The best blogging platforms, according to hackers
12 blogging platforms recommended in Hacker News comments over the past year, ranked by how many separate people recommend each one.
- Most recommendedSubstack87 people recommend it
- Least regretHandwritten Blogging Platform11 recommend, 0 criticize
- Free and lovedLeaflet (leaflet.pub)22 people recommend it
All blogging platforms
- SubstackLets writers publish free newsletters and charge subscribers, with built-in discovery and email distribution. Common caveat: its fees and push toward a social-feed design.87recommend
- Leaflet (leaflet.pub)People recommend Leaflet as an easy, good blogging platform that publishes to Bluesky and keeps your content under your own control.22recommend
- Ghost CMSPeople recommend Ghost as a good-value, open-source publishing platform that bundles a blog, newsletter and subscriptions. Common caveat: the newsletter feature has not worked well for some.21recommend
- Bear BlogSimple, fast, text-first blogging with a discovery page that gives new blogs exposure, and a free tier with paid extras. Critics mainly flag the date format.18recommend
- TextLogRecommended as a calm, text-only microblog with no likes, counters or engagement tricks, and a simple, fast interface. Critics raise latency from its European servers and the 280-character limit.16recommend
- TumblrRecommended for its comprehensive tagging, friendly art community and RSS feeds. Critics say it declined after ownership changes and the adult content ban, with spam DMs and weak search.13recommend
- MediumPublishing platform where writers can earn from readers; people value the monetization, but critics say paywalls, pop-ups and surface-level posts are common.11recommend
- Handwritten Blogging PlatformRecommended as a unique, beautiful blog that keeps the handwriting feel. Critics say long-form reading feels less intuitive, and text selection while reading is unsupported.11recommend
- WaldiPeople like its quiet, anti-engagement design, where strangers' posts surface new blogs and writers reach readers. Critics note most posts are in languages many readers can't read, and that the AI-written copy feels tone deaf.8recommend
- LiveJournalPeople recommend it for fine-grained post privacy and a feed without algorithmic optimization. Critics say it was sold to Russian owners and turned into spam.7recommend
- BashblogA single bash script that creates a blog, with no dependencies and a default template people like. Critics say bash is awkward and error prone, and that it is limited.7recommend
- LapsePeople recommend Lapse as a low-effort place to keep notes and thoughts, and as a blog that deletes itself if you stop writing.5recommend