Self-Hosted Free Blogging Platforms
If you want to self-host your blog, platforms like WordPress, Ghost, and Jekyll are free, open-source options that give you control and customization. Compare these top blogging engines to choose the best platform for your needs.
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Worth Checking Out
If you’re looking to start a blog but don’t want to rely on third-party hosting platforms, you may be interested in setting up your own self-hosted blogging platform. Self-hosting gives you more control, customization options, and privacy compared to using someone else’s infrastructure. The good news is there are some great open source blogging platforms available for free that you can install on your own server or web hosting account. In this post, we’ll look at some top options to consider.
WordPress
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WordPress started out as a blogging platform and has grown to be much more, but at its core it still excels at being a self-hosted blogging engine. The open source WordPress software is free to download and run on your own LAMP or LEMP stack. There are thousands of free themes and plugins available to customize the look and functionality of your blog exactly how you want.
While WordPress takes a bit more technical skill to setup and manage than some other options, the flexibility and huge community support make it a top choice for many self-hosted bloggers. There are also managed WordPress hosting providers that make it easier to get started if you don’t want to deal with all the server administration yourself.
Ghost
Ghost is a newer open source blogging platform that was Kickstarted back in 2013. It takes more of a streamlined, minimalist approach built specifically for online publishing instead of being a full-featured CMS like WordPress. The core software is written in Node.js and it uses a SQLite database to be lightweight and fast.
Setting up Ghost on a server or shared hosting account is pretty straightforward. There are official Ghost themes or you can find quality third-party themes for customization. One advantage of Ghost is the centralized Ghost(Pro) hosted platform option with free and paid tiers for those who don’t want to deal with self-hosting.
Jekyll
Jekyll takes a static site generator approach to blogging. Instead of using a database, all content is simply written in Markdown text files which Jekyll will build into a complete static website. This makes Jekyll fast and secure since there is no database to hack into.
However, it also means additions and changes to content must be done through editing text files directly, so it’s less user-friendly for non-technical users. Jekyll is written in Ruby and can be hosted for free on GitHub Pages, which is a popular option. Otherwise, you’ll need a Ruby server environment to host it yourself.
Wrapping Up
Whether you prioritize flexibility, simplicity, performance, or customization there are great open source self-hosted blogging platforms out there to meet your needs. From database-driven engines like WordPress to static site generators like Jekyll, you have options to build a blog on your own terms and without relying on third-party platforms.
The platforms discussed here are just a few of the top choices available. Hopefully this gives you some ideas and options to consider as you plan out building your own self-hosted blogging site.