The Best Blogging Platforms for Developers in 2023

So you're a developer looking to start a blog in 2023. You want to share your knowledge, build your personal brand, and connect with other developers.

But with so many blogging platforms out there, how do you choose the right one?

In this comprehensive guide, we compare the top 4 blogging platforms for developers: DEV, Medium, Hashnode, and Hackernoon.

Overview of The Top 4 Blogging Platforms

DEV

DEV is one of the largest online communities for developers to share knowledge and connect. With over 2 million registered users, it's a great place to reach other developers.

Some key features of DEV:

• Completely free to use and publish articles

• Built-in Markdown editor with syntax highlighting

• The active community of developers commenting and engaging

• Ability to import articles from other blogs

• Available API to automate publishing

Overall, DEV is a great choice if you want to tap into an engaged developer community and not worry about monetization.

Medium

Medium is a popular online publishing platform used by over 30 million monthly readers. It's more focused on casual readers rather than developers specifically.

Some key features of Medium:

• Very polished and professional-looking platform

• Simple WYSIWYG editor but no Markdown support

• Broad audience beyond just developers

• Options to monetize your articles behind a paywall

• No API access is available

Medium is a good choice if you want a wide distribution of articles on trending topics and are interested in earning money from writing.

Hashnode

Hashnode is a free blogging platform built specifically for developers. It makes it easy to create a customized developer blog.

Some key features of Hashnode:

• Create a developer blog with a custom domain

• Built-in Markdown editor with code block highlighting

• Options to customize design and CSS

• A growing community of developers

• Free forever with no ads

• GitHub integration to backup articles

Overall, Hashnode is great for developers who want a customized blog on their domain while still having a community.

Hackernoon

Hackernoon is a tech publication focusing on topics like programming, blockchain, emerging tech, and startups.

Some key features:

• Strong focus on tech articles versus casual content

• Professional editing and feedback on articles

• Less of a community feel compared to DEV or Hashnode

• Approval process required to get published

• Sponsored post options for brands

Hackernoon is ideal for getting tech articles professionally edited before a wide developer audience.

Key Comparison Factors

Now that we've provided an overview of each platform, let's dive deeper into how they compare across some key factors:

Audience and Community

When it comes to audience and community, DEV is likely the strongest choice followed by Hashnode.

DEV has over 2 million registered members and a very active commenting community. It feels like a vibrant online developer hangout.

Hashnode also fosters community engagement through blog discussions but is smaller at around 250,000 members.

Medium and Hackernoon don't have the same focus on community. Medium has a broad audience and Hackernoon is more focused on distributing polished articles.

Customization Options

For customizing your blog's design and domain name, Hashnode is the best option.

Hashnode makes it easy to launch a customized developer blog on your domain name in minutes. There are lots of built-in themes and custom CSS options.

DEV allows you to customize your profile page but all articles live on the dev.to domain.

Medium and Hackernoon blogs all reside on their proprietary platforms with minimal customization options.

Writing Experience

When it comes to the actual writing experience, DEV and Hashnode once again come out on top, this time thanks to their built-in Markdown editors.

DEV and Hashnode both have excellent Markdown editors that allow you to write in Markdown format and preview as you go. This is perfect for developer articles with code snippets and formatting.

Meanwhile, Medium and Hackernoon rely on traditional WYSIWYG editors with no Markdown support. This makes the writing and formatting experience a bit trickier for technical articles.

Monetization Options

For monetization, Medium offers the clearest options, followed by Hackernoon.

Medium lets you put articles behind a metered paywall so only paying Medium members can access them. There are also options to enable tips and ad revenue sharing.

Hackernoon has fewer options but does allow sponsored content for brands wanting to get in front of a technical audience.

DEV and Hashnode currently have no direct monetization options for writers.

Distribution

When it comes to distribution, Medium likely has the broadest reach, followed by Hackernoon and DEV.

With over 30 million monthly readers on Medium, your articles will likely reach the biggest initial audience there. However, readers may be turned off by the paywalls.

Hackernoon reaches a very targeted tech-savvy readership that aligns well with developers.

DEV also provides strong distribution within the developer community.

While Hashnode has fewer overall readers, it can help articles published on your custom domain get traffic through SEO.

Verdict: Best Platform For Developers

So which platform is best for developers in 2023? Here are our top recommendations based on key criteria:

• For community and engagement: DEV

• For customization: Hashnode

• For writing experience: DEV or Hashnode

• For monetization: Medium

• For distribution: Medium or Hackernoon

However, there is no one "best" platform. The right choice depends on your specific goals and priorities as a developer blogger.

For example, if you want to focus on building community and connecting with other developers, DEV is likely the best choice.

If you want to create a customized developer blog on your domain, Hashnode is perfect for that.

And if you are focused on earning money from writing, Medium provides the clearest monetization model.

Many developers choose to write on multiple platforms to take advantage of the different strengths. You can re-publish and syndicate articles across different sites.

Just be sure to always include canonical URLs in your articles back to the source to avoid duplicate content SEO issues.

Key Takeaways

• DEV is great for engaging with the developer community

• Hashnode makes it easy to create a customized developer blog

• Medium provides the most options for monetizing your writing

• Hackernoon is good for getting technical articles professionally edited

• Consider using multiple platforms to maximize audience and features

• Include canonical URLs when re-publishing articles across sites

Next Steps

Ready to get started? We recommend signing up for an account on DEV and Hashnode first.

Write some articles on DEV to engage with the developer community. At the same time, set up your customized blog on Hashnode.

Once you have some high-quality articles created, consider submitting to Hackernoon and Medium for broader distribution.

Leveraging multiple platforms will allow you to reach the right readers and build your reputation as a developer blogger.

What blogging platforms do you use and recommend? Let us know in the comments!