My blog was previously built using Jekyll hosted on Github Pages and some google forms. Images had to be downloaded and moved to a specific folder, then embedded in the code. That code had to be tested locally then pushed to production via command line. I enjoyed total control, but there was an ongoing cost I had become accustomed to paying.
Just like gmail, with their annoying recent data limits and forever cumbersome filtering mechanisms, my blog functioned with friction. I searched for better but couldn't find a tool that matched my preferences.