Private and open-source alternatives to Blogger
9 blogging rated against the same public privacy criteria as Blogger, with our picks first.
Why look for an alternative?
- Open source: no. Closed source.
- No trackers or telemetry: no. The Android app contains Google Firebase Analytics, and Google uses Blogger activity for its own analytics and advertising.
- No ads or data sales: no. Google is funded by advertising and its privacy policy covers using data to show personalized ads.
- Independent audit: no. No independent audit is published.
- TLS configuration: partial. Grade B
- Security headers: no. Grade F (0/100+)
The alternatives
Mataroa Grade C
Minimal hosted blogging platform with Markdown posts, RSS and email subscriptions, and full export. Operated by a UK company, with public revenue and cost figures.
Based in the United Kingdom (Five Eyes). Mataroa scores 63 out of 100 (grade C) on the blogging criteria. It meets 4 of 8 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales and TLS configuration.
Movim Grade C
Self-hostable web client for XMPP that combines chat, group chat, video calls, personal blogs and communities, with public instances available.
Based in France (Nine Eyes). Movim scores 63 out of 100 (grade C) on the blogging criteria. It meets 4 of 8 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales and TLS configuration.
Pico Grade C
Hosted services managed over SSH, including a blogging platform (Prose), static site hosting (Pages), pipes and tunnels. Accounts use SSH public keys instead of passwords or email.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Pico scores 63 out of 100 (grade C) on the blogging criteria. It meets 4 of 8 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales and TLS configuration.
Bear Blog Grade D
Minimal hosted blogging platform with small, fast pages, no third-party trackers and built-in first-party analytics.
Bear Blog scores 59 out of 100 (grade D) on the blogging criteria. It meets 3 of 8 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
Write Freely Grade D
Minimal, federated blogging platform built on ActivityPub, self-hosted or offered as managed hosting by its developer, Musing Studio.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Write Freely scores 53 out of 100 (grade D) on the blogging criteria. It meets 2 of 8 criteria: open source and no ads or data sales.
Write.as Grade D
Minimalist hosted blogging service from Musing Studio, focused on distraction-free writing and anonymous publishing, with federation over ActivityPub.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Write.as scores 50 out of 100 (grade D) on the blogging criteria. It meets 2 of 8 criteria: no ads or data sales and TLS configuration.
Ghost Grade D
Open source publishing platform for blogs and newsletters with paid memberships, run by the non-profit Ghost Foundation. Available as hosted Ghost(Pro) or self-hosted.
Based in Singapore. Ghost scores 47 out of 100 (grade D) on the blogging criteria. It meets 3 of 8 criteria: open source, no ads or data sales and TLS configuration.
Micro.blog Grade F
Paid blog hosting service and social network for short and long posts, with custom domains and cross-posting to Mastodon, Bluesky and other networks over ActivityPub.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Micro.blog scores 34 out of 100 (grade F) on the blogging criteria. It meets 2 of 8 criteria: no ads or data sales and TLS configuration.
Telegraph Grade F
Minimal publishing tool from Telegram for posting formatted articles with images, without an account. Pages are public to anyone with the link.
Based in the British Virgin Islands. Telegraph scores 28 out of 100 (grade F) on the blogging criteria. It meets 1 of 8 criteria: TLS configuration.