As an instructor at The Iron Yard, I get asked this question a lot. Here is a VERY simple breakdown of some of my thoughts on different platforms. This is by no means comprehensive, but I feel it gives a pretty solid overview of the platforms I've had experience with.
WordPress
Upsides
- Free
- Easy to set up
- Up and running really quick
- Multiple themes to choose from
- Custom Domain Support
Downsides
- Not very editable without paying
- Fairly generic looking (not really a bad thing though)
Tumblr
Upsides
- Free
- Easy to set up and use
- Multiple themes to choose from
- Custom domain support
*
Downsides
- Sometimes not taken seriously
Medium
Upsides
- Exposure
- Extremely social
Downsides
- No custom domain support
- Not customizable
- Only one "theme"
WordPress.org
Upsides
- Fully customizable
Downsides
- Can be time consuming your first time to set up
- Costs (you need hosting and a domain)
- You have to manage it and keep it up to date
Barley
Upsides – spoiler alert, I had a hand in building this
- Extremely Customizable
- Hosted for you
- Dropbox Sync
- Simple to use template tags
Downsides
- You still need to touch HTML if you want it customized
- Has a higher monthly cost than some others listed
Jekyll
Upsides
- Extremely customizable
- Hostable on Github
- Static site, so it's really fast
Downsides
- Not super easy to work with
- Different than normal workflow