Hatena(はてな)
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy Hatena Blog if you write in Japanese and want free hosting from a long-running, ISO-certified company.
Comparison
Hatena(はてな) vs アメーバブログ（アメブロ）
Hatena(はてな) and アメーバブログ（アメブロ） both land on Depends.
アメーバブログ（アメブロ）
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Choose it if you want a free personal blog with Japan's biggest built-in reader community and celebrity content.
| Compare | Hatena(はてな) | アメーバブログ（アメブロ） |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Japanese-language bloggers | Personal hobby diaries |
| Who it's not for | Non-Japanese speakers . services and support are Japan-first | Businesses needing own domain and SEO control |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.² | External scanner rated 87.5/100; no public vulnerabilities or breaches found in sources reviewed. |
| Support quality | Help center exists, no quality evidence | No support evidence found |
| Public sentiment | Little direct product-review evidence found; most search hits were unrelated namesakes (restaurants, musicians, manga), with active personal blogs on Hatena Blog. | Comparison articles and Q&A threads cast it as an easy, free beginner platform, with monetization weaker than note and flexibility limits versus WordPress.14 |
| Biggest gotcha | CMS charges initial, monthly and option fees . total cost unknown until sales contact.⁴ | Guess: content export is limited and SEO control is weak; platform lock-in is real14 |
Pick Hatena(はてな) when
- Japanese-language bloggers
- Personal writers wanting free hosting
- JP SMBs wanting a no-code CMS
- JP news/bookmark power users
When Hatena(はてな) is not a fit
- Non-Japanese speakers . services and support are Japan-first
- Buyers wanting published prices . CMS is quote-only
- Teams needing one consolidated vendor with SLAs
- Anyone wary of paid add-ons being sunset . Bookmark Plus died in 2017
Pick アメーバブログ（アメブロ） when
- Personal hobby diaries
- Japan-focused lifestyle writers
- Beginners wanting free hosting
- Celebrity/fan content readers
When アメーバブログ（アメブロ） is not a fit
- Businesses needing own domain and SEO control
- Affiliate bloggers chasing income
- Teams needing a multi-author CMS
- Anyone prioritizing easy data export
Sources
- Hatena product security pagehatena.ne.jpsecurity
- Hatena Co., Ltd. corporate site (ISMS/ISO 27001)hatena.co.jpsecurity
- Hatena Blog . free blog servicehatena.blogofficial
- Hatena CMS pricing planshatena.ne.jpofficial
- Hatena Bookmark Plus discontinuation notice (2017)bookmark.hatenastaff.comofficial
- Hatena Developer Center . security contactdeveloper.hatena.ne.jpsecurity
- Hatena Blog team security incident drillsdeveloper.hatenastaff.comsecurity
official
- Hatena on LinkedIn . services overviewlinkedin.comofficial
- はてな (企業) . Wikipediaja.wikipedia.orgnews
- アメーバブログ（アメブロ）公式ameblo.jpofficial
- Amebaブログの有料プランcontent.ameba.jpofficial
- Amebaブログの有料プランガイドラインhelps.ameba.jpofficial
- アメブロはどこが凄い？デメリットや料金onamae.comreview
- 無料ブログサービス4種類を1ヶ月運用比較imd-net.comreview
- アメブロとnoteどっちが稼げる？amebaking.client.jpreview