Comparison: Blogger and WordPress.com
I’ve received some questions in the past about the main differences between the blog platforms, and I want to clear some of the misunderstandings up as best as I can.
This chart compares the main features of both platforms, including the positives and negatives. Obviously, I couldn’t incorporate everything into the table, and some of the features I am a little more biased towards one platform, but in the end, it is a good comparison between the two.
| Blogger | WordPress.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Online Storage | 1GB, Stored within Picasa Web Albums, Upgrade to 10-400GB ($20 to $500 per year) | 3GB, Stored within Your Blog, Upgrade to 5-25GB ($20 to $90 per year) |
| Custom Domains (example.com) | Bring Your Own, $10 from Google | Bring Your Own + $9.97 for Mapping or $14.97 for Domain and Mapping |
| Advertisements | All Accepted (Specifically AdSense), No Ads Displayed on Blog, but within Back-end | No Ads Accepted, No Ads within Back-end, Ads within Site ($30/year to Remove) |
| Theme Customization | All Coding Accepted | HTML Editing Only, 77 Total Themes, CSS Editing is $15/year |
| Users/Authors | Up to 100 Authors Per Blog | Up to 35 Per Blog, $30/year for Unlimited |
| Interface (Back-end Panel) | Fairly Similar to 2004 Design, Minor Improvements in Beta | Late 2008/2009 Redesign, Similar to WordPress.org |
| Widgets/Gadgets | 20 Blogger Widgets, 620+ User-Created | 30+ Built-in, Limited Third-party |
| Privacy | Completely Private Option (100 Readers), No Search Engine Access | Completely Private Option (35 Readers), No Search Engine Access |
| URL Structure | Abbreviated, Not Customizable | Exact/Cleaner, Customizable |
| Archiving Format | Monthly, Weekly, Daily, None | Monthly Only, but Access Posts Based on Date |
| Video/Other Multimedia | None – YouTube for Video, Third-party for Others | Video, PPT, DOC, PDF, MP3, Complete HD Video Support (Hosting Video is $60/year), or Third-Party like YouTube |
| Organization | None – YouTube for Video, Third-party for Others | Video, PPT, DOC, PDF, MP3, Complete HD Video Support (Hosting Video is $60/year), or Third-Party like YouTube |
| Pages | None, Must Use the “Post Pages” Feature | Full Support, with Separate Pages/Posts |
| Commenting | Show/Hide, Comment Settings, Embedded, Pop-up, Full Page, Backlinks Show/Hide – No Mass Edit Mode, Just Delete/Remove | Close Comments, Threaded Comments, Pagination, Spam Filtering, Mass Edit Mode |
| Custom Pages/Forms | None Included – Third-party Only | Basic Form Included Using Shortcodes |
| Import | Only from Other Blogger Blogs (XML File) | From Blogger, Blogroll, LiveJournal, Movable Type/TypePad, WordPress, and Yahoo! 360 |
| Export | Export as XML File | Export as XML File |
| Email Publishing | Publish New Posts or Save as Drafts | Easier Post Publishing, Images Can be Included |
| Stats/Analytics | All Third-party Solutions Supported | Integrated Stats within Dashboard |
Conclusion
More changes will be added to this table as they become available. I’ll be highlighting the “better” features, and more categories and information will also be added.
As you can see, WordPress.com certainly has limitations, but you also get more tools built-in to allow quick publishing and editing, and it is extremely powerful, at least compared to what Blogger provides out of the box. Overall, it is better for people who want to get right to blogging, compared to Blogger, which is for people who want relatively more freedom.
What are your thoughts on the comparison? Please let me know if there is any incorrect information and whether anything should be changed.
Last Updated: November 1, 2009
Thanks for this great comparison. I’m planning to create a new blog and I’m quite confused whether to remain at Blogger or choose Wordpress this time.
But I think Blogger still easy to used, right?
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Thanks for the comment. I was comparing the free (managed) version of WordPress, compared to the version that you are free to do what you want with. I assume you are talking about that version.
If you want full flexibility, head on over to wordpress.org, although you will need to have your own domain and hosting. Obviously, if you want to be able to create a blog for free, then Blogger remains your best solution. Out-of-the-box, the three systems are nearly identical in what features you have, but WordPress remains the leader (many of the world’s largest sites are powered by it).
I hope this answered your question.
Very nice comparison. I think you can upload videos in Blogger using Google Videos. I think if one would start blogging, Blogger would be the first choice since it’s easy and it gives you time to know the blogosphere. Then, if you want your blog to move a bit higher then you could switch to wordpress for a more professional blog/website. I think one of upside of Blogger is that almost any premium wordpress theme can be ported to blogger. I have seen a recreation of PSD Tuts in blogger and it was amazing. It was not available for download though. WordPress though have slick features like pages and the commenting system is great! I have to patch DISQUS to have my comments threaded. I have learned a lot in blogger though in terms of HTML and CSS.
Well, I did it as a direct comparison between the completely free version (no cost/domain/hosting), so some of the features I listed are not available in the WordPress.com version. The self-hosted version is definitely the professional/more advanced solution. I believe that users can’t upload to Google Video anymore, they’ve transitioned to YouTube embeds only, so there is no “direct” method to upload into Blogger. WordPress makes it easy through the Write Post panel.
WordPress generally has more themes, and higher quality than Blogger, at least until recently.
Thanks for your comment.
Lot of new and interesting information. But currently I use wordpress, and I like the support for adding plugins in wordpress, one of the best feature in wordpress.
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