More and more people want to share their thoughts online. They want to share their ideas and build full-fledged by writing online. So they are constantly looking for platforms to share their content easily. Most of them are technology shy, so they look for platforms that don’t require coding or other technical knowledge.
That is where a platform like Blogger and WordPress comes into play. As both are blogging platforms, people often get confused about which one to choose. That is why today we will create a details comparison between Blogger vs WordPress.
Blogger is a free blogging service from Google. Started in 1999 by Pyra Labs and was acquired by Google in 2003. It is a free blog hosting service that lets you create a blog without paying anything at all. You also get a free Blogspot subdomain.
WordPress is free open-source software that allows you to easily create a website, blog, or online store. Started In 2003, WordPress now powers more than 42% of all websites on the internet. You can download the WordPress software for free and use it on as many sites as you want.
Let’s see the differences between these two popular platforms in a detailed manner.
Blogger vs WordPress: The Main Differences
We are going to compare Blogger vs WordPress in various criteria so that users will understand which one to choose.
Ease of Use
With Blogger you can create a blog in just a few minutes. All you need is a Google account to get started.
Just go to the Blogger website and then sign up with your Google account. Then click on the ‘Create New Blog’ option. Choose your display name, and create a blog title, blog address, and theme, and you are done.
When you’ve done that, your blog will be set up. You can configure blog settings, edit your blog layout, and add posts.
On the other hand, setting up a blog in WordPress is a simple and quick process. You don’t need any coding skills.
All you need to do is download the software, create a database, add your username and password, and add a theme. A theme is like a template for your blog. It controls how your blog looks.
Adding content to WordPress is simple by using the system of posts and pages. You can create text content, and add images, videos, and other media to your WordPress posts and pages using the intuitive block editor.
However, there is a learning curve to WordPress, and if you are not familiar with ant technology then you might struggle at the initial stage.
Blogger vs WordPress – Control and Flexibility
Blogger is a simple blogging tool which means the things you can do on your blogs are very limited.
It has a set of “gadgets” that will help you add features like advertising, subscription links, a contact form, and more. However, these gadgets have limited functionality, and there are no alternatives available for them. They’re all provided by Google.
Advanced options like popups, and eCommerce features, aren’t available on the Blogger platform. This will limit your potential for making money using Blogger.
WordPress is open-source software, there’s always a chance to add new features. You can add any feature to your WordPress blog with plugins and third-party integrations.
Using plugins, you can:
- Add an online store to your website
- Create a portfolio
- Add social sharing buttons and more.
If you have some coding skills, you can create your own custom plugins and use them on your blog.
Customization and Design
Blogger only has a limited set of templates to use. Also, these templates are very basic and have been used on thousands of blogs.
However, you can change the colors and layout of these templates using Blogger’s built-in tools. There is now you can create your own templates or make modifications.
There are some third-party Blogger templates available, but it can become really tough to find quality templates, plus you’ll need to pay for them.
If you want to customize your theme, that’s a lot trickier. In order to change your blog’s design in Blogger, you’ll need HTML skills.
In WordPress, there are thousands of free and premium themes, So it is easy to select the perfect theme for your blog.
You will find a WordPress theme for any type of website. These high-quality themes are easy to modify and customize.
There are 7,400+ free WordPress themes on the official WordPress.org themes page.
When you go to Appearance » Themes in your WordPress backend, you can search for ‘blog’ to view the themes specifically designed for blogs.
You can also create your custom WordPress themes without writing any code.
Blogger vs WordPress – Security
There is an added advantage of Google’s secure platform when you are using Blogger. You don’t need to worry about organizing your server’s resources, securing your blog, or creating backups.
However, if the whole Blogger goes down, your site will go down as well, along with all the other sites hosted on Blogger. There is nothing you can do to recover your blog when the Blogger site is down.
WordPress is very much secure, but since it is a self-hosted platform, you’re responsible for security and backups.
You will find plenty of WordPress plugins that make it easier for you. You can use UpdraftPlus or VaultPress for creating a backup, and Sucuri for a web-application firewall to improve site security.
Support
There is limited support available for Blogger. You will find very basic documentation and a users’ forum. So, in terms of support, your choices are very limited.
You can click on the Help button from the Blogger admin panel to see support tutorials as shown in the image below.
Since it is a free service, Google can’t provide one-to-one support to individuals using Blogger.
On the other hand, WordPress has a very active community support system. You will find question-answer forums for each theme and plugin on WordPress.org.
If you are using paid WordPress products, then you will get dedicated support from their original creators. You can definitely get live support from your web hosting company.
Moreover, you will find thousands of online tutorials created by WordPress developers and community members
Even with free plugins, you might be able to get help and support if you get stuck.
Pricing
Blogger is an entirely free blogging service when you’re using their domain name. It has free blog hosting and a free Blogspot subdomain to get started. Blogger’s themes, gadgets, and other features are free as well, but there are some third-party themes you need to pay for.
If you want to use a custom domain name with Blogger, you’ll have to buy it from a domain registration company like Domain.com.
The WordPress software itself is free, but you need to buy a hosting plan and domain name to start hosting your blog. It may cost around $20-$50 per year.
Once you’ve set up your blog, the future costs depend on the services you want to use. However, when you use paid themes and plugins, that will cost more than using free ones.
Moreover, these paid themes and plugins can also bring you a great return on investment when you’re monetizing your blog.
Ownership
Blogger is a blogging service provided by Google. It is free, reliable, and has enough features to easily publish your content on the web. But it is not owned by you.
Google runs this service and it has the right to shut it down or shut down your access to it at any time. It’s just like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, which can ban people or suspend their accounts without warning.
Even if you don’t do anything wrong, you could still lose your blog if Google ever decides to stop supporting Blogger.
With WordPress, you need to use a WordPress hosting provider to host your site. You are free to decide how long you want to run your blog. It won’t be shut down without warning and you are the owner of your resources.
Also, you can change your web host. You can move to a new web host at any point if you want to. When you use WordPress for your site, you own all your data, and you control what information you share with any third party.
Summary: Blogger vs WordPress
So we have seen the major differences between Blogger vs WordPress. From that, we can reach conclusions like,
In terms of ease of use, Blogger is the winner. There is a learning curve to WordPress, whereas you can start writing straightaway in Blogger.
In terms of customization, WordPress is miles ahead. You will not find the customization options in Blogger as you will find in WordPress.
WordPress provides better security than Blogger. You can control your data on WordPress.
In terms of pricing, Blogger is cheaper than WordPress.
WordPress has much bigger support than Blogger.
FAQs on Blogger vs WordPress
In short, the Blogger.com is better than WordPress when you’re creating a blog just to start writing and/or earn a little bit money with Google adsence. If you are OK with its limited features, then this is a great choice for sure. For creating a long term impact and professional website, WordPress is much better.
Yes, you can get access to Google Adsense to make money while using Blogger.com
No. If you want you can create all kinds of websites using WordPress from blogging to eCommerce, from portfolios to brand websites and a lot more.
WordPress is flexible, easy to use, and provides a perfect base for SEO. You need to customize your site regarding Google and other search engine best practices.
Yes, thousands of people still use Blogger and start their web journey with Blogger.com. It’s a very popular online blogging platform from 2003 when Google acquired it from Pyra Labs. It’s easy to use and 100% free, so it’s a great way to start writing a blog.
