WordPress.com vs WordPress.org – Which is Better?

Did you have the knowledge you could use WordPress.com as well as WordPress.org are in reality two totally different platforms?

Many beginners get confused by WordPress.com and WordPress.org This can lead them to pick the incorrect blogger platform to suit their requirements. Even those who realize that they’re two distinct platforms do not know the distinctions between the two.

We’re frequently requested by our users to choose what is the best platform: WordPress.com vs WordPress.org. To answer this question we’ve made the most thorough analysis of free WordPress.com and WordPress.org (self-hosted versions).

Our goal is to bring out the main distinctions between WordPress.com as opposed to WordPress.org so that you can pick the best platform to meet your requirements.

Because choosing the best platform is essential to successful online presence, we’ve developed the most thorough comparison of WordPress.com against WordPress.org (text comparison with tables, a table-based comparison as well as a comprehensive infographic).

If you’re just looking to begin a blog, or create a website using the correct method, you’re free to skip this article and head to our tutorials here:

In that regard we’ll take a glance at some distinctions between self-hosted WordPress.org and WordPress.com.

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org (Infographic)

Notification: This infographic and article compares the robust WordPress.org self-hosted WordPress.org against WordPress.com, the free WordPress.com hosting service. You can gain additional features within WordPress.com through upgrading their paid-for service. We’ve highlighted these capabilities as well.

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Comparison

The best method of understanding the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org is to look at each platform separately.

WordPress.org

WordPress.org aka “the real WordPress” is the most well-known website platform which you’ve heard about the wonderful things about.

It’s an open source software that is free to everyone to use. All you require is an domain address as well as web hosting. This is the reason why it’s sometimes known as self-hosted WordPress.

Here are the advantages and disadvantages of using self-hosted WordPress.org to create your site or blog.

WordPress.org Benefits

With WordPress.org you are in complete control over your website. You’re free to create whatever you like and modify it to the extent you’d like.

Here are some advantages of using WordPress.org for your website and the reasons why it’s our top choice as the best web-based builder.

• WordPress is a WordPress program is free and open-source. It’s also extremely simple to use. WordPress has been used by more than 43% of the websites online (See the reason why WordPress free? ).
• You are the owner of your website as well as all the data it contains. Your site won’t be shut down if the site is in violation of their terms of service (as as long as you’re not doing anything illegal). You have full control.
• You can also add free or paid customized WordPress plugins or applications to your site.
• You can modify your website’s appearance depending on your requirements. You can choose the free or paid WordPress theme that you wish to. You can also design entirely custom designs, or alter any element you like.
• You could actually earn money with your WordPress website by making your own advertisements without sharing the profits with anyone.
• You can make use of powerful tools such as Google Analytics to create custom tracking and analytics.
• It is possible to use self-hosted WordPress to build your own online shop that sells physical or digital items and accept credit card transactions and deliver the products directly from your site.
• You could also build membership sites and sell memberships to customers for premium content, courses, etc. and create an online community around your site.

WordPress.org Cons

There are some disadvantages to using this WordPress.org site that is hosted by the self-hosted WordPress.org site.

• Like any other website that you host, you’ll need web hosting. This is where your site’s documents are stored online. At first, it costs between $3 and $10 per month. As your website expands and increases its visitors, your web hosting plan’s costs will rise as expected however, you will have enough revenue to pay for the cost.
• It is necessary in order to set up WordPress. The good news is that the majority of well-known WordPress hosting businesses provide one-click WordPress setup options. It is also possible to follow our extensive tutorial on how to correctly set up WordPress.
• It is your responsibility to update your site. You can upgrade your WordPress website by simply clicking”Update” (one-click) This means it’s not that difficult to do.
• Backups are your responsibility. There are a lot of WordPress backup plugins which allow you to create automated backups.

The actual cost of a WordPress.org website is contingent upon the type of website you want to create (simple site, portfolio site eCommerce store and membership sites, etc). Other factors such as free templates versus Premium templates free plugins and premium plugins, etc.

If you have a budget that is low it is possible to build your website as low as $46 annually. See our guide on how much does it actually cost to construct an WordPress website? For more information, click here.

 

For the vast majority of users, our advice is to always go with WordPress.org. Learn how to create an online presence.

 

Benefit: The team at Bluehost offer our readers a discount of 69% on web hosting and the option of a free domain address. They’re an official recommended WordPress hosting service. Get Started Today >>

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is a hosting service that was developed by Automattic the company headed by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg. Due to the same founder of WordPress, many people confuse WordPress.com with the well-known WordPress.org software.

WordPress.com hosting service has 6 pricing plans: WordPress.com hosting service comes with six pricing plans to choose from:

• Free Very restricted.
• Personal $48 per year for personal
• Premium – $96 for the year
• Business – $300 per calendar year
• E-commerce – $540 annually
• VIP – starting at $5000 per month

Let’s look at the pros and pros and WordPress.com.

WordPress.com Benefits

It is the free WordPress.com website is an excellent choice for amateur bloggers as well as people who want to start a blog for their family. Here are a few advantages from using WordPress.com:

• It’s free for 3GB of storage. After that, you’ll need to upgrade to a premium plan to get greater storage capacity. (Personal plan $48/year offers you 6GB of storage, Premium plan $96/year provides 13GB of storage, or a Business plan at $300/year to get 200GB of storage).
• There is no need to worry about backups or updates. WordPress.com will handle all of that.

WordPress.com Cons

There are some limitations to free WordPress.com which differentiate it from WordPress.org. Here are a few negatives to using WordPress.com:

• They display advertisements everywhere on free websites. The users who visit your site see these advertisements, but you do not earn any money from it. If you don’t want your customers to see your advertisements, or you want to make the switch to an cost-based WordPress.com plan (starting at the price of $48 for a year).
• It is not permitted to sell advertisements on your site This severely restricts the ways to make money from your website. If you have a high volume site, you may apply for their advertising program, WordAds which allows you to share your earnings with WordAds. Premium and Business plan customers are able to use WordAds immediately.
• You can’t upload plugins. Free plan users have built-in Jetpack features that are pre-activated. Business plan users can choose the most compatible plugins ($300 annually). WordPress.com VIP program allows you to install plugins. It begins at $5000 per month.
• It is not possible to upload custom themes. Users on the free plan can only install themes from the free themes available. Premium and business plan customers can also choose premium themes. There are a limited number of options to customize users using the free version. Premium and Business plan customers can make use of the option of customizing CSS.
• You’re only limited by their stats. You can’t integrate Google Analytics or install any other advanced tracking system. Business plan customers can use Google Analytics.
• Free WordPress.com websites are accompanied by an WordPress.com subdomain with a WordPress.com logo (e.g. https://yourwebsite.wordpress.com). You’ll need a paid plan to get a custom domain name (e.g https://www.yourwebsite.com).
• They may take down your website at any time , if they feel that it violates their conditions of service.
• Your website will show an hosted by WordPress.com link. This can be removed by updating on Business plan. Business plan.
• WordPress.com doesn’t offer eCommerce options as well as integrated payment gateways, unless you choose to switch to the eCommerce plan.
• You can’t build membership websites using WordPress.com.

As you will observe it’s clear that WordPress.com’s WordPress.com hosting platform isn’t as extensive even if you’re using the free personal, personal or even premium plans. To access some of the more sophisticated options, you need to join the Business Plan ($300 for the year) or the premium plan ($5000 monthly).

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org (FAQs)

Because this is a very popular subject in addition to the fact that WPBeginner is the most popular free WordPress information site designed for novices We receive a lot of queries about WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

We’ve done our best to provide the answers to some of the questions we get asked most often here:

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org – Which is Better?

If you’re a private blogger and don’t want to make profits from your site choose to use WordPress.com. It’s free WordPress.com.

If you’re a business or blogger looking to make money off your website, then we suggest using WordPress.org, which is WordPress.org self-hosted WordPress.org. It offers you the flexibility and freedom to develop your website in as you wish.

While you get many advanced features when you sign up for WordPress.com Business plan WordPress.com business plan ($300 annually for each site) You can also use that money more efficiently with self-hosted WordPress website that costs $46 annually.

Our expert opinion is that WordPress.org is by far the most effective platform. This is the platform which every professional blogger, small-scale business owner as well as large-name brands such as Disney makes use of.

Can I Monetize Free WordPress.com Website?

WordPress.com doesn’t permit you to display advertisements for free WordPress.com website. If you own a highly traffic website, you are able to join their WordAds Program and exchange the ad earnings with WordPress.com.

You are able to put affiliate hyperlinks on your site however, that’s all there is to it.

The reality is that you will have only a few options to make money from contents for the WordPress.com website.

While with WordPress.org you are in complete control over the the system for managing content which means you can enjoy the option of unlimited monetization for your brand new website.

WordPress.com Compares to WordPress.org Which is the best for E-commerce?

WordPress.org is the most convenient way to design and build an eCommerce website. You can utilize WooCommerce to build your online store or pick from the many different WordPress Membership, eCommerce as well as LMS plugins.

WordPress.com also has an eCommerce plan that starts at $540 a year, which is a significant amount when you’re just beginning your journey. The plan isn’t complete in terms of options, and you’ll need to adhere to WordPress.com’s conditions of service for your online store.

Check out our tutorial for how to create your own online shop without spending a lot of money. It explains how you can get an individual domain for free as well as all the features you require to expand your online.

How do I get started with an WordPress.org Website?

To start a self-hosted WordPress website, you need a domain name and WordPress hosting.

 

The domain name is the website’s URL on the internet like google.com, wpbeginner.com, etc. The web hosting can be described as the place where website’s files are saved online.

 

We recommend Bluehost to hosting your website since they’re one of the biggest web hosting companies around the globe. Bluehost is also an officially WordPress.org recommended web hosting service. And lastly they’re also offering our users the chance to get a free domain plus free SSL and 60% discount on hosting.

For step-by-step instructions for constructing a website, check out the free tutorial on the best way to build an online website.

If you require help, WPBeginner team can even install WordPress and create your site for free. Find out the details of how our free WordPress blog installation functions.

Can I transfer my account to WordPress.com and switch to WordPress.org?

Many new users who do not recognize the distinction between WordPress.com and WordPress.org begin using WordPress.com, which is the free WordPress.com platform. After they have seen its limitations, they decide to change towards “the Real WordPress” aka WordPress.org.

Yes, you are able to change from WordPress.com and switch to WordPress.org and move fairly easily the entirety of your website content.

We’ve put together an easy step-by-step instruction to how to transfer your website away from WordPress.com and onto WordPress.org, or you could use the free blog set-up service that will transfer your blog free.