What’s the best blogging software?  Bloggers have different opinions about that.  Here’s a look at some of the systems available today and what each has to offer.

WordPress.com
The basic WordPress package is free.  Although upgrades are available, beginners can usually get everything that they need from the free package.

The company also hosts free blogs designed for personal or business use.  Upgrades for the hosting service are also available for a small monthly fee.
The company does not allow the use of their site for affiliate marketing blogs.  Affiliates can still use the blogs, but they must provide valuable information.  It cannot simply be used to drive business to another website.

Tools included in the package allow you to design, publish and track the number of people that visit your blog.  Templates, plug-ins and editors are also included, as well as spell check.  The tools allow you to upload audio and video, as well as text files.

Self Hosted WordPress (WordPress.org)
If you like WordPress, but you feel restricted by the lack of features, you can create a Self-Hosted WordPress blog.  The Self-Hosted WordPress blog is 100% customizable and allows more freedom with regards to layout, themes and plugins.  You also have the freedom of expression on your blog.  Your self-hosted WordPress blog is on your own domain and your own hosting account.  It’s your webspace, so you have all of the freedom associated with your own website.

Check Out the Genesis Dynamik Website Builder for WordPress

TypePad
TypePad has received excellent blogging software reviews.  The package can be downloaded directly from the internet for a reasonable price, currently $8.95.

It includes all of the basics found in the WordPress package, as well as some additional publishing and tracking tools, including instant messaging, feed stats and ping-backs.

Other Brands
SquareSpace costs a little less than TypePad, but more than WordPress.  The thing that reviewers complain about the most is the inability to upload audio files to their blogs when they use this program.  There is no free hosting, although paid hosting is available and the software is free when you sign up for the company’s hosting service.

Live Journal gets some excellent ratings for their design tools and ease of use.  While the publishing and tracking tools are limited, the basic hosting service is free.

VOX gets the lowest ratings in blogging software reviews, even though the program and the hosting services are free.  Usually, when something is free, people have little to complain about, but when blogs are important to your business or just something that you like to do in your spare time, even the freebies can be unsatisfactory.

Blogger and their hosting service blogspot.com get the highest ratings of all of the free services and scores even higher than some of the paid programs like Blog Harbor and Xanga.  The platform was developed by Google, and it is a Google Product.

Is it the best blogging software?  That’s something that you can decide for yourself.  Since, it’s free.  You may as well give it a try.