is there any cost involved in a free blog?

A free blog can be completely free. However, if you want your own custom domain instead of “Blogger” or “WordPress” you can go for it. It will cost you a very nominal amount. This can be as low as $10 depending on your domain choice and any offer available.

There can be some additional cost if you choose to hire a designer, purchase a paid theme or buy stock photos. Although these heads are not at all very necessary and purely optional.

Who should use free blogs?

Free blogs are suitable for those who want to blog just for fun. Those who are just exploring blogging and are not that serious about blogging can start with a free blog.

What is Paid Blog Hosting or a Self-hosted blog?

A self-hosted blog is one that resides on your own server. However, more people pay a third party to host their blog, which opens them to all the benefits of a self-hosted blog.

Sites like A2Hosting and Bluehost are among some of the popular hosting companies. In simple terms, these companies rent out digital storage space to users to run a website.

What are the Pros of a self-hosted blog?

1. You have full control over your blog. This includes its layout, search engine optimization, advertising revenue, additional functions, and more.
2. With a paid blog, it is possible to install custom themes to brand your blog.
3. You have complete access to your backend files, which allows you to make any necessary code changes.
4. It’s possible for you to make necessary code changes when you have access to your backend files.
5. Paid hosting or a third-party host normally costs only a few dollars per month. There can be higher plans depending upon your need.

 What are the Cons of a self-hosted blog?

1. You need to make an initial investment.
2. One drawback of paid hosting is that often you will need to update the software yourself. WordPress makes it very easy with a user-friendly interface, notification, and update package, but some minor technical knowledge may be required.

What types of costs are involved?

Same as in the free blog you can spend to buy photos, domain names, themes, etc. In paid hosting or self-hosting, you have to invest in the cost of using a third-party host. With paid hosting, you will have a lot of functionalities to install plugins, etc. for customized websites.

Who should use self-hosted blogs?

It is true that self-hosted blogs look more professional and have a lot of functionalities. They are perfectly suited for businesses and professionals. It is equally best for those who are taking blogging as a career.

Which option is best among Free Blog or Paid Blog?

As you must have understood from our discussion so far, both paid hosting and free hosting have their advantages and disadvantages. In such a situation, while taking this decision, you have to first ask yourself some questions.

• Are you serious about blogging?

If you are interested in learning about the world of blogging and are willing to give it a try, then free hosting is a great option. However, if you are serious about this practice then use paid hosting.

• What do you want to do with blogging?

As you already know, blogging is a great way to earn money online. If you want to earn money, don’t hesitate to invest in hosting. But if you just want to share information from blogging with people, then there is no need to pay money for it.

• What kind of blog are you going to make?

For some small blog site that only has not more than 150 web pages and 300 daily views, then free hosting might be enough for you. But for some content-rich blogs and medium-sized sites, paid hosting is more secure.

If you want to go for a paid hosting but are not sure which one is best, you can watch the below YouTube video to understand in detail:

Wrap Up for Free blog or Paid blog

In this blog “Free Blog or Paid Blog? Which one is better to earn an income?” I have explained the free blog and paid blog in detail.

Now, you must know which hosting type is the best option for you. I have one more tip to tell you – make sure that the hosting you choose, the provider should be reliable. My recommendation is to go for paid hosting if you want to earn money out of that blog.

If you don’t know where to start, the above top 3 questions can narrow down your choices and give you some valuable insights.

I hope that the information given by us will be beneficial for you. Still, you have any queries, feel free to comment below.

Must Read:

Learn to Create a Blog in 4 Easy Steps 

The ultimate guide on how to choose the best web hosting

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Priti Rathore Agrawal

Priti is a mompreneur, blogger and digital marketer. She is a co-founder of InfoTalks. Passionate about internet marketing and love to share the same in the form of blogs.