If you’ve never created a website before, it’s best to start with free options. You don’t need to buy a domain or a hosting plan right away. Sometimes a hobby seems exciting at first, but after a month, you might realize it’s not for you.

If you purchase a 3-year hosting plan to “save” money and then realize within the first 30 days that you don’t enjoy blogging, you haven’t saved anything — you’ve wasted money.

Start with free platforms like:

• Medium – They can be quick to ban users (as happened to me), so it’s not my top recommendation. However, if you write about cats, dogs, or praise left-wing politics, you can publish pretty much anything. The platform is clean, user-friendly, and comes with a built-in audience and some monetization potential.
• Substack – A better option than Medium if you want to write critically about politics. It doesn’t seem to have the same built-in promotion features as Medium, but it gives you more freedom.
• Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress – These services typically offer free plans so you can test the waters. Some even allow free blogging indefinitely. However, free plans often come with ads, and if you post content the platform disapproves of, they may suspend or delete your blog.
• Social Media Blogging – X/Twitter now supports long-form content. Some writers report success using LinkedIn, and Facebook remains another option to consider.

Start for free. If you find that blogging is something you want to do long-term, you can always upgrade to a paid solution later.

What I Use For Blogging

I currently use Hostinger. This isn’t a sponsored recommendation, and I can’t say it’s better than other providers — I just got a great deal at the time. One thing I do appreciate is their large learning academy, which walks you through how to set everything up: