Hey everyone,
I want to start a blog with some friends where we can all share our ideas. But we don’t want to use social media. Are there any free and simple platforms you recommend?
Thanks!
Don’t go with free hosting.
Hosting can be really cheap, around $2-10 a month, and it’s much better to pay a little upfront. If you go free, you could get locked out of your blog later and regret it. Find a low-cost host and use WordPress to start your blog. Free isn’t always the best option in the long run.
Have you thought about Medium or Substack?
EvansBrown13 said:
Have you thought about Medium or Substack?
If I were starting a blog now, I’d go with those. Medium and Substack are super simple, and Google trusts them more than a new site. Plus, they already have readers who might discover your content. It could give you a head start. Good luck!
It depends on how you want to set it up. If each of you wants their own login, you’d need to use WordPress.org and set it up on a server. There are plenty of cheap hosts, and I recommend Cloudways. You can find free themes, and the blog can display each person’s name when they post.
With Medium or Substack, everyone would need to log in with the same email, which could get messy. Also, you can’t customize the design as much on those platforms.
I’m hosting my blog for free using Vercel and wisp cms. There’s a free template and a step-by-step guide, even if you don’t know much about coding. You own the code, so you can make tweaks as needed.
Before that, I used Medium, where you can each write from your own accounts and combine everything in one publication. And of course, WordPress is always an option too!
Blogger is probably the easiest option if you’re just looking for something quick and simple.
Quick correction… it’s “my friends and me” and not “my friends and I.”
ContentCraftsman1 said:
Quick correction… it’s “my friends and me” and not “my friends and I.”
Haha!
ContentCraftsman1 said:
Quick correction… it’s “my friends and me” and not “my friends and I.”
Haha!
Yeah, the trick is to remove the other person from the sentence and see if it still works.
@ContentCraftsman1
At first, I thought these grammar rules were a bit random, but your method makes sense. If I just said ‘I will share my thoughts,’ it works fine. But if I wrote ‘my friends and I,’ it feels different. Maybe the rule should be looked at a bit closer.
@Evannah
Not sure I follow completely, but that little trick always works for me! 
I’m actually building something like this. If you want to try it, DM me, and I’ll send you a free account code for you and your friends.