Medium Vs WordPress is the common comparison nowadays when it comes to blogging.
In this blog, I will try to answer the differences between a medium and a self-hosted WordPress platform and you can choose the one which fits your needs.
I will compare the two in different aspects.
Hosting
medium.com is a shared blogging platform. You don’t need to worry about the underlying hosting as they will take care of that part irrespective of the number of visitors you get for your blog posts. It’s completely free.
Self-hosted WordPress requires good web hosting that incurs cost. The hosting price depends on the web hosting service you choose.
Domain Name
medium.com offers an option to add custom domain names. But to opt-in for mapping a domain name, you need to be a premium member on Medium.com. That is $5 per month. So here the cost to have a custom domain is $5 + domain name cost (~$10/year)
Self-hosted WordPress offers the freedom to map the domain name with any of your preferred hosting services. The domain name would cost you around $10 per year
Design
medium.com offers very limited options for web page designs. You need to use the minimal theme offered by Medium with few customizations on fonts and header options.
With Self-hosted WordPress, you can have any design you want for your blog. There is no limit on the customizations you can add to your blog.
Plugins
medium.com does not offer any plugin support for third-party integrations. You have to live with the limited options Medium provides.
With Self-hosted WordPress, an ocean of plugins (Free & paid ) is available to use with your blog for several purposes.
Lead Capture
medium.com does not offer any options for lead capture. The only way to collect leads from the medium is through adding links to other services in your blog post.
With Self-hosted WordPress, you can use lead capture plugins to integrate with different pages and set up triggers based on user intent.
Landing Pages
medium.com does not offer a landing page solution.
With Self-hosted WordPress, you can create any number of landing pages with a custom design. Also, you can use the premium landing page solutions via plugins.
Control
With medium.com you don’t have control over your content or the setup. You need to agree with its terms and any changes in policies will also affect you.
With Self-hosted WordPress, you have full control over hosting and your content.
Audience
As medium.com is a shared platform, your blog reach is more as there are other people on the platform.
With Self-hosted WordPress, you need to promote the blog on your own.
