Top 5 Blogging Platforms Every Writer Should Try in 2026

I discovered some amazing blogging platforms that allow users to share their experiences and pay through various methods. Any kind of short or medium-form content is welcome here. People can share their life experiences, educational knowledge, and expertise related to any field.

In this blog, you’ll learn what blogging is. Which platform is suitable for which type of content and writers? How you can monetise your content using these platforms, and how reliable they are.

Let’s dive into it.

What is Blogging

Blogging means sharing ideas, knowledge, experiences, and stories through written content on the internet. It is one of the powerful media of communication that allows anyone to share their words with a global audience.

Blogging is suitable for all. Here, no one needs a publication house to publish their words. It gives freedom to everyone, whether they are a professional writer or not. It is about creating meaningful content that can change lives, educate others, express emotions, and offer new perspectives. Through blogging, people can connect with genuine readers and make meaningful connections.

In essence, blogging becomes one of the most powerful tools of expression in the modern world. In fact, in today’s digital era, blogging has also become a reliable source of income. Many blogging platforms and self-hosted websites offer multiple monetisation opportunities, such as advertisements, sponsored content, affiliate marketing, subscriptions, and brand collaborations.

Let’s learn how you can monetise your content using these platforms.

5 Most Used Blogging Platforms you Must Try in 2026

1. WordPress.com

WordPress is the ultimate choice for blogging. It is simple to use, reliable, and has one of the largest publishing ecosystems. Many businesses and global brands are already using this platform.

WordPress has a large user base worldwide. Every month, 409 million people visit WordPress-powered sites, and 20 billion WordPress pages. It powers around 43% of all websites on the internet, which is approximately 455 million WordPress websites globally.

People from every field believe in WordPress because this platform offers thousands of themes and plugins, which make blogging easy. The best part is that WordPress platforms are available in both free and a premium version.

You can start a blog quickly with the free plan, but it comes with limitations, such as a WordPress subdomain, limited customisation, restricted monetisation, and ads displayed on your site. However, to run your website online, you need to pay separately for web hosting and a domain name. The premium plans remove these limitations and allow a custom domain and monetisation.

Ideal for: Writers and brands aiming to build a long-term online presence with a structured website.

Key Features:

• WordPress supports large editorial workflows, SEO tools, analytics, e-commerce, and content scheduling that professionals need.
• Automattic offers hosted versions of WordPress along with premium tools, managed hosting plans, and business-oriented services.
• Offers a customised domain name, better design options, advanced SEO tools, and multiple monetisation methods, such as ads, affiliate marketing, subscriptions, and product sales.
• WordPress has more than 60,000 plugins and themes that allow users to design a blog exactly the way they want. Also, supports hundreds of languages.
• Built with clean code and good URL structures that help to discover your content on search engines like Google.

How users can generate income through WordPress:

1. WordPress allows users to earn through WordAds and Google AdSense.
2. It supports paid newsletters and subscriber-only content.
3. Writers can earn commissions through affiliate marketing(recommending books, tools, courses, or adding affiliate links).
4. It includes sponsored blog posts, product reviews, and paid collaborations.
5. It supports donation buttons and reader contributions.

Simply, WordPress is for writers who want long-term growth and diverse earning options. It remains one of the most reliable platforms to monetise writing in 2026 and beyond. It changes the way of blogging and makes it a sustainable writing career.

2. Medium.com

Medium is unlike WordPress. It is a unique and powerful platform for both writers, whether beginner or experienced. Users can focus purely on content without worrying about design or technical setup. It has no customisation, themes, or coding issues. No affiliate marketing and advertisement work here. Actually, that is its true power.

Medium has become one of the most influential online publishing platforms. It is trusted for its authenticity, readability, and community-driven approach. That’s why Medium reaches around 100 million monthly active readers. There are over 700,000 paying subscribers who support the platform and gain access to premium content. Also, Medium has tens of millions of registered users who have accounts and contribute to the community.

What makes Medium different from others is its ecosystem. Medium focuses on meaningful content that connects with a global audience. That makes it reliable for thoughtful and short-medium form storytellers.

It has a high domain authority score, nearly 95. This signals its strong credibility in search engines. This platform supports content in multiple languages, but English remains the most suitable language.

Ideal for: Beginner writers, Professional writers, Thought Leaders, and Experts.

Key features:

• Medium offers a distraction-free editor that focuses on writing and formatting without complexity.
• It is a free, reliable, fast, and easy-to-use platform that pays using different monetisation methods.
• No technical setup or domain hosting required. Anyone who has a passion for writing can start publishing.
• Their built-in mechanisms, such as algorithmic recommendations and email notifications, help new content find its readers.
• Writers can use tags and even get featured in related publications on Medium.

How writers can generate income through Medium:

1. Medium Partner Program (MPP): Writers earn money by joining the Medium Partner Program. Income is based on views, member reading time, and engagements. The more Medium subscribers read, highlight, and interact with your story, the higher your earnings.
2. Medium allows writers to add affiliate links inside articles. Writers earn commissions by recommending books, tools, or services that align with their content.

Medium has paid millions to writers through its Partner Program. It becomes one of the trusted platforms for a global audience. It is for those who want to focus purely on their writing, without dealing with a complex technical setup. Overall, it is a trustworthy blogging platform.

3. Blogger.com(Blogspot)

Blogger is a platform that is owned by Google. It is one of the oldest and simplest blogging platforms. However, in today’s era, blogging platforms like WordPress and Medium are widely used for blogging, but Blogger has a different user base. It is for beginners who want to start writing at zero cost and no technical complexities.

It is true that some people feel Blogger is outdated or receives fewer updates than modern platforms. I agree with it. I’ve also used it and continuously struggled with indexing pages, URLs, and adding AdSense on my blogs.

But! It is also a fact that Blogger is a safe and reliable platform, which is easy to use. This platform has been maintained as a free service and integrates easily with Google Analytics, Google AdSense, and Google Search Console. That’s why Blogger still receives tens of millions of global visits every month. Around 31.6 million people visited as of late 2025, according to site analytics.

These numbers show that Blogspot blogs are still alive and read. But they occupy a smaller portion of the overall blogging world. It is not for writers with strong SEO controls, e-commerce, membership, or design flexibility.

Ideal For: Beginners, Travellers, Journal-style writers, and Students.

Key Features:

• Blogger is extremely beginner-friendly. It is free, has no hosting fees or monthly charges.
• It works with Google Analytics, AdSense, and Search Console.
• You can use a custom domain if you want a professional web address.
• There’s no traffic limit. Google hosts your content without charging for bandwidth.
• You can choose from simple templates and tweak colours, fonts, and layouts.

How writers can generate income using Blogger:

1. Writers can monetise their blogs by connecting them to Google AdSense.
2. Bloggers often earn money by adding affiliate links within their posts.
3. Writers can publish sponsored content or partnerships on their Blogger sites.

Blogger may not be the nicest platform in 2026, but it remains one of the most accessible ways to begin writing and publishing online. Beginner writers can try it at once.

4. Substack.com

Substack is somewhat like WordPress, due to its email newsletter option. It is one of the most-liked blogging platforms for professional writers. In this platform, writers can directly connect with readers and earn through paid subscriptions.

Substack has shown consistent growth in both users and paid subscriptions over the last few years. By early 2025, the platform had crossed 5 million paid subscriptions. Some reports suggest it has more than 50 million active subscribers overall.

What makes Substack different from others is that it doesn’t rely on ads. It has a direct income method where writers earn directly from their audience through subscription revenue.

Substack is popular for empowering writers, but it also faces some criticism in some areas. It is related to its light content moderation policies, which sometimes allow controversial content to circulate freely. Some analysts observe that a small number of creators earn the majority of revenue. Some users report limited customer support and basic analytics. This is the reason why smaller writers may need strong audience-building skills to succeed. Here, readers subscribe to expert insight, analysis, and trust-based content.

Ideal for: Professional Writers, Journalists, Analysts, and Thought leaders.

Key Features:

• Substack offers a friendly editor that allows writers to publish newsletters, either free or paid, without any technical setup.
• It provides email delivery and direct reach, without depending on search engines.
• Creators set their own pricing, and Stripe handles payment processing.
• Writers get full ownership of their email lists and can export their subscribers’ data.
• It includes video and audio options that allow writers to expand beyond text.

How Writers Can Earn Through Substack:

1. Substack’s primary income model is paid newsletters. Writers charge readers a monthly or yearly subscription to access premium content.
2. Substack allows writers to offer Founding Member tiers, where readers voluntarily pay higher amounts to support the writer.
3. Many writers use Substack to promote books, podcasts, or courses.

Overall, Substack is ideal for writers who want direct reader-supported income, full ownership of their audience, and a simple monetisation system. It is highly recommended for professionals with a good reader base.

5. Ghost.org

Ghost is a modern, fast, and SEO-focused platform built for writers and publishers. Writers who want to turn their writing into a business through subscriptions, premium content, and paid newsletters will find Ghost’s monetisation tools powerful and flexible. It’s excellent for clean, distraction-free blogging.

Ghost’s reliability comes from transparency, open-source development, and consistent community support. Its Pro version offers official support, automatic updates, and optimised infrastructure. Many creators prefer Ghost(Pro) to remain free from technical hassles while keeping the platform fast and secure.

Ghost may not be as large as WordPress, but it is used by serious publishers and subscription-based creators. It has 3 million installs worldwide, including both self-hosted setups and managed hosting. The Ghost(Pro) hosting platform has over 20,000 active paying subscribers. It still has 12,000 independent publishers actively using Ghost for newsletters and content.

Ideal For: Professional bloggers, Writers, Journalists, and Content entrepreneurs.

Key Features:

1. Ghost provides email newsletters and paid memberships that help writers collect payments, manage members, and deliver email newsletters seamlessly.
2. It has a supportive admin dashboard where drafts, previews, and content structuring are all nicely optimised.
3. It provides flexible hosting options. You can either use Ghost(Pro) or Self-host Ghost on your preferred server.
4. Ghost supports clean, responsive themes, and developers can build custom themes using its templating system.
5. SEO features, such as metadata, canonical URLs, and sitemaps, are nicely integrated. Not many plugins are needed.

How Writers Can Earn Through a Ghost Blogging Platform:

1. Ghost allows writers to create paid memberships where readers pay monthly or yearly to access premium content(email newsletter). Writers keep 100% of their revenue.
2. Writers can sell digital products, including e-books, guides, PDFs, courses, or writing resources.
3. Ghost supports voluntary contributions through memberships and one-time payments.
4. Many writers use Ghost as a professional publishing website to attract brand partnerships, freelance writing work, consulting, or coaching opportunities.

Simply, Ghost empowers writers to earn through direct monetisation. It opens the door for long-term income potential. It’s not a giant platform, but real businesses that rely on its performance and membership features can use Ghost beneficially.

Final Words

When you can earn through your words, then why don’t you choose the right platform to grow, earn, and be heard?

Every writer’s journey is different, and the best platform is the one that supports your voice and goals. So, choose the platform that resonates with your words and genre. That gives you a path to reach a global audience.

Now, it’s your turn, reader!

I’d love to hear from you. Comment below and tell me:

Which blogging platform are you currently using? Or which one are you planning to try next?

Also, if this blog helped you understand blogging platforms better, don’t forget to share it with fellow writers who are searching for the right place to start. Let’s learn, grow, and build the writing community together.

Your experiences, questions, and feedback can help me and other writers make smarter choices.

Simran Thakur

Founder AFAWW

Author| Audio story scriptwriter| Screenwriter| Blogger| Poet