If you have been thinking to start a blog, you have probably come across this question a lot. “How much does it cost to start a blog?”, then you have landed at the right post as in this post, we will discuss the cost of starting a blog in great detail.
And at the end of the post, you will be clear about how much it might cost you to start a blog in 2022. We will discuss the typical cost of starting a blog as well as the cost of maintaining it so that you have a clear strategy to start your blog and maintain it in the long run.
So, let us get started!
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means, I will earn a commission (without any additional cost to you) if you click and make a purchase through those links. And if you do make a purchase, thanks for the support!
How much does it cost to start a blog?
In direct context, the cost of starting a blog typically depends on the type of blog you are going to start or the type of blogger you are.
For example, some bloggers are more interested in making money from their blog while others just start a blog to share their thoughts and experiences.
If you are starting a blog for the sole purpose of making money, then you will need to invest in a good domain name, web hosting, and also some marketing tools.
However, if you are starting a blog just as a hobby, then the costs will be much lower and can be started even for free.
A typical blog website can cost you from $50 to $200 to start and build your website, and the cost can even go up to $500 to $5000 if you want to start a professional blog with all the bells and whistles.
The best way to find out how much it will cost to start a blog is to research the various options and decide which one is right for you.
And the research can be done by making a list of products and services a full-fledged blog would need and filtering out the ones you need according to your budget and the type of blogger you are.
So, let’s start with the…
List of products and services a blog usually needs
- Domain name
- Web hosting
- Email marketing service
- Theme
- Plugins
- Content writer
- Ai Content writer
- SEO Tool/Service
- Web designer
- Proofreader
- Grammar checker
- Graphic design tool
- Advertisement
- Social media automation tool
Domain name
The cost of a domain name depends on the extension you choose and also on the registrar you use.
Generally, a .com domain name will cost you around $5-$10 per year, but this price can vary depending on the registrar and the time of year.
You can find the best deals at Namecheap. Starting with $0.98 per year.
Namecheap deals pricing table:
Web hosting
The cost of web hosting varies depending on the type of hosting you choose and also on the hosting company you use. Bluehost Shared hosting, for example, can cost as little as $2.79 per month, while dedicated hosting can cost upwards of $100 per month.
Bluehost shared hosting pricing table:
On the other hand, if you choose to go for other website builders like Wix or Squarespace, the cost of your hosting will be different. The basic plan for Wix starts from $14 per month and can go up to $39 per month, which will add up to $168 per year.
Wix and Squarespace pricing:
Email Marketing service
If you want to make money from your blog, then you will need to invest in an email marketing tool. This will allow you to capture leads and sell products or services to your audience.
A good email marketing tool like AWeber will cost you around $16.15 per month. You can also sign up for the free plan for some basic functions and upgrade later.
AWeber Pricing:
Theme
The cost of a theme depends on the platform you use and also on the designer you choose. A custom theme can cost upwards of $1000, while a premade theme like Astra or Neve from ThemeIsle can cost as little as $49.
Plugins
The cost of plugins and add-ons varies depending on the platform you use and also on the developers you choose. A plugin can cost as little as $5, while an add-on can cost upwards of $100.
On the other hand, you can also go for the free plugin options. Here’s a post I wrote about some free plugins that can help you run your blog easily.
Content writer
If you are not a good writer or if you don’t have time to write your own content, then you can hire a writing assistant or content writer.
The cost of this service varies depending on the quality of the writer and also on the length of the articles you need. Typically, a 1000-word article will cost you around $100 on Fiverr.
Sponsored:
Ai Content creator
The other way to create content for your blog without actually writing it yourself is to use an AI content creator like Jasper.
This tool can help you create articles for your blog at a fraction of the cost of hiring a human writer. The basic plan starts at $29 per month.
Jasper Pricing Table:
Keyword and SEO service
If you want to make sure that your blog is visible in the search engines, then you will need to invest in a keyword and SEO service.
This will help you to improve your blog’s ranking in the search engines and also to get more traffic. A good keyword and SEO service like Ahrefs or Semrush will cost you around $99 per month.
Ahrefs Pricing Chart:
Web designer
If you want to create a custom blog design, then you will need to hire a web designer. The cost of this service varies depending on the complexity of the design and also on the experience of the designer. Typically, a custom blog website design will cost you around $500.
Proofreader
If you want to make sure that your content is error-free, then you will need to hire a proofreader. The cost of this service varies depending on the length of the articles you need to be proofread and also on the experience of the proofreader. Typically, a 1000-word article will cost you around $50.
Grammar checker
Grammar checker tools can be another option to make your writing error-free, If you want one, you can use a grammar checker like Grammarly.
This tool can help you to correct your grammar mistakes at a fraction of the cost of hiring a human proofreader. The basic plan starts with $12 per month which is charged annually.
Graphic design service or tool
The other thing you must consider while starting a blog is whether you need a graphic designer or not? If you need a customised theme and a good design for your site, then you will need to hire a graphic design service.
The cost of this service varies depending on the complexity of the designs and also on the experience of the designer.
Typically, a simple graphic design will cost you around $50 per design. But you can also go the cheap route and purchase a simple graphic design tool like Canva.
Which in my opinion is best for beginners and non-designers. Canva comes with a free plan as well as a pro plan which cost $55 per year.
Advertising
The cost of advertising depends on the platform you use and also on the cost of traffic you are willing to pay.
For example, if you are using Google AdWords, then the cost of advertising can range from $0.01 to $10 per thousand impressions and a different rate for the clicks generated.
Social media automation tool
The cost of a social media automation tool like Hootsuite or Buffer will depend on the features you need and also on the number of accounts you want to connect.
The basic plans for Hootsuite start at $49 per month, whereas Buffer offers a cheaper plan starting with $5 per month and even has a free plan.
Using all these tools can take up the cost of starting your blog to up to $1000 per month and some additional amount of $1000-$2000 to maintain it.
The table below will show you a clearer picture of how much you might end up paying for your blog.
| Product/Service | Minimum cost | Basic cost | Maximum cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain name | $0.98/Year | $0.98/Year | $10/Year |
| Web hosting | $33.48/Year | $33/Year | $1200/Year |
| Email marketing service | - | $192/Year | $1188/Year |
| Theme | - | $49/Year | $1000/One time |
| Plugin | - | - | $1000/Year |
| Content writer | - | - | - |
| Ai Content writer | - | $1188/Year | |
| SEO Tool/Service | - | $1188/Year | $1188/Year |
| Web designer | - | - | $500/Year |
| Proofreader | - | - | - |
| Grammar checker | - | $144/Year | $360/Year |
| Graphic design tool | - | $55/Year | $55/Year |
| Advertisement | - | $1200/Year | |
| Social media tool | - | $60/Year | $1200/Year |
| Total cost | $35/Year | $2070/Year | $9089/Year |
Note: Apart from the domain and the web hosting, every service has a monthly plan, but to make it easier, I’ve added the cost that might incur as per the yearly plan.
Now, you can further understand the category of blogger you fall under and choose your blog products and their types accordingly which will help you in the cost calculation for your blog.
For example, if you are a beginner blogger who just wants to share your thoughts and experiences, then the cost of starting your blog will be much lower.
However, if you are starting a blog for the purpose of making money, then you will need to invest in a few additional tools.
Now let’s have a look at the category of bloggers most people fall under.
Types of bloggers
Basically, we can divide the types of bloggers into three categories:
Hobby blogger
Hobby bloggers are someone who blogs for fun. They are not interested in making money from their blog but they are okay with spending some money to keep their blog running.
The cost of starting a blog for a hobby blogger would be around $50-$200 depending on the web hosting platform you choose.
There are lots of cheap blogging platforms that you can use to start your blog such as Wix, Squarespace, Site123, etc. And if you are not interested in spending money on hosting, then you can always opt for a free platform like Blogger.com, Medium, and Tumblr.
If you would like to know more about some free blogging platforms, you can check out one of my previous posts here.
And if you would like to stand out a little bit and go for the paid route with a little bit of a learning curve for WordPress, then here’s a list of products that you will have to purchase:
- Domain name: $3/Year-$15/Year
- Web hosting for WordPress: $2.75/Month-$15/Month
- Other website builders: $14/Month-$49/Month
Total cost: The total cost can be from $33 to up to $588 per year.
The domain name and web hosting will be enough if you are starting a blog just for fun. The other things like the theme and plugins can be used for free.
Maintenance fee: These types of blogs don’t have a high maintenance fee as they don’t need to be updated regularly. The cost will be yearly on both the domain and the hosting fee.
However, the fee usually gets a bit higher in the preceding year. For example, the domain fee will be $15/year after the first year and the hosting fee will be $5.45/month for the shared hosting after the first year. The price for other website builders (Wix etc.) will most probably remain the same.
Side hustle blogger
Side hustle bloggers are those who are interested in making some extra money from their blogs. They are not looking to make a full-time income from their blog but a few hundred dollars per month would be good for them.
The cost of starting a blog for a side hustle blogger would be around $500-$1,000 per year.
For a side hustle blogger, I would recommend going with a self-hosted WordPress blog. It will cost you around $250 for the domain name and hosting for one year.
And here are some other expenses that you might have to incur:
- Domain: ($10-$15 per year)
- Web hosting: ($50-$100 per year)
- Theme: ($50-$100).
- Plugins: ($0-$100).
- Email marketing: $16 per month.
Total Cost: $110 to up to $550 per year.
As a blog created for a side hustle you won’t have to use all the services listed above and you can always scale up your investment as your blog grows.
For example, you can start with a free theme and then switch to a paid theme later on.
Maintenance fee: The maintenance fee for a side hustle blog is higher than a hobby blog as you will be updating your blog more frequently.
The domain and hosting fee will be yearly but the other expenses like the theme, plugins, and email marketing services will be monthly.
Full-time blogger
Full-time bloggers are those who are looking to make a full-time income from their blog. They are willing to invest both their time and money to make their blog successful.
The cost of starting a blog for a professional blogger would be around $3,000-$10,000 per year.
For a professional blogger, I would recommend going with a self-hosted WordPress blog using a VPS server or even a managed WordPress hosting.
It will cost you around $15 to even $250 for a professional domain name for a year with the hosting costing from $40 to $100 per month
And here are some other expenses that you might have to incur:
- Domain name: $10-$15 per year.
- Web hosting: $50-$100 per year.
- Theme: A good WordPress theme would cost you around $50-$100.
- Plugins: $0-$100.
- Email marketing: $10 per month.
- Advertising: $500-$5000 per month.
- Proofreader: $5-$100 per hour.
- Writing assistant/Content writer:
- Ai Content creator: $199 per month
- Keyword and SEO service: $
- Web designer: $500.
- Grammar checker: $30 per month.
- Graphic design service: $1000 per month
- Social media automation tool: $100 per month
Total cost: $2500 to up to $3000 per month
Maintenance fee: The maintenance fee for full-time bloggers can be from $500 to up to $5,000 per month.
The domain and hosting fee will be yearly but the other expenses like the theme, plugins, email marketing, advertising, proofreading, writing assistance, etc. will be monthly.
Some writers and other services also tend to work according to the hourly rate, in those cases, the price might be different.
You don’t have to use all the tools. Just start with some basic tools and services that are cheap and upgrade your plans later as your blog grows.
I made a list of tools that I personally use for my digital activities and I recommend the same to others, especially those that are just starting out. You can check out the page here.
Final Say
As we can see, the cost of starting a blog and maintaining it depends on various factors. Now it’s up to you to decide, which cost is affordable for you and which cost is not.
If you want to make money from your blog, then you will need to invest as a full-time blogger. However, you can always start your blog as a side hustle and see how it goes. And scale it up according to your growth.
So, all-in-all, the cost of starting a blog can range from $0 to $10,000 per year. It all depends on your goals and objectives.
If you are looking to start your blog as a hobby, then you can start a blog for free. However, if you want to build a long-term business, then you will need to invest some money upfront.
To sum it up, the cost of starting a blog will depend on your goals, objectives and also your commitment level. I hope this article helped you in understanding the cost of starting a blog.
And I hope I gave you a clear understanding of how much it would cost you to start a blog plus given you a range of prices to expect. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below and I will be more than happy to help you out.
