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How much does a basic WordPress (or other non-free platform) blog cost to operate?

I'm on Blogger because it looked easy and free. I have read a smidge here and there about Wordpress and some other platforms and know that they require more of an investment, such as buying a domain name(s), and hosting.

Would you mind sharing what you are paying to run your non-free blog? Or what just the basics cost? I'm intrigued by going over to a WP platform, maybe, but I'm not a super-blogger and I don't want to necessarily make this into an expensive hobby. (I can think of other expensive hobbies that are just as much fun.)

Also, if you don't mind me being nosy, are you making income with your blog that covers your expenses? I wonder if that's possible or even probable....

Are you also buying programs or plug-ins, etc. or is most of that stuff available at no cost?

Also, is *all* of blogger free? I see the (I Power Blogger) on some sites and wondered if Blogger has paid "levels", but I've never really seen those options advertised.

Are there other paid tools or services that you find are worthwhile? What are you using and what are the benefits you're seeing?

I think my preference would be to pay for a site template design or header artwork as a good investment..... I'm not sure whether it would be worth it to me to start incurring annual expenses.

Thanks so much for sharing!

Karen
My blog

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Permalink Reply by A Cowboy's Wife (Lori) on August 16, 2008 at 11:08am

Whew! Lots of questions...lol. Let's see............

I pay about 125 for my hosting and ALL my domains a year. I make MUCH more than that so it's worth it for me.

Everything I use is free except for for "luxury" plugins like my ad manager, etc. ALL optional...they're are some great free ones out there but they require more work..and I'm lazy.

Yes, blogger is free...all free. Because one of my main goals is making money online, I find that having my own host and domain provide to be very beneficial in the long run.

BUT....to me, it sounds like you don't have that sort of goal...at least not right now so this is what I recommend you to you.

Buy your own domain and use it at blogger. That way, when or if you decide to take the plunge to your own host...you will still have the domain url along with it's credentials like PR, etc.

Lots of successful bloggers use blogger with their own domain. I just like being able to do what ever I want with my own blog not having to worry about what ads I can accept or it being wiped out from underneath my feet. Since Blogger is free, Google could shut it down at any time they want. Not likely to happen but it's possible.

It's really all about your goals and just plain ol' personal preference.

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Permalink Reply by Andrea Chamberlain on August 16, 2008 at 6:26pm

I use wordpress and I have my site hosted by lunarpages. If I recall correctly, I think I paid $8 to register my domain name through godaddy and then I think my hosting cost me somewhere around $48 for 14 months? I'm not using any other software/plugins/etc., that I've had to pay for.

I did pay to have my blog set up/customized. That's because at the time, I just didn't have the time nor the patience to learn how to do it myself.

I've made no income from my blog ... I hope to do so in the future but right now, I'm just trying to build up my readership and get a good following.

Andrea
http://www.thecreativejunkie.com

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Permalink Reply by Alyssa on August 16, 2008 at 10:02pm

I love Wordpress and the many options that it provides by hosting it on my own domain. I too registered my domain for less than $10 a year and my hosting is $10 per month. To me it is definitely worth it.

I do wordpress installs to make extra $$ and this more than covers my cost. If you're interested my site is http://creativeinstallsforhire.com