Tumblr used to be one of the freest microblogging websites in the world. Millions of users regard it as a frequently-used social network sites. You can upload text, photos, videos, and music on Tumblr. The NSFW (Not Safe for Work) content is also a massive part of what people share on Tumblr. About a quarter of Tumblr users mainly consumed adult content.
After Tumblr was acquired by Yahoo in 2013, it has to restrict the adult content traffic. Users won’t be able to see the NSFW contents in search results and tags. This move caused the user loss to Tumblr. People have been continuously looking for a more flexible Tumblr alternative. However, Tumblr is still struggling to balance adult content and user’s freedom.
So, this time, we’ve found the 10 best Tumblr alternative sites for you. Check the list out, and I believe you will find something useful! Apart from that, I will show you how to download videos from Tumblr or other website.
Let’s start!
Part 1. 10 Best Tumblr Alternatives
1. WordPress
WordPress is one of the most used blogs worldwide. You can own a unique domain name to share your content. WordPress supports users to upload almost all kinds of content, including but not limited to photograph, music, video, and text. You can use it as a blog, or a portfolio, even an e-commerce site that could be your source of revenue. The best point is WordPress gives users the maximum freedom to customize their websites. Everything on WordPress could be designed in a way that best shows your identity.
For sensitive content, you can restrict the group of viewers by adding a password. All the settings and operations are friendly to the blog beginners. What’s more, almost all the custom functions are free to use. Although you want to make your site highly professional, you could choose premium features.
2. Reddit
Reddit is a more forum-like website. Users can post their thoughts on Reddit with text, link, photo, video, and audio. Other users can reply to your post and click to upvote or downvote the comments. You can join the Reddit group that you are interested in. The new posts from the subreddit you subscribe to will show in your feed. Reddit has less limitations on the NSFW content than Tumblr. Therefore, it was regarded as a good alternative to Tumblr.
Reddit’s view is pretty different from Tumblr, while you are not creating a blog homepage for people to visit. Most interactions between users take place in the subreddits. But the censorship of Reddit is more flexible than Tumblr, which is an important reason that it still has 300 million daily active users.
3. Blogger
Google now owns Blogger, a blog site that allows users to create their site with several easy setup steps. You can post articles, photographs, music, and videos on your Blogger. Assisted by Google, you can log in to Blogger with your Google account. Blogger used to have access to premium functions, but Google makes them all free. It has weaker social functions than Tumblr. However, this feature makes Blogger a quieter environment for daily-like web blog lovers.
Logging in with your Google account, Blogger will ask you to set up a specific site name. The visitors can read your posts and articles via your particular address. You can easily view the statistical data and your income from the toolbar on the page’s left side. It’s like a Google version of WordPress. From the angle of sharing content, Blogger is a choice that would never disappoint you.
4. Pillowfort
Pillowfort and Tumblr look pretty alike. The homepage of Pillowfort shows the feed of your following blogs. You will see others share their original blogs or reblog from others. Users can reblog the post to a different community. When you enter the community, you will see the discussions listed on the left side. People of the same taste and hobby are communicating by leaving a reply in the discussion. Pillowfort has a built-in message system as its social feature. Besides the regular message, you can also permit a person send you a private message in settings. If you are familiar with Tumblr, Pillowfort is a perfect replacement for you. You can use it in the almost same way as using Tumblr.
5. Ghost
Ghost is a platform that allows users to have their domain and create the site they want. It’s completely independent so that you can control everything: the technology, the audience, the content, and the theme design. If you suffer from the article removal from Tumblr due to its dispute with Apple App Store, Ghost would be your new home to settle down. Like Tumblr, you can manage your homepage by using the themes it offers or arranges it all by yourself. Ghost does SEO and collects the statistical data for you. The built-in XML sitemaps, Google AMP pages, canonical tags, optimized URLs, microformats, etc., would automatically help you make the site better. No installation and fee are needed; these services are included when you choose Ghost.
If you tend to make the blog your business, choose Ghost. You own everything you published on Ghost. Even if the Ghost company doesn’t exist in the future, you can still use your site. Each Ghost site is independent, which means it won’t be influenced by other sites’ closedown.
6. Mastodon
Mastodon is a microblogging site that is free and open-source. Users can host their own Mastodon server or join other servers hosted by the person or community they trust. In this way, your posts won’t be deleted by anyone else. You own all the rights to your publications. For artists, Mastodon has a more customized system that allows them to set the way they want to display their works. For example, artists could choose the exact part of their work as a thumbnail. Furthermore, Mastodon is more flexible to adult content. You can set any individual post as NSFW rather than set the entire account as NSFW. As a viewer, you don’t need to log in to see the sensitive content. A spoiler will warn you of the NSFW content you are about to view. You won’t see it until you choose to. Of course, you can skip the spoiler as well.
7. Dreamwidth
Dreamwidth is a free platform that provides services based on LiveJournal codebase. The goal of Dreamwidth is to build a community “based on open access, transparency, freedom, and respect.” On Dreamwidth, you can own a particular webpage to post your online journal, and others could leave comments under your post. Dreamwidth also has shared or group journals named “communities.” For new users, an invitation code is required to register for a Dreamwidth account, but now it’s not necessary anymore. Paid accounts can access the limited features that free accounts cannot. But for full access, users need to go for the Premium account.
8. Newgrounds
Newgrounds is an online entertainment and social networking website that was established in 1995. Therefore, the design and display may seem a little bit old school nowadays. However, the key feature of Newgrounds as a Tumblr alternative is its flexible approach to adult content. Newgrounds aims to share “everything to everyone,” which is why it becomes one of the first batch of websites that welcome Tumblr users. You can explore games, art, movies, and audio content in Newgrounds. You can also join the community you are interested in, share and communicate with people who have the same habit.
9. Twitter
Twitter has witnessed an increase in the number users since Tumblr was removed from Apple App Store. Although Twitter is not a complete site like Tumblr, its tolerant attitude to sensitive content still attracts an appreciable quantity of Tumblr users. Unlike Tumblr, Twitter has a shorter character count for each tweet. But users can attach pictures, videos, and links to their posts. You can set your Twitter account as private, which means the followers can follow you only when they get your permission. Also, you cannot retweet the content from your private Twitter account. This feature somehow restricts the sharing scope of NSFW content.
With its powerful social features, Twitter is now having 321 million active users. So, if you want to share with a large group of people, Twitter will be the right choice for you.
10. Soup
Soup is a microblogging platform with almost the same features as Tumblr, making it a competitive option of Tumblr alternative. If you are familiar with Tumblr, you won’t have any trouble transferring your Tumblr content to Soup. It allows users to post text, quotes, pictures, GIFs, and videos. Besides Tumblr, you can easily import posts from other social websites such as Twitter, Reddit, and SoundCloud. Also, Soup could help you share the post to Facebook automatically. It’s really an easy tool for Tumblr users who want to transfer sensitive content to others. To find people with shared interests, you can join the Soup groups, and create the collaborative thread with others.
Part 2. Bonus: How to Download Tumblr Videos?
Besides introducing the alternative to Tumblr, I would like to share a bonus tip for you: how to download Tumblr videos?
Like most social sharing websites, Tumblr doesn’t offer a download service to viewers. When you want to download the great Tumblr video you like, a practical downloader is a must-have.
AnyVid is the powerful, stable video downloader that supports video downloads from 1,000+ sites including Tumblr. By copying and pasting the video link from Tumblr, you are able to save the video to your device quickly and safely. Offline watching could avoid the network connection problem, and you don’t need to worry about when Tumblr will remove the content without any notification.
For any users who want to switch to new alternatives to Tumblr, AnyVid’s batch download will help a lot. You can download a series of videos with one click.
Conclusion
By reading through this article, did you find the best Tumblr alternative for yourself? All these 10 websites have their special features, but post blogs’ primary function is the same. Don’t panic if Tumblr takes something down. You will finally find a new place where you can post whatever you want for free.
AnyVid
Download any video from 1,000+ websites
Plus, here is AnyVid ready to help you download video content from Tumblr. Install it, and you will find it worth a try!