How Much Does It Cost to Start a Blog?

If you’re looking to start a blog, you probably expect it to come with some kind of price tag. However, you might have a hard time estimating the exact cost.

While the exact price will vary depending on your needs, you can generally expect to pay between $20 and $80 to launch a new blog. If you want to add extra features, that range will likely increase to between $36 and $111.

There are a few things to consider when working out the costs, including web hosting and domain registration. By looking at the average price of these essentials, you can more accurately predict your total amount.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the typical prices for a blog’s core components. Then, we’ll cover the costs of additional features that you might want to invest in. Let’s get started!

Required Costs to Start a Blog

The WordPress software may be free, but you can’t launch a new blog with a Content Management System (CMS) alone. Here’s what you can expect to pay for your blog’s necessary components.

Hosting Services

Hosting is a vital part of any website. Without it, you won’t actually be able to get your blog online. This is why you’ll see a huge variety of WordPress hosting plans and prices.

Some web hosts, such as 000webhost, offer free hosting. However, this service usually comes with pretty strict limitations. The same goes for extremely cheap plans, such as Hostinger’s $1.39 offer.

Hosting is typically a ‘get what you pay for’ type of service. As such, we recommend that you consider plans in the $15-$20 range. These tend to offer beginner-friendly hosting with all the essential tools and features for launching a website, including a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate and email hosting.

You may also want to keep an eye out for services that enable you to scale up. Your new blog might not have too much traffic now, but that could change in a few months. Thus, choosing a host that can seamlessly upgrade your plan could save you from having to switch providers in the future.

Domain Name

The domain name is what your visitors will type into their browsers to access your site. Not only is it required to get your site off the ground, but it’s also critical to your branding. As such, you may want to spend a little extra money on this.

The cost can vary quite a bit. For example, you might find that the total price increases if you want a domain name to be shorter or more memorable. The domain endings (such as .com or .net) can also affect the final cost. Fortunately, sites like Google can offer hundreds of options:

This means you can find prices that start from a single cent per year and others that go up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, you can typically find suitable domain names in the range of $10 to $15 per year.

You might also be able to get a free domain name from your hosting provider. Both Bluehost and DreamHost include a free domain name with your hosting account.

Themes and Plugins

Plugins are programs that add functionality to your site. These work together with themes, which style your website and determine its design. You’re going to need both elements in order to run a full-fledged WordPress blog.

Given the sheer number of plugins, it can be hard to pin down a price estimate. There are over 59,000 on the WordPress directory alone – and that’s not even all of them:

Some of these options are free. However, if you’re looking for more advanced features, you may have to purchase a few premium plugins. A study by CMINDS determined that paid plugins typically cost at least $15.

You’ll also find a wide variety of free options when it comes to themes. Meanwhile, paid themes on the popular ThemeForest platform cost between $20 and $60.

Assuming you purchase a low-end premium theme and two paid plugins, you can expect to pay about $50 in total. Nevertheless, keep in mind that this figure will vary depending on the number of plugins you need.

Optional Expenses

Next, let’s move on to a few extra features. You don’t necessarily need these to start a blog, but they might help boost your performance. If you have room in your budget, consider investing in these tools.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is an effective way to get the word out about your blog. This can be particularly important if you’re starting from scratch. It may not be a necessity, but it can really support your growth.

A lot of these services charge you based on the number of emails you send. Thus, if you have a new site, you may even be able to start with a free plan. Payments then scale up depending on the size of your audience.

Mailchimp’s pricing can give you an idea of what these plans look like:

All in all, you can probably expect to pay around $15 per month for a good email marketing service. If you’re interested in this feature, we recommend that you check to see how prices scale up. This can help you predict future costs.

Collaboration Tools

If you’re running your blog with other people, clear communication is essential. Therefore, you may want to consider tools that help you smoothly manage your content and collaborate with other team members.

A popular (and free) option is Google Drive. Personal accounts offer generous amounts of storage and enable you to work with others in real-time.

If you want a premium solution, options start as low as $6.67 per user, per month, for services such as Slack. The same scaling principle that applies to email marketing also applies here: as you add more users, you can expect the prices to go up.

WordPress Maintenance Services

If you’re focusing on your blog’s content, you might not have time for the more technical aspects of running a WordPress site. However, tasks like updating plugins and performing backups can be crucial to your site’s success.

That’s why you might want to invest in a maintenance tool that can help you complete all of these tasks on schedule. With a little bit of guidance, you can make sure your site continues to run safely and smoothly.

Costs here will vary depending on how much you want to pay. We highly recommend investing in a security tool at the very least. We’re big fans of Jetpack in particular:

Typical prices for these tools range from $3 to $15, and are available as either plugins or independent programs. Whichever one you choose, you’ll want to make sure to combine it with other WordPress security best practices.

Conclusion

Working out the costs of a new blog may be easier than you think. By considering the essential aspects of running a WordPress site, you’ll be able to come up with a ballpark figure.

In this article, we covered the average costs of six WordPress site elements:

1. Hosting services, which cost between $10 and $15 per month.
2. Domain names, which you’ll likely pay between $10 and $15 a year for.
3. Themes and plugins, which can range from free to around $50.
4. Email marketing tools that typically cost around $15 for beginners.
5. Collaboration tools that start at around $7.
6. WordPress maintenance resources, which range from $3 to $15.

Do you have any questions about how much it costs to start a WordPress blog? Let us know in the comments section below!