Write.as
Write.as: Helps you create a blog, journal, or newsletter
Reviewed by Gabriel Bachmann
Replace today:
Medium Substack
Blog Software for Self and Managed Hosting
Private alternatives to Medium, Substack, vetted against our public criteria.
Showing 4 of 4
Grouped by threat level
Covered Easy start and good defaults for everyone
Hardened Some setup and real gains for the willing
Bludit
Bludit: Self-hosted, simple, fast, secure, flat-file CMS / Blog
No matches for those filters.
How they compare
| Tool | Hosting | Based in | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| | Self-host | Singapore | Freemium |
| | Hosted | United States | Freemium |
| | Flat-file | Switzerland | Free |
| | Hosted | United States | Freemium |
Publishing on a platform you do not control means renting your audience on terms that can change overnight. Self-hosted and privacy-respecting blog software puts your domain and your data back in your hands, and with them the reader relationship the platform used to own. Some options run on a server you manage, others are hosted for you by a company that sells software rather than attention, but all of them let your words and your readers stay yours.
Why you can’t just make a platform blog private
A closed publishing platform controls distribution and monetisation along with your data, and a settings page cannot change that. The host decides who sees your posts, can place its own tracking on the pages your readers open, and can change the rules or lock you out whenever the business shifts. There is no privacy toggle for “stop being the product,” because the platform is built around owning the relationship between you and your audience. The only real fix is to own the blog yourself: your domain on a host you chose on merit, serving a reader-facing site that carries only what you put on it. That is what every pick on this page is built to give you.
What to look for in blog software
Start with a custom domain, so your address stays yours no matter what software runs behind it. Insist on a full data export in open formats, so your archive and subscriber list are never trapped. Look for built-in RSS and email so readers subscribe directly, and for reader-facing pages that ship with no third-party tracking baked in. Tools like Ghost and Write.as lean toward the writer-first, low-maintenance end of this. Lightweight software with few moving parts is also easier to keep secure than a sprawling stack of plugins, which matters more the longer your blog lives.
How much do you want to run yourself?
Three shapes live here, and the choice is mostly about how much you want to run yourself. Self-hosted software gives the most control and the cleanest privacy story, but you maintain the server. A managed plan trades some of that control for never touching infrastructure, which suits a writer who wants to publish and nothing else. A flat-file system like Bludit skips the database entirely, so the attack surface shrinks and a backup is just a folder you copy. None of these is more “correct” than the others. Pick the one whose upkeep matches the time you actually have.
How we pick these
Every option here is measured against our public listing criteria: you keep a real export in open formats, readers can follow you without a platform account, the reader-facing site is free of third-party tracking by default, and the project is something we would happily run for our own writing. We weigh how easy a tool is to keep secure over years, not just how it looks on day one, and we favour open-source software where the option to audit or move exists. We only list software we would publish on ourselves.
How to switch from a platform
Export your existing posts, point a domain you own at your new blog, and import the archive. Set up RSS and an email list so readers can follow you directly, then tell your existing audience where to find you and run both in parallel for a little while. If you are leaving Medium specifically, our Medium alternatives page walks through the move. Pairing your new blog with a privacy RSS feed reader also lets you follow other writers the same clean way your readers now follow you, with no account tracking what you read.
Frequently asked
- Is self-hosted blog software really more private than a platform?
- It can be, because the difference is structural. When the blog runs on your own domain and server, no platform sits between you and your readers logging who visits and what they read. The reader-facing pages carry only the trackers you choose to add, which for a privacy-minded writer is usually none.
- Can readers subscribe without creating an account?
- Yes. Every option here supports RSS, and most also support email newsletters, so a reader follows you directly with no platform login. You own that subscriber list as a file you can export, rather than renting reach from a feed algorithm that can change overnight.
- Do I need to know how to code to run my own blog?
- Not for the managed and flat-file options, which are built for writers rather than developers. Self-hosting takes a little technical comfort, but the lighter systems here are deliberately simple to install and keep running, and a managed plan removes the server work entirely if you would rather just write.
- What happens to my posts if I want to leave later?
- Good blog software gives you a clean export in an open format, so your words and your subscriber list move with you. That portability is the whole reason to own your blog instead of writing inside a closed platform, where leaving can mean losing your audience and your archive.
- Is a flat-file blog safer than a database-backed one?
- It has a smaller attack surface, because there is no database for an attacker to target and no constant stream of plugin updates to chase. Backups are as simple as copying a folder. The trade is fewer dynamic features, which most personal blogs never miss.
- Can I use my own domain name?
- Yes, and you should. A custom domain is what makes your audience yours: if you ever change software or host, readers and search engines still find you at the same address. Renting a subdomain on someone else's platform ties your identity to their service instead.