Blogger.com and WordPress (.com and .org) are two of the most popular blogging platforms on the internet today. Content creators and bloggers can use Google’s blogger platform to create a blog quickly, but it lacks the customization options that WordPress offers and it does not rank as well in search engines.
Blogger is also free to use with no paid plans, while WordPress.com offers various paid options as well as an “always free” version (the catch if your website will be example.wordpress.com). Last, WordPress.org is free open source software to install on your own hosting account. It’s more feature rich than blogger, but you need to purchase a web hosting account.
What are the broad differences?
In this guide I’m going to break down and compare both WordPress.com, WordPress.org and Blogger.com. I know it’s confusing how WordPress decided to brand their website builder and their free and open source CMS as the same thing.
First, the free version of WordPress.com is more modern and easy to use than blogger.com. However, the free version of WordPress.com comes with a lot more limitations that blogger simply does not have. Primarily the ability to run Google Adsense and to set a custom domain.
To get these same features on WordPress.com that you get on a free blogger blog like no ads and a custom domain you’ll have to pay at a minimum of $4 a month.
WordPress.org is functionally the same as what you get with WordPress.com except you have to install it on your own hosting account. If you’re debating between using one or the other, this content will help you decide which platform is right for your blogging needs. We are going to be breaking down WordPress.com and WordPress.org vs Blogger.com across a few different aspects:
- Pricing
- Ease of Use
- Customization and Design
- Monetization
- SEO
Pricing between WordPress and Blogger
Blogger is totally free to sign up, costs $0 a month for and use and you get free hosting and the ability to set a custom domain if you like. WordPress.com by contrast offers a range of paid plans starting as low as $24/year for its personal plan that provides you with a simple blog, hosting and a custom domain.
WordPress.com does have a free version, but you can not set a custom domain and must use a subdomain of WordPress. So it’s useful to start with, but you’ll need to upgrade your account at some point if you’re serious.
Last, WordPress.org is free and open source, but it is software you install on a hosting account. You can get a shared hosting account for around $90-150 per year depending on the host and the package you purchase.
Blogger prices
Blogger is free and there are no pricing plans to upgrade to. That means you get fast hosting, can publish content, upload photos and videos in your blog posts for free with no limitations and set a custom domain.
To sign up to blogger you’ll need a Gmail account and your blogger blog will be initially be located at a subdomain of blogspot.com. What’s great about Blogger is that you can set a custom domain name for your blogger blog at not additional cost like WordPress.com.
Yes, you’ll have to pay for the domain name from a domain name registrar, but unlike WordPress.com that forces you to upgrade to the “personal” plan to set a custom domain, blogger simply enables this feature with all accounts.
WordPress.com prices
WordPress.com is a website builder blogging platform that offers many features including an intuitive interface, customization options via the Gutenberg block editor, and the ability to publish posts from your phone or tablet with their mobile app.
You control who sees your blog with privacy settings that make it easy for you to share what you want, when you want. With regards to pricing, WordPress is quite expensive and limiting. They currently offer personal, premium, business and ecommerce.
- Personal – Removes ads and allows you to set a custom domain.
- Premium – Allows you to upload videos, use premium themes and install analytics.
- Business – Full featured WordPress. The same you would get from installing WordPress on a cheap shared hosting account.
- Ecommerce – Allows you to use WooCommmerce.
WordPress.org pricing
WordPress.org is the website for the free open source software known as WordPress. It’s different from WordPress.com because it’s a script you install on a hosting account and not a stand along website builder like WordPress.com.
So while it’s free and open source, you’re going to need to pay for a shared hosting account from a webhost like Bluehost. However, instead of paying $25 or $45 a month to unlock your WordPress.com account, you can buy a shared host, install WordPress and WooCommerce for free.
Winner: Blogger and WordPress.org.
Blogger is very generous in that you get a free account and can set a custom domain without needing to upgrade to anything. WordPress.org is powerful and feature rich content marketing option for any shared webhost. WordPress.com is simply expensive compare to the other two options.
Ease of Use for blogger and WordPress
Blogger is a bit more user-friendly when it comes to blogging if you’re not into the technical end of things as it works as a standard text editor but there are some big limitations with your ability to customize the way your website looks. If you want a bit more design control and functionality, and you desire your site to look a bit more modern, then WordPress has more of what you’re looking for.
In addition, Blogger has been around since 2001 while WordPress was released in 2003. With regards to development, WordPress has far outpaced blogger in terms of popularity and development. WordPress also has a larger user base and more support than blogger as well. Though you can find some limited support here for blogger, it simply does not compare to the WordPress support forums if you need help.
Blogger
Blogger works by way of you choosing a template, creating static pages for things like your about page or contact page and to then publishing blog posts.
Blogger is specifically designed for blogging and nothing more. You get a basic text editor, can set headers and sub headers within your content, embed videos and images as well as edit the meta data of all your content.
The only annoyance is that your blog posts must use dates. There is no way to adjust the permalink structure. This is an issue because dates are poor SEO unless you’re publishing a news website.
Overall, Blogger is simple and easy to use. If you’ve used any text editor, you’ll find blogger intuitive and easy to work with for creating blog posts.
WordPress ease of use
WordPress (both .com and .org) is also easy to use but does have a slight learning curve when compared to blogger due in part to the Gutenberg block editor. With WordPress you design your content with various blocks: Text blocks, image blocks, video blocks and more.
Once you get the hang of it, you’ll not want to go back to a text editor like blogger as the use of blocks make for creating content easy. Both WordPress.com and WordPress.org use the same content management/creation interface so there is no difference to note.
Again, the only limitation is that with WordPress.com, if you’re on the personal or premium plan you can’t install themes or plugins of your choosing which to me is a huge limitation as that’s what makes WordPress so compelling, it’s expandability.
Winner: WordPress.org.
Blogger is easy and simple, WordPress.com has annoying limitations on their more affordable plans. WordPress.org on a shared hosting account is a full featured content creation experience.
Customization and design for Blogger and WordPress
Both WordPress and blogger offer a great platform for content creators that want to share their work with the world. The customization and design options of each give bloggers an easy way to start up and get going quickly, without much hassle or technical knowledge required.
Blogger.com design and customization
When you first sign up for blogger.com, it is a blank canvas waiting to be customized with your own personal touch. The site offers various templates that are perfect for creating your very own blog and many features to help you get started blogging right away.
It’s never been easier to start writing about what interests you most and share your thoughts with the world. However, the templates are difficult to customize in any meaningful way, with a lot of the older templates simply being outdated.
Blogger does enables to access to the HTML and CSS so you can do more advanced design implementations like hiding the blogger attribution in the footer as well as adding a footer menu. But it’s not easy and straight forward like it is with WordPress.
WordPress.com design and customization
With WordPress.com you’re limited on themes based on what plan you purchase. The business plan is equivalent to having installed WordPress on your own shared webhost in that you can upload any theme and plugin of your choosing.
Otherwise, on the personal and premium plans you’re limited in your selection of WordPress themes and you don’t have access to any plugins either for added functionality. So while there is a massive library of free themes and some excellent premium themes, unless you’re willing to pay $25 a month or more you won’t have access to any of them.
WordPress.org design and customization
WordPress design works by way of WordPress themes. Themes can be free or paid, with many having a free version and an upgradeable paid version. In general, themes today work as visual editors that allow you a lot of design flexibility over the look and feel of your website.
Last, there are many features that can be customized to suit any specific needs, which makes it a great option for those who want complete control over their site’s appearance and content. WordPress customization also has many other benefits, like promoting user engagement through social media integration as well as increasing search engine rankings with SEO plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math.
Winner: WordPress.org.
WordPress on a shared host can’t be beat. It’s feature rich, is way more customizable than blogger and does not have any annoying limitations like WordPress.com. You get access to tens of thousands of themes and can install any premium theme of your choosing.
Monetization for blogger and WordPress
Both platforms allow you to make money from your website in various ways. Blogger is a bit better than the free version of WordPress.com, but both these platforms pail in comparison to WordPress.org on a shared webhost.
Blogger monetization
Blogger has AdSense integration built in which is the most popular ad network for bloggers. You can also do affiliate marketing for something like Amazon Associates and you can promote your own products and courses in your blog posts.
Overall, for a free platform blogger enables their users to make an income from their online work fairly easily. What we particularly like is that you can enable AdSense auto ads to maximize your display ad results.
Where blogger.com falls short however is the lack of affiliate link cloaking. What that means is that you can’t change an long and weird looking affiliate link into something more logical trustworthy looking, like websitecreativepro.com/product for example.
WordPress.com monetization
WordPress.com has the worst options of all on this list. As it’s a website builder, they don’t allow you to use AdSense and instead must use Word Ads. Like Blogger, you can do affiliate marketing and promote your own products to external URL’s with no issue.
Like blogger as well, there is no link cloaking for affiliate links. So you have to use something like Bit.ly or just use the direct affiliate link. As you have to pay to set a custom domain (the domain and to upgrade your account) we find blogger to be better when compared to WordPress.com.
Monetization of WordPress.org on a shared host
WordPress on your own shared host is feature rich with no limitations. As it’s you’re website on your own host you can do whatever you want for monetization. You can sign up to any ad network you want, not only AdSense nor are you required to use Word Ads.
You can cloak affiliate links with a plugin like Pretty Links, and because you have access to themes and plugins you simply have more design features that are better for promoting products and increasing conversions.
Last, you can sell your WordPress powered .com which you can’t do with WordPress.com or blogger. You can build a website and blog then go to Flippa or Empire Flippers and sell the asset you built.
Winner: WordPress.org on your own hosting account.
Your own self hosted website that uses WordPress as a CMS is the better option for display networks, affiliate marketing, better on-page SEO and better design options. Last, you can sell your website in an easier way than a blogger blog or a WordPress.com website..
WordPress vs Blogger for SEO
Which ranks better? A WordPress website or a blogger.com website? WordPress.org on a shared host ranks better than both blogger and WordPress.com. For blogger and WordPress.com, you’re going to need more time, links and authority but it is possible to rank a blogger blog. WordPress.com I’ve found to rank better than blogger, but you’re stuck with dates in the URL which is poor on-page SEO.
In addition, with WordPress.org on a shared host you have access to plugins like Yoast SEO and Rank Math which help your on page SEO. You also have more control over the permalink structure for your website. Where with blogger and WordPress.com you must use dates in your URL which is terrible for most blogs.
Winner: WordPress on your own shared host.
More control over the on page SEO, advanced SEO plugins and a stronger IP address that make building and ranking a WordPress website more easy when compared to WordPress.com and Blogger.com.
WordPress vs Blogger conclusion
So WordPress and blogger are both great platforms that are very different and made for different purposes. Blogger is ideal for casual bloggers looking to share personal updates or to create simple blogs about a niche specific subject due to it’s free price point.
WordPress.org on a shared host is ideal for serious content creators looking to make money blogging and build a sellable asset. WordPress.com is a mediocre website builder and should be avoided as it does not provide enough value and is too expensive when compared to blogger and WordPress.org.
In short, go with Blogger if you want a free blog for fun or Bluehost and WordPress.org if you want to create a professional website or start a pro blog.
