Building a Personal Blog for Free: My Setup and Process

Posted Aug 11, 2025

1 min read

I recently created this blog that costs me nothing to run and allows me to edit and publish without editing code. It’s fast, customizable, and has a clean editing interface — all without monthly hosting fees. Here’s the exact setup and process I used.

The Stack

Website: Jekyll + Chirpy theme
Hosting: GitHub Pages (free)
CMS: Sveltia CMS (successor to Netlify CMS)
Authentication: Cloudflare Workers (free tier)
Domain: Namecheap
Cost: $0/month

Why This Setup Works for Me

No ongoing costs – Uses free service tiers.
Full control – All content and code are mine.
User-friendly editing – CMS works on desktop and mobile.
Fast loading – Static site generation ensures performance.
Clean design – Chirpy theme provides a professional look.
Version control – All content is tracked in Git.

The Setup Process

1. Jekyll + Chirpy Theme

Jekyll powers the blog and the Chirpy theme adds:

Light/dark mode toggle
Search functionality
Table of contents
Syntax highlighting
SEO optimization
Progressive Web App support

2. GitHub Pages Hosting

Steps:

Create a GitHub repository
Enable GitHub Pages
Use GitHub Actions for Jekyll builds

3. Sveltia CMS for Content Editing

Sveltia CMS provides:

Clean interface
Mobile-friendly editing
Rich text + Markdown support
Image management
Git-based commits directly to the repo

4. Authentication with Cloudflare Workers

A simple Cloudflare Worker handles GitHub OAuth authentication and secure token exchange. It’s free and lightweight.

My Blogging Workflow

Visit /admin on my blog
Log in with GitHub OAuth
Write or edit in the CMS
Save — commits to GitHub
GitHub Actions rebuilds and deploys the site

What I Learned

GitHub Actions make Jekyll much more flexible.
Static sites are fast and low-maintenance.
Authentication was trickier than I first assumed.
Free-tier services can work together for a professional result.

Final Thoughts

If you have some technical comfort and want a blog that’s fast, reliable, and free to run, this setup is worth considering.

Resources:

technology, blogging