I’m not quite sure why people would opt to pay for blog software like MovableType or TypePad. My guess is that paid blogging companies have a hook into their current user base and people continue to pay each month. But why?
Lets start with TypePad. TypePad starts at $4.95 a month and increases to 14.95 a month. For the basic package, you get one user, one blog, no access to the blog template, no money making ads (for you), no domain name, no real ownership. You’re just renting so you just get the basics. 100Mb of space 2GB of bandwidth is pretty good for a blog but not worth paying for. The Pro account gets more features, transfer and space, but is it worth the price?
For as little as $25 a year you can get shared hosting with 75Mb of space and 3GB of bandwidth. Throw in a domain name for around $9.99 and free WordPress blogging software and you’re good to go. Costs less and you have all the features you could ever want including multiple users, 100% template access and personalized email address’ since you have a real hosting account.
One could argue that you don’t want the hassle of being an admin. You just like the point and click and post stuff. When then why not go with a hosted WordPress blog at WordPress.com? That doesn’t come with all the features that installing WordPress on our own server has but at least it’s free and has all the main features.
Then there is MovableType. For personal use there is a Free version or a $70 version with support. If you are a business, then it costs $200+. $200 to buy the software and then you still have to install, configure and be your own admin?! I can’t imagine. They do have a few things going for it. It will work on Apache, Microsoft ISS or Netscape servers and with multiple database types. However, getting your Microsoft server to meet the requirements is a trick.
Overall, I can’t imagine paying for great blogging software when WordPress is free, comes with all the features you’ll need (some via plugins) and works great.
Do you feel that TypePad or MovableType is worth the money? What about other paid blogging services or software?
[tags]TypePad, MovableType, Apache, Microsoft, Netscape, Blog, Hosting[/tags]
