It sounds and looks ideal but it can get costly if you want to do anything non-standard. And by non-standard I mean something as simple as adding a ConvertKit n

It sounds and looks ideal but it can get costly if you want to do anything non-standard. And by non-standard I mean something as simple as adding a ConvertKit newsletter signup form to your blog, at which point you need a business package that cost non trivial $. I used to recommend Wordpress.com. I don't anymore. Self hosted Wordpress has its own issues. Even with no plugins, you still have a very real prospect of malware finding its way onto your site if you don't keep everything fully up to date.