Write.as
I signed up for Write.as in 2018, wrote one post, and left. I think I was enamored with Ghost or Hugo or TiddlyWiki or something at the time.
I’ve since abandoned Ghost, as I don’t like their focus on monetization and “Building An Audience” and I don’t love the founder. I’m using Hugo for my primary blog today, but, as happens occasionally, I tire of the static blog publishing workflow.
Recent mentions of the 5-year price break for Write.as prompted me to take another look and I was surprised by how far it has come. I like the developers’ tone and I like the writing environment and I like the look of published blogs. It also has comments, federation, newsletters, a public API, and a good attitude.
$3/month for 5 years is a commitment, but it’s cheaper than the smallest VPS (monthly) and more featureful than a static blog on Netlify or Github pages.
I’m giving it a try. If for some reason I switch to something else (let’s be honest, who knows where I'll be?), I’ll consider the money spent to be an investment in a useful, open, well-meaning writing tool.