These are my impressions about the hosted blog service Mataroa.blog. Mataroa is a minimalist type of hosted blog somewhat on the same order as Write.as.
Mostly it's the look that is minimalist because the feature list is pretty good. I won't go through the entire list because you can see that at the link above.
That's just at the free level. The paid level adds the ability to use your own domain but get backups emailed to you regularly. Free is free and the paid level is only US $6.00 per year. (For now, that number has to eventually go up.)
Mataroa uses Markdown to customize your writing so there is no elaborate editor. You can post photos as well. I have no idea how much storage space you get, but photos are not the point of Mataroa as a blog host, text is. This is a place for people who want to write with the minimum of fuss. There is almost no friction standing in the way of you writing a post.
One downside is there is no site search. All blogs should have a site search. They need to add a site search.
I have to say, I’m impressed. You are not going get the rich and powerful feature set, syndication and community like you would with Micro.blog but if money is tight and/or if you just want to experiment with a personal blog Mataroa just might be for you.