Jux is a unique platform that utilizes the entire screen for every post. No sidebars, ads or other distracting elements. Jux showcases your quote, article, photo, video, or slideshow in glorious full screen. There’s a good number of styling options, like filters and fonts, at your disposal. Jux is great for photographers and filmmakers who want a portfolio that makes their work stand out. It’s also great for people who write and tell stories, as block quotes and articles look even better with the right background.
Signing up with Jux is a breeze. It’s as easy as logging in using your Facebook credentials, and once you’ve created your account, there’s no more setting up required. You can go straight into composing your first entry. For you’re the sort who like the bigger picture, Jux just might be what you’re looking for.
Medium is a blogging platform leverages three things: writing, reading, and collaboration. Medium provides one of the most straightforward writing interfaces on the web. You just start writing, highlight text to format, and then add pictures as you go along. Reading content on Medium is also no-fuss and is a great way to get inspired. Medium has a tagging system they call “collections,” which are themes or topics that anyone can contribute to. But if you don’t want to join any collections, you can focus on managing your blog and growing an audience.
To join Medium, you need a Twitter account (which you probably already have). Medium is not available on mobile yet but it seems to be going in that direction, considering that the platform is fully responsive. If you’re looking for inspiration and collaborative writing, then Medium may be perfect for you.
Postachio
If you’re a frequent Evernote user, then Postachio might be the ideal blogging platform for you. Postachio is a specialized blogging platform designed for Evernote users. Postachio seamlessly converts your notes into blog posts. Take a picture or write on Evernote and simply tag it as published when you’re ready to post. You can tag your posts and track your interests. Unfortunately, their tags are a little unorderly and needs more work.
Postachio is fully responsive with a range of themes to choose from. You can post via your computer or mobile app.
Postagon is a blogging platform for people who like it plain and simple. No bells and whistles here, Postagon concentrates on the essentials of blogging. It has one of the most minimal user interfaces of the bunch. Drag and drop photos in your posts and for the cover photo. You can visually format your text or write in Markdown.
Signing up for Postagon is quick and easy, just enter your email address, a username and password and you’re set. They have a free tier but you can upgrade to get Pro features (such as being able to view your email subscribers).
Roon is an iOS-centric blogging platform. Although available to everyone through the Web, Roon is optimized for Macs and, iOS phones and tablets. Signing up is quick and you can start blogging immediately afterwards. There’s no setup needed and definitely no coding know-how required.
Roon is fully responsive and looks beautiful on any screen size. The interface is designed to help you concentrate on writing, in Markdown or rich text, whichever you prefer. Want to run multiple blogs? No problem, with Roon it’s easy to manage several blogs and switch through them. You can upgrade your blog through premium add-ons but the basic deck is pretty sweet for a free service. Roon is, by far, the easiest platforms to use in this list.
Sett is platform that guarantees its users high-engagement blogging. Get readers, comments, and create an audience like never before. Sett does this through a recommendation system that tags common articles and suggests them to readers. What does it mean for you? More people are able to discover your blog and interact with you through the comments section. It’s easy to create and run multiple blogs. You can toggle the writing interface directly on your blog, so no more switching back and forth through preview and editor, as everything is on one screen.
The design might not be as modern as the other websites but Sett is a platform that gets your content attention. If you are after a community, Sett has all the features that ensure you have readers and subscribers that come back to your blog.
Svbtle is a platform that keeps to the bare minimum so you can focus on what matters most: your ideas. The dashboard acts as an idea dump where you can type ideas, story fragments, or just a string of words that sound nice. The writing interface is a distraction-free space that gives you the freedom and ability to quickly jot down your thoughts or to let it all out. Svbtle helps guide your writing process.
Svbtle is very customizable and promises even more options for branding in the future. For now, it has one of the simplest blogging interfaces and an ingenious dashboard that complements it.
Those are seven interesting platforms you can check out for free. The best thing about blogging is there are no rules that tell you how to run a blog. These platforms have different sets of features that hopefully inspire and motivate you to start.
Regina Ritter , 4 June, 2014
SharePoint is yet another free blogging platform that offers a flexible environment with an assortment of templates and features to play around with.