Thought of Cost To Start a Blog? Wondering how much it costs to start a blog? Or precisely, How much would it cost to start a WordPress blog? Don’t worry. You are in the perfect place. You will get answers to all your questions in one place right here. A blog is primarily an informational website that displays information and thoughts presented by a blogger on the World Wide Web. Writing a few blogs and articles as a hobby is one thing because some free blogging platforms let you do so. But being a full-time professional blogger is different from what you can think of. Remember, the cost of starting and running a blog can vary and depends solely on the type and purpose of the blogging that you want to create. According to the blogging styles and costs to start up, you can break down blogging into three categories, namely:
- Hobby Bloggers- You are blogging for fun or as a hobby just as a creative outlet and have no interest in ever monetizing your blogs.
- Part-Time Bloggers– You are the bloggers blogging on the side of their primary job to build up a base in blogging slowly. You are in the side hustle category because you have to manage two jobs at a time. And you know that it will take some time to get this blogging job as your full-time, but till then, you have to hustle to make this big.
- Full-Time Bloggers– You are the bloggers whose primary and sole work is blogging. It’s your full-time business, and you are ready to spend a meaningful amount of capital on growing your blogging job and receiving profit from your company.
Blogging Hardware Cost To Start A Blog
While thinking about how much it costs to start a blog, first, you must have come across the question of what all hardware you would need and how much it would cost you. Well, while there is a lot of different hardware to choose from. Let’s give you a basic idea of what compulsory basic things you need on each level of your blogging journey.
So, here is a breakdown to give you a short note on the hardware you’re going to need based on the blogging you do.
1. Hobby Bloggers – $250
You are just doing it as a hobby or as a creative skill. The basic requirements are that of a Laptop and smartphone. So on a rough estimate, the blogging hardware you require would cost around $250 provided you don’t already have it.
2. Part-Time Bloggers – $700
Since you are trying to build your base, you must have some essential, capable and better hardware required like-
- Laptop with minimum 8GB ram and i5 core.
- A smartphone with good camera specs
- Proper Headphones
Since the blogging level has increased, you will need a laptop with more power that can help you produce your blogs in a better, faster, and more developed way. It’s totally up to you whether you should purchase a Windows laptop or go for a MacBook per your preference and budget. So, on a rough estimate, the blogging hardware you require would cost around $700.
3. Full-Time Blogger – $3000-$5000
Blogging is your business. Your mainstream job. So you require the best hardware for your blogging to provide quality blogs in an even faster way. You would require hardware like-
- MacBook Pro
- Best spec smartphone- iPhone
- Best headphones
- Decent Webcam and microphone
- DSLR and different Lenses
Try to get your hands on the MacBook pro giving you the max processing and memory. the best for your Blogs. iPhone suits your work type, and DSLR will help you capture the best scenarios for your blogs.
So, on a rough estimate, the blogging hardware you require would cost around $3000-$5000
Blogging Hosting Cost To Start A Blog
While there are free blogging sites, most people recommend using WordPress with a Bluehost hosting plan as one of the best combinations.
1. Hobby Bloggers – $2.99/mo
Can use WordPress, a free content management system, pair it with Bluehost, and take up its basic hosting plan to cater to your needs.
And hence, you can get business web Hosting for as low as $2.95/ month.
2. Part-Time Blogger – $5.45/mo
Are recommended to use Bluehost for Blogging hosting because it’s a faster hosting plan with different features.
You can get Ecommerce/business hosting for $5.45/ month.
3. Full-Time Bloggers – $30/mo
Recommended using Rocket.net for Blogging hosting. And you can also use Bluehost’s Choice plus plan that will present you with the best choices and hosting at $5.45/ month. Or else you can even get Managed WordPress hosting at the cost of around $30/ month.
Blogging Domain Cost To Start A Blog
If you choose Bluehost as your hosting plan, you can get your domain name included free for the first year and for around $10/year to renew it after that.
But if you would like to use some other hosting, it will cost you. So here are some famous options for you to choose from.
- Famous platforms like GoDaddy. In, Namecheap, Dreamhost, and Bluehost are some of the renowned Domain registrars.
- GoDaddy’s prices always vary based on the domain name you would want to purchase. You can mostly expect it to be around $10 to $20.
Namecheap prices are around $9, but the same goes for GoDaddy. Here also, prices can vary based upon Domain names.
NOTE: The renewal price of domain names is different for any domain registrar.
Like GoDaddy charges around $17.99 for .com and $19.99 for .net domain. Namecheap charges around $8.88 for .com and $12.98 for .net domain. Dreamhost charges around $17.99 for .com and $16.99 for .net domains.
Blogging Design Cost To Start A Blog
While you have gone through all these still pondering upon the cost to start a blog, there is another thing that you need to wonder about, and that is blogging design costs to start a blog.
1. Hobby Bloggers – $0
You can get hundreds of free WordPress themes for your blogs and free templates. I recommend you use free WordPress themes like Hello, Charm Lite, SKT complete, SKT Gym, etc., for your blogging to give it a creative look.
2. Part-Time Bloggers – $49/Yr
You can get designs, 300+ templates, and themes or build your theme using Elementor. It costs $49/year and unlocks all the features you want as a serious blogger.
3. Full-Time Bloggers – $98-$109
You can get access to a whole world of unlimited template themes, design your templates, build your themes and prepare the best and most eye-catching blog. It would be best if you used Elementor as the builder. Astra Pro customizes your website uniquely with different and unique themes. You must also use Generatepress Premium, which will provide numerous styling options, a site library, and advanced layout systems. And on a rough estimate, all this will cost to start a blog, you about $98-$109
Blogging Plugins Cost To Start A Blog
Let’s learn about another thing you would need for your blogs before answering how much cost to start a blog. This thing is called a plugin. Plugins are small pieces of software that add new functionality to your blogs. These are useful for WordPress-powered blogs.
1. Hobby Bloggers – $0
Can use free blogging email plugs such as Instagram feeds, Google Analytics for WordPress, or Envira Gallery Lite. These plugins will help you as an addon and help you monitor and understand your readers through your content analytics. All this at $0 cost.
2. Part-Time bloggers – $108
Can use blogger plugins such as Rankmath or WP Rocket to utilize them to their best and make sure you’re hitting the perfect spots with your blogs. These plugins enhance your website, and some like WP Rocket can help you keep your website running even when you have high traffic. This would roughly cost to start a blog, you around $108.
3. Full-Time Bloggers – $186
Must use blogger plugins such as Rankmath, WP Rocket, WP Forms, or SocialSnap depending upon the blog you’re building and the way you’re monetizing your content. Plugins like WP Forms will help you integrate forms into your content. These plugins will help you make your work more interactive and exciting to your targeted audience while opening up a passage for a new audience to flow in. So, If any plugin resonates with your work, add It in.
This would Roughly cost to start a blog, you around $186. Did you summarise what you’ve learned till now? But still, the question of how much it costs to start a blog isn’t straightforward. So Let’s further proceed to clear out the cost to start a blog.
Blogging E-Mail Marketing Cost To Start A Blog
Email marketing is the best way to communicate with your blog readers. These are your first steps to figuring out how to monetize your blogs.
1. Hobby Blogger – $0
Can use a free email autoresponder. Even though you won’t be much interested in sorting out an email list. it’s always worth trying to build a good relationship with your readers. This puts it easy for you at a $0 cost.
2. Part-Time Bloggers – $12.3/mo
Recommended using Getresponse. It gives you more functionality and interaction with your present audience, and hence you can change or modify your content as per your audience’s needs. This would cost you somewhere around $12.3/month
3. Full-Time Bloggers – $40.18/mo
Recommended to use Getresponse too, or you can go for Mailchimp, giving you the most functionality. Please get to know your audience. Watch out for their preferences and discuss how to build an even better base in the category you are in presently.
This would roughly cost to start a blog, around $40.18/month.
Blogging Security Cost To Start A Blog
You don’t want hackers targeting your site and seeking to exploit your earnings. So, you must choose security that provides the extra layer of defense to your blogs.
1. Hobby Bloggers – $0
If you have chosen Bluehost to host your blog, you will get built-in security. Even though, as a hobby Blogger, the threats shouldn’t matter to you but having an extra security patch won’t hurt. So minimum security cost to start a blog for a hobby blogger is $0
2. Part-Time Bloggers – $99/Yr
Well, if you’re hosting with Bluehost or Dreamhost, you’ve already got a base security present for you. But in case you want additional security, you can use Wordfence as a start and may even stay on your blog budget. So minimum security cost to start a blog for a part-time blogger would be $99/year.
3. Full-Time Bloggers – $20/mo
Since it’s your mainstream business, you want the highest level of security on your blog. Cloudflare would be the best possible choice, and the prices may range from free to $200 per month depending on a variety of factors. You will probably want the people plan. This is a good starting plan and costs around $20/month. There are still a few more things to add before we can finally get a complete answer to the question of how much it will cost to start a blog. Let’s fasten up to the finale.
Blogging Content Writing Cost To Start A Blog
In the beginning, you must be passionate about writing blogs independently. That’s an intelligent way, but it will eventually turn hectic, and you can seek ways to outsource the challenges, such as hiring a freelance writer.
1. Hobby Blogger – $0
If you’re a hobby blogger, you’re simply blogging because it’s fun, and you aren’t serious about making it a business or earning money from it. So go on yourself, you don’t need anything in this matter.
Content writing cost: $0
2. Part-Time Blogger – $0-$200/mo
If you’re a part-time blogger, the majority or even all of the content should be written entirely by you at this level of your blogging journey. You can invest your money in other things, such as developing your blogging skills instead of outsourcing your content. But if you plan to outsource, you can outsource some parts to invest more time into your blogs and grow it. This would cost you somewhere between $0- $250
3. Full-Time Blogger – $0-$50/mo
If you’re a full-time blogger, doing everything yourself is quite a hectic job. It would be best to hire external writers that may help you devote your time and investment to some other aspects of growing your blogs and content without having to stop your blog writing free. You can hire editors too to edit your web pages and make them look simple but efficient.
This outsourcing can cost you from $0 – $500
Blogging Advertising Cost To Start A Blog
Advertising is one of the best ways to promote your blogs and build a good base of new people reading your blogs. You can run paid ad campaigns for your content.
1. Hobby Bloggers – $0
- It looks like a waste of spending money on advertising for Hobby bloggers because you’re not in this to make money. But if you still want to attract some attention to your blogs just for the fun of interacting, here are a few tips you can go with-
- Post on social media platforms- Share information about your blog across your social media platforms.
- Posting to Pinterest- If you post your blogs on Pinterest, it’s often beneficial. Use images with text imprinted on it. These images perform best on Pinterest and help you reach a greater audience.
2. Part-Time Bloggers – $0-$100/yr
You can spend some money providing social media ads such as those on YouTube or Facebook. Take a survey of your audience and advertise your content on the platforms your audience seems to use the most. It may cost you $100 for your advertisements.
3. Full-Time Bloggers – $1000/yr
Since you are a full-time blogger, it depends on whether you would like to spend your money on advertising or spend your money on some other resources to grow your audience. You may use online platforms like Pinterest or showcase your ads on Facebook or YouTube. You may even use Quora, which would give you the potential to connect with various groups. Being used by many users, your blogs and content get a bigger platform and exposure to a different kind of audience. Depending upon your interests, it may cost you anywhere between $0-$1000/year.
Blogging Extra Tools Cost To Start A Blog
1. Hobby Bloggers – $0
Recommended using free social media tools such as Twinword ideas, Google Keyword Planner, and Google Analytics to get good track reports on their website/blog traffic. You can get keyword data from here to use in your content, making it even more relatable and helping you in proper research and analytics. This would cost you absolutely nothing. And you do it while spending $0.
2. Part-Time Blogger – $0-$119.95mo
Must use extra tools such as Semrush, Wordable, and WebCEO that will add meaningful functionality to the blogs while helping you use them with ease. Costs you roughly $0-$119.95/per month
3. Full-Time Bloggers – $126.95
Recommended using extra tools such as Semrush, Canva pro, and Teachable, even more, advanced tools. These help you focus on your blogging journey, give better edits to your blogs, and account for your blog analytics. This would cost you roughly around $126.95
Q. Can I start blogging for free?
Well while it’s not that safe or recommended, you can start a blog for free, if you choose a free plan from a website builder. But there are a few disadvantages to this. You cannot use your domain name, you will have limited features and there may even be unwanted ads over your blog.
Q. Do I even need all of this software to start blogging?
You can start blogging whenever you want, whether you have this software and plans is a secondary thing. These software and plans are recommended based on what type of blogger you want to be and if you want to provide a proper finished product to your target audience.
Q. Is it necessary to pay and put up website designs for my blog?
It depends on you whether you want to pay or not. If you go for paid platforms, you can customize the web designs that you would put in your blog. But there are also numerous free designs that you can use in your blogs.
Q. What topics should I write a blog on?
The answer to this question will vary for different people and different bloggers. Always choose to write on something that develops your interest and would catch up with your audience too. This will help you build a better community and have a better relationship with your audience.
Conclusion For Cost To Start a Blog
So, did you get your answer to How much it costs to start a blog? Or how much does it cost to start a WordPress blog? Let’s do the final math and calculate the minimum costs for each kind of level. Well, for a hobby blogger, your expenses could be around $25-$30 a year, considering that you already have those laptops and smartphones handy. Otherwise, it’s just a one-time investment of under $250. And then you are good to go. For a Part-time blogger, your expenses could be anywhere around $300 to $450, excluding the hardware expenses depending upon the services you take up for your blogging. For a full-time blogger, your expenses could hit around $1000- $1200(excluding the hardware cost) depending upon what kind of services and programs you use for your blogging, which plans you take up for web hosting costs, and all. These are just rough estimates as to how much it costs to start a blog. But it entirely depends on what things you use for your blogs, what kind of blogs you make, and the excellent quality of your blogs. So now you must have a clear idea about the cost to start a blog and starting a WordPress blog. Enjoy your new journey 🙂
