Blogger vs WordPress vs Tumblr Comparison

Blogger and Wordpress.com are the best known free blog hosting services, although the fastest-growing free service is tumblr.com.

This page in Google's mobile template

Find out about Tumblr features on the Tumblr Help page. It has a list of languages at the bottom of the page. The chart below compares Blogger versus WordPress (free hosted version):

Template customization, visitor stats, javascript, etc. Static pages, categories & tags, share buttons, etc. Private blogs, password protection, comments, etc.

Advertising 

Wordpress.com is free because revenue comes from ads that are quite often inserted into user posts. Logged-in users don't see them.

Example screenshot:
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Disadvantages of Blogger (Google Blogs) and Wordpress.com : 
1) Blogger's Dynamic Views may not match everyone's preferences.
2) New features at Blogger (blogspot) and WP are turned on by default. You have to take action to opt-out if you don't want to include them in your blog. For example, the "Like" buttons at WP (Beware!) and Blogger's Lightbox.
3) A paid upgrade is required for various enhancements at WP.com.
4) Terms of Service — Blogs can be deleted without warning.
Advantages over self-hosted :
1) They're free.
2) Some hosting services could be more vulnerable to hackers and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
3) No need to back-up your database regularly for safe-keeping.
4) In addition to learning how to use the blog dashboard users would need to become familiar with a web hosting Control Panel.

Unlike the other services, Google's blogs have multiple domain names depending on which country visitors come from. StatCounter is installed on this blog and the image below shows the "Popular Pages" listing for a snapshot of pageviews (the last 500 in the free version):

If your blog receives incoming links from other countries those visitors are likely to link to the version with the domain ending used in their own country.

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Self-hosted WP blogs 

If you purchase web hosting with PHP/MySQL support, you can install and use Word Press with no restrictions. Many hosting companies offer an automated installation service, or you can download the software for free from http://wordpress.org/

Feature bloat has become a problem on the free hosted version. In the past, new features were offered as 'widgets' that users could choose to include. Now, you may find something unexpected on your blog or dashboard at any time. With self-hosted you are in control.

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WP upgrades vs. self-hosted 

This is the cost of a Wordpress.com blog with 3 gigabytes media storage and 3 paid upgrades (prices as advertised on 2012-07-01):

$30.00 - Go Ad-Free
$30.00 - Custom Design
$13.00 - Domain name transfer
______
$73.00 = TOTAL

I don't have to pay for those at the hosting company I use:
http://www.lvcs.net/
An economy web hosting plan starts at $3.99 per month
and includes 10 gigabytes of storage.

The difference?

An annual cost of $73 at Wordpress.com vs. $47.88 for self-hosted. Customers can choose a one-click automated install of Word Press and other popular software packages. Hosting deals can be found elsewhere for as little as $2.99 per month.

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More info ...

Blogger:

• http://www.google.com/support/blogger/ ( Help pages )

• AdSense - Google ads you can utilize on blogspot.

• Third-party import tool: converts up to 1 MB.

• Third-party contact form.

• 50 languages.

WP - free hosted:

• http://en.support.wordpress.com/ ( Help pages )

• Shortcodes — widgets for individual posts.

• Theme Browser.

• 120+ languages.

Tumblr:

• New: Free Themes at Tumblr.

In six months from 2012-01-01 to 2012-07-01 the number of blogs at Tumblr grew from 39.1 million to 62.3 million. For the latest figures see: http://www.tumblr.com/about/

A big advantage at Tumblr is the simple, uncluttered dashboard. Check out these links to dashboard screenshots (actual size): WordPress vs Blogger vs Tumblr.

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Comments:

Comments are closed on this post.
There used to be a separate post for debating the Pros and Cons of the alternative platforms, but it became a target for link-spam and was therefore deleted.

» Posted by kPulsed @ 09:30.