AppBreakup
Submit an app
Ma

Mataroa

A naked, open-source blogging platform for minimalists, with email subscriptions and no tracking.

Free plan + paidOpen sourceSelf-hostableNewsletter and creator publishing platforms
Visit MataroaSee 5 alternatives
Verified facts
4 of 4
Alternatives ranked
5
Approved reviews
0
Visits sent from here
0

About Mataroa

Mataroa is a deliberately bare blogging platform. You write posts in Markdown and they appear as plain text on a subdomain or your own domain, with no themes, custom CSS, tags or analytics trackers. Readers can subscribe by RSS or by email, which makes it a lightweight newsletter as well as a blog. It needs no email address to sign up, offers monthly automatic exports, export to ePub and to static site generators like Zola and Hugo, and can redirect your blog if you leave. The code is free software under the AGPL, so you can self-host. Most features are free; a premium tier for a few dollars a year adds custom domains and post-by-email. The trade-off is that the minimalism is non-negotiable: if you want any control over design, it is the wrong tool. It runs in the browser. It suits writers who want to focus purely on text and keep full ownership of it.

Best for: Minimalist writers who want text-only blogging with email subscribers and easy export.

Pros and cons

What works

  • No tracking, ads or cookies for analytics
  • Very cheap premium tier billed yearly
  • Strong export options and open-source code

Why people leave

  • No themes, custom CSS or design choices at all
  • No tags, categories or paid subscriptions
  • Small project with limited support

Top Mataroa alternatives

See all 5
  1. 1Bear Blog logo
    Bear Blog

    Just as minimal but allows custom CSS and themes.

    66.5
  2. 2Write.as logo
    Write.as

    Minimal, privacy-first blogging with fediverse following.

    62.6
  3. 3WriteFreely logo
    WriteFreely

    Another open-source minimalist engine, with multi-user communities.

    59.6
  4. 4Pika logo
    Pika

    Still simple, but with a nicer editor and some design choices.

    57.2
  5. 5Buttondown logo
    Buttondown

    A dedicated newsletter tool if email matters more than the blog.

    55.3

Why people left Mataroa

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

No switching stories yet. If you moved away from Mataroa, review the app you switched to and tell us why.

Reviews

No approved reviews yet. How we verify reviewers

Write a review of Mataroa
Your rating of Mataroa

Never shown publicly. A work email helps us verify you.

What did you use it for, and what was good or bad? At least 40 characters.

A GitHub username, your company domain, or say you can send a screenshot. Verified reviews count more.

By submitting, you confirm you're at least 16 and agree to our terms. Your name, rating, review and the date are published; your email isn't. See our privacy policy.

Mataroa: common questions

Is Mataroa free?

Mataroa has a free plan and paid plans. Free plan: Yes, most features (checked on Mataroa's own site).

Is Mataroa open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at mataroa-blog/mataroa. You can also run it on your own server.

What platforms does Mataroa run on?

Mataroa is available for Web and Self-hosted.

What are the best alternatives to Mataroa?

The highest-ranked Mataroa alternatives right now are Bear Blog, Write.as and WriteFreely. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 5 Mataroa alternatives