What are the Differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?
What are the Differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org? This is a question I once ask as a novice blogger. But today, I want to share with you all the key differences between these two platforms that’ll eventually help you choose the best place for your website!
One of the things I wished I knew before I started a blog was the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. Honestly, if only I understood these two platforms then, it could have saved me so much time, effort and money whilst growing my website. But as they say, better late than never! I finally learned more about these two platforms after over a year of blogging. Strange I know and clearly, I haven’t done my research. However, this is a ‘mistake’ that is easily avoidable, so if you are a new blogger or just someone who wants to know more about these two platforms, then you are in the right place! This article will help you answer this question- What are the Differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?
Let us understand the two platforms first!
What is WordPress.com?
WordPress.com or sometimes called as the Free WordPress is a platform where you just have to sign up to be able to create your own website or blog. Being the free WordPress, you DO NOT NEED to pay a fee to be able to create your own site. However, you have an option to upgrade to other plans if you want to have a little bit of control of your website.
WordPress.com Available Plans
| Free | Personal | Premium | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.00 for life | $5.00 CAD per month | $10.00 CAD per month | $33.00 CAD per month |
What is WordPress.org
WordPress.org is most commonly called as the Self-hosted WordPress because you need to pay for a hosting site (e.g. Bluehost, Hostgator etc.) and create a domain name before you can create your website. It is an open source where you can basically do anything you want after creating an account. WordPress.org itself is free but without a hosting site, you CANNOT operate your website.
What are the Differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?
The Cost
Creating your website from WordPress.com seems to be cheaper than WordPress.org especially that WordPress.com offers a free plan. Wrong. WordPress.org is cheaper! Why? Although the free WordPress offers different plans depending on your website’s needs and most importantly your budget, your flexibility to control and own your blog will still be limited. Eventually, you would need to buy additional plugins and themes to fully customize your blog which will cost more. On the other hand, WordPress.org is 100% FREE! You will need to pay for a web hosting site but you will have a full access to a lot of plugins and themes for FREE. Major hosting sites like Bluehost constantly offers a discount for as low as $2.99 a month which makes self-hosting more affordable!
Customization
WordPress.org offers a better customization option. You have the full ability to install plugins, download your own themes and layouts for a more professional website. You can also create your own custom designs depending on your own preferences. On the other hand, customization is very limited with WordPress.com. In fact, you can only install plugins when you are in a business plan. One of the biggest hurdles I experienced with WordPress.com even if I was in a Premium plan is the freedom to design my own theme. It is simply not available unless you are willing to spend more money which I find very inconvenient.
SEO Tools
SEO is a crucial tool that every blogger needs to be able to reach more audience. This is the main reason why I finally decided to go self-hosted. WordPress.org offers important SEO tools like Google Analytics and Yoast for free! And again, you have the full capacity to improve and control your website’s SEO. WordPress.com claims to take care of the SEO part of your website so you don’t have to worry about anything which I am very skeptical about since critical SEO tools are only available on the Business plan.
Domain Name
With WordPress.org, you ‘ll need to pay for a hosting site to be able to create your domain name whilst, WordPress.com will give you a subdomain name (yoursite.wordpress.com). If you want a custom domain, you would need to upgrade for a paid plan.
Monetization
WordPress.org does not limit your ability to monetize your website. You can easily set up a marketplace, add your own ads and so much more. For WordPress.com, monetization is only available once you upgrade for Premium and Business Plans. Also, WordPress.com does not support Google AdSense which is probably the best and biggest advertising program available for publishers.
Easier Setup
The best thing about WordPress.com is that you do not need to install anything since everything you need to keep your blog running is readily available as soon as you create an account. WordPress.org requires a bit more work (and research) before you can start running your website.
Final Thoughts ( What are the Differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org? )
The major difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.or is basically the ability you have to control your website. You will be responsible for your entire website including the technical and security sides (which usually just involve clicking a button) if you choose to go with WordPress.org but at the same time, you are free to do everything you visualize to better your website. WordPress.com is a better choice for new and occasional bloggers because you do not have to bother yourself with the technicalities. You simply have to sign up and start creating your content.
Do you prefer WordPress.com or WordPress.org?
xoxo,
7 Comments
Mariah Alyse
This is super helpful! I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately. What host site do you use? Im thinking about going self hosted soon.
thatgirlarlene
Hey Mariah! I am with Bluehost, so far, my experience with them is amazing! I would highly recommend you to go self hosted if you plan on bringing your blog to the next level. Definitely do a research about it to help you transition. Good luck!
observantcitizen
Thanks. This is informative. I’m not sure kung ano ang style mo sa pagsulat ng blog but, I believe, you missed to mention a key aspect ng blogging (or, maybe, you just have this as an unwritten assumption) : blogger’s “intention.” What do I mean, there are bloggers who do not really need customization and plugins; they are content (adjective) with having a simple platform for their blog’s content (noun). Whereas your points above are true, I believe, blogging will need to start with the following preliminary questions :
1) What is your purpose of blogging?
2) How frequent do you blog?
3) Do you have time to tailor your site and are you even considering it?
thatgirlarlene
Agree! 🙂 The purpose of this post is to simply differentiate WordPress.com and WordPress.org especially for ones who are considering to go self-hosted. The content is of course the most important part of a blog.🙂 I think, I based this in my experience kasi I had no clue na magkaiba pala yung dalawa. So I mainly want to share what I learned sa mga uninformed like me. That’s it! 🙂
sarahjambler
This post is really helpful. I’m thinking more and more about going self hosted but I worry that I’m too small a blog. But then again I know to grow I need to start thinking about SEO etc. What would you suggest?
April
I’m not the poster, but I’m currently not self hosted and have been thinking about when I’d make the jump. For now, I get most of my traffic on the wordpress reader. You lose that with wordpress.org. So until my site traffic is based on other streams it’s worth it for me to stay. Monetization is also a factor, but I’m not there yet.
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