Automattic, the company behind the WordPress blogging platform have dramatically increased the online file storage capacity for free WordPress.com blogs. How dramatically? Well bloggers used to get 50MB of space for images and documents. Now they can upload up to 3GB. For free.

If 3GB still isn't enough, you can upgrade to 5GB for $20/year, 15GB for $50/year or 25GB for $90/year.

Google's Blogger gives free users 1GB of online storage for media files for free, although you can upgrade to 10GB for just $20/year, while TypePad users would need to pay $300/year to get 3GB of space.

WordPress users who had previously paid for a 1GB upgrade will now automatically have their accounts boosted to 5GB for no additional fee. Free accounts still have some limits. For example, you're not allowed to post advertisements or sponsored posts on a WordPress.com web site. But for bloggers who are more interested in finding a platform for their voice than in making a buck, this upgrade should make WordPress an attractive alternative to other blog hosting sites like Blogger or LiveJournal.

[via Digital Inspiration]