Ask HN: What is the best way to author blogs in 2024?

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Static site generators + Git hosting

  • Many favor static site generators (SSGs) like Hugo, Jekyll, Astro, Zola, Eleventy, SvelteKit, Bridgetown, Nuxt, Quarto, and custom scripts.
  • Common pattern: write in Markdown, store in Git, auto-build on push, and host on GitHub Pages, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, AWS Amplify, GitLab CI + S3, or similar.
  • Pros cited: very low maintenance, fast, cheap (often free), version-controlled content, offline-friendly workflow, easy custom domains + HTTPS.
  • Some warn that tools like Hugo or Eleventy have confusing conventions or bugs and can be hard to re-learn if you update the site infrequently; others explicitly praise their stability and performance.
  • Several recommend picking “whatever SSG you like” and not over-optimizing.

Full CMS / hosted platforms

  • Ghost, WordPress, and Substack are repeatedly endorsed for people who want rich CMS features, comments, newsletters, and themes without coding.
  • Ghost is praised for easy self-hosting and upgrades; newsletter sending is tightly coupled to Mailgun, which some dislike.
  • WordPress is seen as powerful and mature, but self-hosting is high-maintenance and a security risk; exporting to static HTML is suggested as a good compromise.
  • Blogger, Hashnode, Medium, Notion publishing, dev.to, Write.as/WriteFreely, and Substack are mentioned as workable hosted options, especially if you don’t want infrastructure.

Minimal / opinionated hosted blogs

  • Lightweight, markdown-based or minimalist platforms (Bear Blog, Mataroa, Prose/pico.sh, Scribbles, Wisp, Memos, Dreamwidth, static “smallweb” hosting) appeal to those wanting simplicity over features.
  • These often trade advanced customization for a clean writing experience and easy setup.

Hand-rolled and HTML-first approaches

  • Some advocate pure HTML (possibly with htmx/zero-md) or tiny custom generators, arguing it’s simpler than learning a big framework.
  • Others counter that building/maintaining your own stack distracts from actually writing, though it can be fun and educational.

General advice & long-term considerations

  • Strong preference for owning a personal site and domain rather than relying solely on third-party platforms that may “turn to crap” over time.
  • Common requirements: RSS feeds, custom domain, markdown export, easy migration, and static hosting on a CDN for the next decade.
  • Comments are double-edged: good for engagement but bring spam and moderation overhead.