Blogger vs TypePad

We looked at the two top blogging services. Best known, and free, is
Google Blogger. But you get what you pay for: Blogger is a basic
blogging service that won’t overpower beginners with too many options
or choices. For a small monthly fee, however, Six Apart TypePad
provides the services we’d like to see offered within Blogger, such as
mixed-media templates, built-in photo uploading, and guest accounts.
Ironically, Blogger makes it much easier to host your blogs on your own
domain; TypePad allows it but also requires a little extra work between
you and your ISP.

I think it really depends what you are looking for in a blogging service (like most things).  I originally ran this blog on Blogger and decided to move across to TypePad when I hit a few snags on Blogger and didn’t come right.  Once I worked out how to do all the stuff I wanted to do (or most of it at any rate), I realised that TypePad is far better for me than Blogger. 

If you are new to blogging, also bear in mind that there are other solutions available.  Three of these solutions are MovableType, LiveJournal and WordPress.  Of those three, only LiveJournal is hosted.  If you decide to implement MovableType or WordPress, you will need to host your blog with a hosting service and you will also need to be able to configure the blogs to run.  To do this, you will require certain skills to get the show on the road (or have access to those skills).  Setting up a blog with WordPress or MovableType is a bit more challenging than setting up a blog on Blogger, TypePad and LiveJournal but it is not impossible.  There are some pretty remarkable blogs running both platforms (two of my favourites are eclecticism and ProBlogger, running MovableType and WordPress respectively).

Speaking of ProBlogger, Darren agrees with CNET Reviews’ finding that TypePad is a better blogging service, notwithstanding that it is a paid service.