WordPress vs. Blogger – Which One Is Better? (Pros and Cons)

Choosing between WordPress and Blogger is a common decision for anyone looking to start a blog. Both platforms are popular and come with their own pros and cons. But, if you pick the wrong one for your needs, you could face limitations that hold back your blog’s growth and functionality.

At WPBeginner, we use WordPress because it supports extensive customization and can handle large content libraries effectively. In our experience, Blogger is easy to set up but lacks many customization options, which can limit scalability over time.

That said, the platform that is best for you will depend on your unique needs and preferences. Choosing the right platform from the start can save you a lot of frustration down the road.

So, in this article, we’ll compare WordPress and Blogger. We’ll explore their features, benefits, and drawbacks to help you decide which platform is best for your blog.

What to Look For in Your Blog Platform

If you want to start a blog, then you need to consider the features you will need in your blogging tool.

Before we begin our WordPress vs. Blogger comparison, let’s cover some important things to look for when choosing a blog platform:

• Ease of Use: You need a simple and easy-to-use platform to quickly set up your blog, add content, and grow your audience.
• Flexibility: You need a platform that lets you add more features or use more resources as your blog grows.
• Monetization options: Do you want to make money online with your blog? If yes, then you need to choose a platform with plenty of monetization options.
• Support: You may need support while creating your blog, designing, or managing it. If you get stuck or have questions, then you’ll want to get help as quickly and easily as possible.

Aside from the above, you may also want to consider platform costs, available design options, SEO optimization features for driving traffic, and more.

With that in mind, let’s compare how WordPress and Blogger stack up against these requirements.

Table of Contents – WordPress vs. Blogger

Since this is a detailed comparison, please use the quick links below to jump straight to different parts of the article:

Ready? Let’s jump right in!

Overview – WordPress vs. Blogger

As we mentioned above, WordPress and Blogger are the world’s two most widely-used blog management platforms.

According to blog technology usage stats from BuiltWith, WordPress is the #1 most popular blog software. It is used by about 43% of all websites and 97% of all blogs.

The same report shows Blogger as the second most popular platform used by about 0.4% of the blogs in the top 1 million sites.

We also compared the search terms ‘WordPress’ and ‘Blogger’ in Google Trends to see the interest over time for each:

As shown in the screenshot above, WordPress steadily rose to popularity, beating Blogger and dominating the trends since 2014.

What Is WordPress?

WordPress is free, open-source software that allows you to create a website, blog, or online store easily.

First released in 2003, WordPress now powers over 43% of all websites. You can download the WordPress software for free and use it on as many sites as you want.

To create a blog in WordPress, you will need to buy a hosting plan and a domain name to install WordPress.

It sounds a bit complex at first. However, it is pretty simple, with tons of user-friendly tutorials on WPBeginner and other sites.

What Is Blogger?

Blogger is a free blogging service from Google. Started in 1999 by Pyra Labs, it was acquired by Google in 2003.

Blogger is a free blog hosting service that lets you create a blog without paying anything. You also get a free Blogspot subdomain.

Your blog’s address will look something like this: www.yourname.blogspot.com.

However, you can also use a custom domain name with your blog. To do so, you’ll need to register a domain name through third-party domain registrars and then connect it to your Blogger blog.

Ease of Use – Blogger vs. WordPress

Most people who want to create a blog aren’t web developers. They might own a small business or a non-profit, want to share their ideas with the world, or be keen to try a new hobby.

To get their words out there, they need an easy-to-use blogging platform.

Blogger – Ease of Use

Blogger is a simple blogging tool where you can create a blog in just a few minutes. You’ll need a Google account to get started.

Go to the Blogger website and then sign up with your Google account. After that, click the ‘Create New Blog’ option. Next, you can choose your display name, create a blog title, choose an address, and pick a theme.

Once you’ve done that, your blog will be set up. Next, you can configure blog settings, edit your blog layout, and add posts.

The setup process is pretty simple. However, if you want to customize your theme, that’s a lot trickier. You’ll need HTML skills to change your blog’s design in Blogger.

WordPress – Ease of Use

Setting up a WordPress blog is a simple and quick process. You won’t need any coding skills. You need to know how to point and click on a computer screen to set up WordPress and install WordPress plugins.

You can follow our step-by-step beginner’s guide on how to start a WordPress blog, and you’ll be up and running in less than 30 minutes.

Once the setup is done, you can choose a WordPress theme for your blog. A theme is like a complete package of templates and design elements for your blog. It controls how your blog looks and can include customizable features to fit your needs.

After that, you can install the essential WordPress plugins to give your blog more features.

Adding content to WordPress is simple with the system of posts and pages.

Using the intuitive block editor, you can easily create text content and add images, videos, and other media to your WordPress posts and pages.

Aside from the block editor, WordPress has the option of drag-and-drop page builders that let you customize everything.

Winner: WordPress. While the setup process of Blogger is quicker, WordPress makes it much easier to customize things to look exactly how you want.

Ownership – Blogger vs. WordPress

Ownership of your blog is another crucial aspect to consider when choosing a blog site.

Having full ownership of your blog gives you the freedom to do anything, including deciding how to manage and monetize it and when to shut it down.

Who Owns Your Blog on Blogger?

Blogger is a blogging service provided by the tech giant Google. It’s free, reliable, and has enough features to publish your content on the web easily.

However, you do not own it.

Google runs this service and 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 stops supporting Blogger.

Google has a history of abandoning projects without warning, such as FeedBurner and, more recently, Google Business Profile Sites.

Who Owns Your Blog on WordPress?

With WordPress, you 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.

Also, you’re not tied to any specific web host. You can move to a new web host at any point if you want to. With Blogger, you can’t take your blog anywhere except for Blogger itself.

When you use WordPress for your site, you own all your data, and you control what information you share with any third party.

Winner: WordPress. WordPress is better because it gives you full ownership and control over your blog, including the freedom to choose your host and manage your data, unlike Blogger, which Google and subject to their terms control.

Control and Flexibility – Blogger vs. WordPress

Another important thing you need to consider is how much flexibility you’ll have.

Does your blog site let you fully control the design of your blog? Are you able to add new features to your blog?

Let’s see how Blogger and WordPress compare in this aspect.

Control and Flexibility With Blogger

Blogger is designed to be a simple blogging tool. That means the things you can do on your Blogspot blog are limited.

Blogger has a set of built-in “gadgets” that let 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, eCommerce features, and more aren’t available on the Blogger platform.

This seriously limits your potential for making money using Blogger.

Control and Flexibility Options With WordPress

WordPress is open-source software, so you can easily extend it to add new features. With plugins and third-party integrations, you can add almost any feature imaginable to your WordPress blog.

Thousands of free and premium WordPress plugins allow you to modify and extend the default features. For example, using plugins, you could:

• Add an online store to your website
• Create a membership community
• Make a popup to capture visitors’ email addresses
• Add social sharing buttons

… and much more.

If you visit the Plugins page on WordPress.org, you’ll find over 59,000+ free plugins there.

If you have coding skills, then you can even create your own custom plugins and use them on your blog.

Winner: WordPress. When it comes to flexibility and customization options, WordPress is hands down the best long-term solution for any serious blogger who wants to grow their site or build an online business.

Appearance and Design Options

The appearance or design of your blog plays a vital role in attracting visitors and keeping them around. Your blog design needs to give a great first impression to engage users and reduce your site’s bounce rate.

The design also needs to make your blog easy to use and navigate to improve the time spent on your blog.

Blog Design Options in Blogger

Blogger only provides a limited set of templates. These templates are pretty basic and have been used on thousands of blogs.

You can change the colors and layout of these templates using Blogger’s built-in tools. However, you can’t create your own templates or make modifications.

Plus, while there are some non-official Blogger templates available, it can be really tough to find quality ones, plus you’ll need to pay for them.

The small range of templates, the limited customization options, and the lack of layout choices make Blogger fall behind in terms of design choices.

Blog Design Options in WordPress

In WordPress, there are thousands of free and premium themes, making it easy to select the perfect theme for your blog.

There is a WordPress theme for any type of website you can think of. No matter what your site’s about, you’ll find plenty of high-quality themes that are easy to modify and customize.

You can find a collection of nearly 13,000 free WordPress themes on the official WordPress.org themes page.

If you go to Appearance » Themes in your WordPress dashboard, then you can search ‘blog’ to view the themes specifically designed for blogs. You should find more than 5,900+ free blog themes:

You can also get more themes from third-party theme providers like Elegant Themes, Themify, and Astra.

Not only that, but you can also use a simple drag-and-drop WordPress page builder to design stunning landing pages easily in WordPress.

You can even create your own custom WordPress theme without writing any code.

Winner: WordPress. Based on our findings, Blogger offers limited and basic templates. On the other hand, WordPress has thousands of customizable themes and design options, allowing you to create unique, professional-looking blogs.

Security – WordPress vs. Blogger

Security is another essential aspect to consider when selecting your blog platform. If your site is blacklisted or hacked, you could lose months or years of hard work.

Managing Security in Blogger

Using Blogger, you have the advantage of Google’s robust, secure platform. You don’t need to worry about managing your server’s resources, securing your blog, or creating backups.

However, if Blogger goes down, so will your blog, along with all the other sites hosted on Blogger.

Managing Security in WordPress

WordPress is quite secure, but you are responsible for security and backups since it is a self-hosted solution.

The good news is that plenty of WordPress plugins make it easier for you. For example, you can use Duplicator or VaultPress to create a backup and Sucuri for a web application firewall to improve site security.

For a complete guide on managing security in WordPress, see our ultimate WordPress security guide.

Winner: Tie. Both platforms offer distinct advantages and disadvantages regarding security.

Support – WordPress vs. Blogger

Support is another critical factor to consider while choosing your blog platform. You will want to check whether there is a reliable support system to help you out when you need it.

Support Options in Blogger

There is limited support available for Blogger. They have very basic documentation and a user forum. In terms of support, your choices are very limited.

You can click the ‘Help’ option in your 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.

Support Options in WordPress

WordPress has a very active community support system. There are question-answer forums for each theme and plugin on WordPress.org.

For example, this is the official support forum of the popular coming-soon plugin SeedProd.

If you use paid WordPress products, you can get even more dedicated support from their creators. You can also get live support from your web hosting company.

Aside from that, there are thousands of online tutorials created by WordPress developers and community members. Our team of WordPress experts is also helping thousands of users via our Facebook group.

Even with free plugins, you might be able to get help and support if you get stuck. Check out our guide on how to properly ask for WordPress support to boost your chances of getting help.

Winner: WordPress. It offers extensive support options, including active community forums, dedicated support for paid products, web hosting assistance, and thousands of online tutorials.

Future – Blogger vs. WordPress

The future of your blogging platform determines how far you can go with your blog. What’s going to happen to your site in a year’s time or in five years’ time?

Future of Your Blog on Blogger

Blogger hasn’t had any major updates for a very long time. Over the years, we have seen Google get rid of popular services such as Google Reader, Google AdSense for feeds, and FeedBurner.

The future of Blogger depends on Google, and they have the right to shut it down whenever they want. So, the future of your blog also depends on Google’s decisions.

Future of Your Blog on WordPress

WordPress is open-source software, which means its future is not dependent on one company or individual. It’s managed by a community of developers and users.

To find out more about how it works, you can check out our article on the history of WordPress.

WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system (CMS). Thousands of businesses around the globe depend on it. The future of WordPress is bright and reassuring.

Winner: WordPress. This website builder is backed by a large community and isn’t dependent on any single company, ensuring its long-term stability and growth.

Data Portability – WordPress vs. Blogger

The purpose of this article is to help you choose the best platform so that you don’t need to move your site. But mistakes can happen. So, it is essential to check whether your blog platform has secure options to move to another platform or not.

Portability of Your Blogger Blog

Moving your site from Blogger to a different platform is a complicated task. There is a significant risk that you will lose your SEO (search engine rankings), subscribers, and followers during the move.

Even though Blogger allows you to export your content, your data will stay on Google’s servers for a very long time.

Portability of Your WordPress Blog

With WordPress, you have full control over your site’s location. You can easily:

1. Move to a new host: Transfer your WordPress site to a new host without any downtime or losing any content.
2. Change your domain name: You can move your website’s domain name to a new one at any time.
3. Switch to another content management system: If needed, you can migrate your WordPress content to a different CMS.

These options offer flexibility and freedom, unlike more restricted platforms.

Winner: WordPress. Compared to Bloggers, WordPress offers full control and flexibility, allowing you to easily move your site, change your domain, or switch to another platform without losing content or SEO value.

Pricing – Blogger vs. WordPress

You don’t want your blog to be a huge money drain. Equally, you don’t want to become so obsessed with “free” that you struggle to grow your blog.

It’s important to think about how much your blogging platform is going to cost you in terms of both money and opportunities.

Cost of Making a Blog in Blogger

Blogger is an entirely free blogging service. It provides free blog hosting and a free Blogspot subdomain to get started. All Blogger’s themes, gadgets, and other options are free as well, though there are some third-party themes you can pay for.

If you want to use a custom domain name with Blogger, then you’ll have to buy it from a domain registration company like Domain.com. A domain name typically costs $14.99 per year, but you can get a discount with our Domain.com coupon code.

Ultimately, while the Blogger platform is totally free, it lacks many features you will need to make your blog successful.

Cost of Making a Blog in WordPress

The WordPress software is free, but you need to buy a hosting plan and domain name to start a blog.

With Bluehost, you can get a WordPress hosting plan for just $1.99 per month and a free domain along with it.

You also have plenty of choices. For instance, you can start with Hostinger, which offers a free domain to WPBeginner users with a generous discount.

Once you’ve set up your blog, the ongoing cost depends on the services you want to use. Using paid themes and plugins, for example, will obviously cost more than using free ones. However, paid themes and plugins can also bring you a great return on investment if you are monetizing your blog.

For more details, you can see our complete guide on how much it costs to build a WordPress website.

Winner: Tie. Both Blogger and WordPress have free options, making them great choices for bloggers on a budget. But WordPress gives you more flexibility and extra paid features that can really pay off in the long run, especially as your blog grows.

Conclusion: Blogger vs. WordPress – Which One Is Better?

WordPress and Blogger are both widely used blog platforms. But since you need to choose one, it comes down to the purpose of your blog.

If your goal is to make a personal blog and share your stories, then you can choose a simple platform like Blogger.

But if you aim to make a professional blog that can earn a living, then you need a robust and scalable platform like WordPress.

With WordPress, you can add a shop, create a membership website, and use tons of marketing tools to grow your blog and earn money.

Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress vs. Blogger

Over the years, many of our readers have reached out with questions about WordPress and Blogger. Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

1. Which is better for making money, WordPress or Blogger?

WordPress is better for making money from your blog. It allows you to use any advertising platform or affiliate network. You can also use it to sell your own products and services.

Blogger is quite limited in terms of monetization. Plus, you also have to follow their terms and conditions, which limit your options. It doesn’t come with any shopping cart addons, which makes it difficult to use it for eCommerce.

2. Which is easier, Blogger or WordPress?

They are both easy to use. However, Blogger is a hosted platform where Google manages everything in the backend. This makes it look much easier.

On the other hand, WordPress comes with a slight learning curve, which most users go through quite easily. That’s why it is the world’s most popular website platform, powering more than 43% of all websites on the internet.

3. Which is better for SEO, WordPress or Blogger?

WordPress is a lot better in terms of SEO. You can use any WordPress SEO plugins or tools to improve your website SEO further. Blogger, on the other hand, doesn’t come with advanced SEO features.

Thats’s all! We hope this comparison has shed light on the key differences between WordPress and Blogger and helped you make the right decision for your blog. To learn more about WordPress, we recommend you read our guide on why WordPress is free and our article debunking the most common myths about WordPress.

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