Bear Blog
publishedNo-nonsense, privacy-first blogging platform
A blogging platform focused on writing. No trackers, no JavaScript bloat, no ads. Supports custom domains, RSS, and clean typography. Built by a solo developer with a clear philosophy: writing should be the focus.
Trust Surface
Interoperability
Quick Facts
| RSS | Supported |
| Federation | no |
| API | Not available |
| Chronological Feed | na |
| Algorithmic Feed | na |
| Deletion | yes |
| Open Source | no |
| Moderation Transparency | partial |
Why It Belongs
Why It Belongs Here
Bear Blog is a deliberate rejection of the modern blogging platform. No tracking scripts, no analytics dashboards pushing engagement metrics, no JavaScript frameworks inflating page weight. Posts load in milliseconds. The reading experience is pure text.
The business model is transparent: free tier with optional $5/month for custom domains and extra features. No venture capital, no growth-at-all-costs.
Tradeoffs
Tradeoffs
- Limited customization: Intentionally restricted theming keeps things simple but may frustrate designers
- No federation: No ActivityPub or IndieWeb protocols — posts live on bearblog.dev only
- Solo developer risk: One person maintains the entire platform
- No collaboration: Single-author only, no team features
- Export is markdown: Good for portability but loses any platform-specific formatting
Claims (4)
Zero third-party tracking scripts on any Bear Blog page.
Page load times are consistently under 200ms due to minimal HTML output.
Solo developer maintenance creates bus factor risk for long-term reliability.
Markdown export enables genuine portability to any other platform.
Evidence (5)
Bear Blog analytics docs: no Google Analytics support, first-party only
strongOfficial docs: Bear uses lightweight first-party analytics that records one read per visitor per post per day via mousemove/touchmove events. Explicitly states Google Analytics will never be supported, calling Google "the epitome of non-privacy friendly."
Awesome Privacy: Bear Blog 100% security score (66/66 checks)
moderateIndependent privacy directory gave Bear Blog a 100% security score with all 66 security checks passed. Confirms no third-party trackers, no ads, no external scripts.
Bear Blog page size: ~2.7 KB vs Substack ~150 KB, WordPress ~100 KB
moderateAnalysis showing Bear Blog pages are approximately 2.7 KB with zero JavaScript and zero external stylesheets. Comparison: Substack ~150 KB, WordPress ~100 KB+, Medium ~120 KB. Orders of magnitude smaller.
Herman Martinus: solo creator of Bear Blog, not accepting contributions
strongHerman Martinus is the sole creator and maintainer, based in Cape Town. GitHub repo CONTRIBUTIONS.md states "Bear is not currently accepting contributions." 4.8K stars, 2,305 commits. Revenue ~$60K/year (2023). ~15,000 blogs hosted as of April 2023.
Bear Blog export: CSV with markdown content + community conversion tools
moderateBear Blog provides CSV export of all posts containing markdown source. Community tools like nanuq and bearport convert CSV to individual markdown files with YAML front matter, enabling portability to static site generators.