WordPress Alternatives

In this article we'll try to pin point the current benefits of WordPress, as well as its limitations, and we'll provide you with a list of modern alternatives that can help you make the right decision.

WordPress

Back in 2003, WordPress started out as a simple blogging tool. Over the years it has evolved into a website builder, a CMS, and a publishing tool for bigger outlets. WordPress has an extensive library of plugins and extensions that serve various purposes when publishing. 

Pros

• Extensions and plugins ecosystem: WordPress has thousands of add–ons that can extend your build.
• Customizations and control: You can customize existing themes by adding your own HTML, CSS, or JavaScript, which require technical skills.
• Community: WordPress supports a large ecosystem of online tutorials and courses that are helpful for someone wanting to dive deep.

Cons

• Maintenance: Too many plugins can overburden the site and open it up to various security loopholes. 
• Security risks: Because WordPress is so popular, it is also a frequent target for attacks.
• Performance overhead: The overall "heaviness" of WordPress can slow down the performance of your site.

Pricing

WordPress offers various pricing options starting from $9/month and all the way to $70/month. If paid yearly, prices are cheaper, but you have to pay the entire year upfront. Each plan comes with their own limitations and only the Business plan ($40/month) and above allow installing any plugins, including SEO tools. The initial plans, Personal $9/month and Premium $18/month, do not offer anything more than the basics.

Most of the features and benefits are not clearly spelled out in their Pricing page and only experienced once the user hits those limitations and is presented with the option to upgrade.

On the other hand, BlogMaker offers tools right out of the box without the need to install plugins that are hard to maintain and most of the time expose the website and blog to vulnerabilities.

Wordpress Reviews

Here's a WordPress review found in G2 by Elli C.

What do you like best about WordPress.com?
It is really easy to build a website with WordPress. It is no longer just a blog, as they started out. WordPress has evolved, and that's reflected in their offerings.Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about WordPress.com?
You need a plugin for most everything decent, and if you want to use plugins you have to pay, so essentially the platform is no longer free for the occasional user unless you really stick to the basics of basic.Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is WordPress.com solving and how is that benefiting you?
I'm able to put up multiple websites under just one platform, and switching between them is pretty easy. It's a one-stop for several different businesses/organizations/etc. in terms of website building. I have my writer's site, a local club, my own personal blog, etc. all in one platform and yet separate in terms of what visitors see.

WordPress Alternatives

WordPress has come a long way since its launch in 2003. From a simple blogging tool the platform has evolved into a full–blown website builder and a CMS. However, this progress has come with a cost of countless plugins, complex settings, and UX changes that make it a nuissance for users who want to write and publish regularly.

For these reasons and more you might want to look at other alternatives listed below.

BlogMaker

BlogMaker is a modern blogging tool that helps users create their blog with ease and modify its settings to match their brand or existing websites. The feature set is everything you'd expect from an advanced blogging tool and more. One benefit of using BlogMaker is that it's as simple or advanced as you need it. Meaning that the dashboard and the editor is clean in essence, but it has a lot of extra tools for the advanced user.

Pros

• Hosted: You don't have to worry about downloading anything
• /subdirectory hosting: Run your blog on the /subdirectory of your main domain
• Highly customizable: You can modify existing themes to match your brand via their DesignStudio
• SEO–ready: Use every on–site SEO tool, including schema.
• Integrated analytics: You can use your own or rely on privacy–first built–in analytics

Cons

• Not self–hosted: You cannot host it on your servers
• No free tier: BlogMaker is a paid product
• No self–imports: They have to be done through the BlogMaker team

Pricing

BlogMaker offers three clear pricing plans designed for different levels of users. The Starter plan costs $9/month and includes one blog, one author, a free subdomain, domain connection, unlimited posts and pages, a dedicated SSL certificate, and access to DesignStudio for theme customization. The Business plan, labeled as the best value at $29/month, expands on this with up to five blogs, three authors per blog, full on-site SEO tools, priority monitoring, a Post API, /subdirectory hosting, and built-in analytics. For larger teams or agencies, the Agency White Label plan is priced at $349/month, providing ten blogs, five authors per blog, pillar page and topic structure, WordPress migrations, white-label hosting, priority support, and hands-on assistance.

Medium

Medium is an online publishing platform and social journalism outlet that caters to writers and readers alike, and it provides content discovery via its algorithmic feeds. Creating your blog on Medium is completely free, and you can connect your Medium page to your subdomain (example: blog.mydomain.com).

Pros

• Discoverability (for Partner Program members): Medium helps with recommending and promoting your posts, but only if you are part of their Partner Program. Otherwise, reach and discoverability are limited.
• Low barrier to entry: You can start publishing right away.
• No maintenance: Your blog is hosted on Medium and you don't need to run any periodical maintenance.

Cons

• Limited SEO: The lack of control doesn't offer a wide range of options for optimizing your content for search engines.
• Limited customizations: Medium maintains its own brand throughout the platform, and as such, any customization of your page is highly limited.
• Subdomain only: Medium doesn't allow you to connect your page to your root domain or a /subdirectory.

Pricing

On Medium, writers pay nothing to publish their content. Only readers do.

You can publish your content on Medium completely free and connect your Medium page to your own subdomain only. You cannot connect your Medium page to your root domain or to the /subdirectory of your website, something that is easily done in BlogMaker.

The prices below are for readers only, and here's a little caveat: on Medium, your posts live inside their ecosystem. If you join their Partner Program, your posts automatically go behind a paywall (though you can choose to make some free), and then Medium decides which of your posts to promote and recommend. If you don't join their Partner Program, your posts are not promoted as much and won't appear in recommended articles.

On the other hand, for readers who decide to pay the monthly fee, they get many benefits, such as reading member-only stories, supporting writers, and listening to audio narrations (when available).

Ghost

Ghost is an online publishing tool that started as a blogging tool and a WordPress alternative, and then grew into a publishing platform used by both writers and small to mid-sized outlets. Also, it caters to individuals who write newsletters and seek to grow their audience. Something akin to Substack.

Pros

• Open source: You can download, install it, and run it entirely on your own by hosting it on your servers.
• SEO by default: Ghost is optimized to run fast and provide all on–site SEO options.
• Writing simplicity: Their editor aims to be distraction–free so you can focus on your writing.

Cons

• Lack of design customizations: If you want to fine–tune your selected theme in Ghost, you would need to add your own HTML, CSS, and sometimes JavaScript. Ghost doesn't have something like DesignStudio, however you can alter elements like logo, some colors, navigation, etc.
• Lack of plugins and extensions: Ghost's ecosystem is limited in extending it with plugins and other add–ons, especially since they offer an open source version.
• Demanding technical setup: If you decide to host Ghost on your own, there is a considerable amount of maintenance associated with it.

Pricing

Ghost offers three basic pricing tiers and a Custom one which is offered in 1–3 year terms, and it's geared towards complex use cases, such as online news outlets.

Their front–facing subscription plans are Starter, Publisher, and Business.

It's worth mentioning that the /subdirectory option in Ghost is available only through their Business Plan at $239/month and enabling this feature typically incurs an additional setup cost of around $50/month.

In contrast, the /subdirectory option in BlogMaker is offered at the $29/month plan, at no additional expense.

Things to look for in a blogging tool

Selecting a tool for your blogging needs is a crucial decision because moving platforms later on can be cumbersome, and you want to choose the one that fits you best, both in how it’s used (your personal preferences, workflow, likes) and how it performs toward your goals.

Below is a list of criteria that can help you decide:

Ease of use: When writing, you want a tool that’s distraction free on the surface yet robust enough in the background to provide all the necessary features to get the job done.

Speed: Search engines reward blogs that serve content fast. You want a blogging tool that helps visitors quickly navigate from post to post. If your blog is too slow, they will bounce quickly.

SEO tools: On-site SEO customizations go a long way when running a blog aimed at search engines. Make sure your blogging tool allows for metadata customization, includes schema markup, provides a sitemap, and serves pages that search engine bots can easily crawl and index.

Features: A robust blogging tool offers essential features for daily use as well as advanced ones that help you level up your blog. These advanced features can range from creating dynamic tables of contents to adding footnotes, galleries, and more.

Technical aspects: Other features such as code injections, API calls, or translations help you make a hosted blog truly your own. Ideally, a no-code blogging platform should feel as if you built it yourself.

Custom domain: Running your blog on your root domain (domain.com), subdomain (blog.domain.com), or a /subdirectory (domain.com/blog) is crucial for owning your content and ensuring that any SEO equity flows to your main domain.

Aesthetics: The way the dashboard and its themes are designed greatly affects how you feel when using a blogging platform.

Customizations: A blogging tool that allows you to fully customize both technical elements (menus, links, preferences) and visual ones (colors, fonts) gives you a sense of ownership and ensures consistency with your brand.

Newsletter: Most blogging tools do not include a built-in newsletter, but those that do truly think about their users. While there are many standalone newsletter tools, you do not want another layer of maintenance or extra subscription fees on top of running a blog.

Collaboration tools: If you write with other authors or hire editors, being able to give them limited access so they can write their own content without seeing others’ is a big plus. This way you can operate with multiple contributors without compromising security or the safety of your blog.

Analytics: Being able to insert a Google Analytics code (if code injections are supported) is useful, but blogging tools with built-in analytics go a long way in removing yet another task from your plate.

No-code: As a writer and content creator, you want a blogging tool that just works. You do not want to build something from scratch and then deal with maintenance. Choose a tool that is easily customizable through drop-downs, color pickers, font selectors, and text areas for quick input.

Support: Choose a company that genuinely cares about its users and goes above and beyond to help them succeed. Large companies often rely on canned replies or AI-driven chat widgets that lack true empathy. Look for a blogging platform run by real humans who care about your success.

Final Thoughts

For a product that covers all the criteria from above, and more, check out BlogMaker.

BlogMaker's feature set and pricing is unmatched. The Business Plan covers everything you need in a blogging tool, including the /subdirectory hosting, without any extra fees.

In addition you can easily customize any of the existing themes via the DesignStudio section.

Register and test it for free.