WordPress is a popular website builder. Around 45% of websites are built by WordPress. But, there are two WordPress categories. One is WordPress.org and the other is WordPress.com. Both are different in terms of themes, plugins, customization, etc. WordPress.com is mostly used by simple websites and blogging websites that are not expecting any revenue from their website. But WordPress.org is used by most people like any type of business. It has so many features and a lot of customization options are available. Let’s see what are the difference between WordPress.org Vs WordPress.com. Choose the right one for your website.
WordPress.com is a hosting provider service, which also allows you to create websites. It is a simple website builder that is used by small businesses and bloggers, those who are not expecting any revenue from their website.
WordPress.org is the real WordPress website builder. It is open-source software that you can install and use as your own. It has so many customization options and other features like temples, plugins, themes, etc. It does not provide any domain and hosting. We have to use third-party apps like Bluehost, WordPress.com, DreamHost, SiteGround, etc.
Is it better to use WordPress.org or WordPress.com?
Both are better to use. But in different cases. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages. WordPress.com is better used for Small businesses, beginners, and bloggers. And also, it has so many limitations like plugins, templates, SEO optimization, etc. are limited in WordPress.com. WordPress.org is more advanced and can be used by all types of businesses. It has more plugins, templates, better analytics & report, SEO, etc. So, in my opinion, WordPress.org is better to use.
Is WordPress.com cheaper than WordPress.org?
WordPress.com is not cheaper than WordPress.org. WordPress.com has a free version. Even though it lacks a lot of functionality in its free version. It provides its own domain and hosting. If you need better features, you have to upgrade to the business plan. It will cost you around $300 and above. But, the case WordPress.org is a self-hosted website. You can select your hosting provider. And also, you will be able to all the features in that plan itself. It will cost you below $50 in the first year. Next year, you will have to pay more than that. Even if, it will not be more than WordPress.com. So, WordPress.org is cheaper than WordPress.com.
What is the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com?
There are so many differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. First of all, WordPress.org is a self-hosted website. WordPress.com will provide its own hosting. WordPress.com has limited customization options and lacks plugins, themes, and templates. WordPress.org has a lot of customization options. It has around 60,000 plugins and around 10,000 themes & templates. It has advanced SEO optimization. But WordPress.com has only limited SEO. You can’t install any SEO plugins on your site.
What’s an advantage of using WordPress Org over WordPress com?
WordPress.org has a lot of customization options. You will get so many plugins, themes, and templates. The control of your site will be in your hand. You can select your own hosting provider. You will get better SEO and analytics. It is also affordable when compared to WordPress.com. WordPress.com has only limited customization options and it lacks so many functionalities.
Does SiteGround use WordPress org or WordPress com?
SiteGround is a hosting provider of WordPress.org. SiteGround help you to manage your website easily. It also has good customer support. It has the latest technologies to load WordPress websites faster.
WordPress.com is a hosted website. A hosted website allows you to build your website with their software and provide you with space for your website. But a hosted site has so many limitations. WordPress.com provides you with WordPress branded domains for free (name.wordpress.com). You have to upgrade your plan to get a custom domain.
Wordpress.com domain choosing
On the other hand, WordPress.org is a self-hosted website with self-hosting platforms like Bluehost, SiteGround, DreamHost, etc. You have to purchase your own hosting and domain and install the WordPress software onto that hosting provider. You can buy it through NameCheap, GoDaddy, Bluehost, etc. You will get a custom in both for free for 1 year using Bluehost. You have to renew your domain name each year.
Wordpress.org hosting
Winner of Domain & Hosting: WordPress.org
WordPress.com: 0-1 : WordPress.org
2. Pricing
#WordPress.com
WordPress.com has two plans. Free plan and Pro Plan.
Free plan: $0 /mo: Can Create & Publish website using subdomains, 0.5 GB storage, 10,000 visits per month, 1 Website Administrator.
Pro Plan: $15 /mo: Custom domain name, premium themes, WordPress plugins, Premium support, Sell products with WooCommerce, 50 GB storage, 100,000 visits per month, Remove ads, Advanced SEO tools, unlimited Website Administrator, etc.
Wordpress.com pricing
#WordPress.com
It is open-source software so it’s free to use. But you must purchase hosting and domain name through third-party hosting providers like Bluehost. The cost will vary depending on the service providers. You will get hosting for around 3-4 dollars /mo. I recommend Bluehost. They offer an affordable price and great support for beginners. And you get a free domain name for the first year.
Wordpress.org Bluehost pricing
Winner of Pricing: WordPress.org
WordPress.com: 0-2 : WordPress.org
3. Templates & Themes
WordPress.com does not have so many Templates & Themes to choose from in its free version. It has only limited customization options. You will get premium themes only in its upgraded plan. You will get around 50 templates on WordPress.com. The website customization will be all yours.
Wordpress.com Templates
On the other hand, WordPress.org has a lot of customization options. It provides 9000+ free templates. And you will get the freedom to upload everything that you like. You will get a lot of free themes to choose from which give you the ability to create fully customized websites. You will get so many free themes and also paid themes. You can do whatever to your website (You can customize and modify your site to any extent).
Wordpress.org themes
Winner of Template & Theme: WordPress.org
WordPress.com: 0-3 : WordPress.org
4. Website maintenance
On WordPress.com everything is taken care of for you in terms of updates, backups, and keeping your site secure. But on WordPress.org you are in charge of updating your theme, and your plugins as well as your backups and your overall security. However, there are plug-ins that can schedule automatic backups and security scans for you.
Winner of Maintenance: WordPress.com
WordPress.com: 1-3 : WordPress.org
5. Plugins
WordPress does not have any plugins in its free version. You have to upgrade to higher plans in order to install the plugins. In WordPress.org, you have unlimited access to plugins. It contains around 60,000 plugins. You can use free, paid, and custom plugins on your website.
Wordpress.org plugins
Winner of Plugins: WordPress.org
WordPress.com: 1-4 : WordPress.org
6. e-Commerce
In WordPress.com’s free plan, there will be ads running on your website (WordPress ads). But you will not get any profit or earnings from that. The free plan does not allow you to accept payments on your website. So, eCommerce is not possible on WorPress.com. And also, it is not possible to create a membership site with WordPress.com.
On the other hand, on WordPress.org, you can sell your products and services on your site, can create an online store and membership sites. There are also no ads on your site unless you choose to show them, from which you can earn profit from that. And also, there are so many plugins and third-party services are available to help you create eCommerce websites.
Winner of eCommerce: WordPress.org
WordPress.com: 1-5 : WordPress.org
7. Support
There is customer support is available on WordPress.com free plan. For getting email and basic chat support, you have to upgrade your plans. You will get 24/7 live support if you upgrade to a business or eCommerce Plan.
WordPress.org does not have any customer support. However many hosting providers like Bluehost and SiteGround have knowledge of WordPress and they will provide support. And also WordPress.org is providing Documentation and a forum.
Winner of Customer Support: WordPress.com
WordPress.com: 2-5 : WordPress.org
8. SEO
Using WordPress.com, you will have only limited control over the SEO. You can’t install SEO plugins like Yoast SEO to optimize your website. But on WordPress.org, you will have full control of your SEO. You can install and use so many SEO plugins like Yoast SEO, RankMath, etc. for optimizing your website. You can set up your keyword, title, meta description, etc.
Winner of SEO: WordPress.org
WordPress.com: 2-6 : WordPress.org
9. Analytics & Tracking
By using WordPress.com’s free version, you can’t install Google Analytics or any other analytics and tracking plugging in your site. But using WordPress.org, you can install different plugins for your analytics and tracking of the Website. And also, you can integrate Google Analytics into your Website.
Winner of Analytics & Tracking: WordPress.org
WordPress.com: 2-7 : WordPress.org
Pros & Cons
#WordPress.com
Pros
Cons
It has a free plan as well as paid plans.
It has limited features
Good customer support
Templates are limited & you can’t install all types of themes (eg: Divi)
Automatic website maintenance. You don’t have to do anything.
Only a limited number of plugins can be used.
Up to 3GB of space is free
You can’t create an e-commerce store (can’t integrate payment gateways. You need extra cost for that – Upgrade to an eCommerce plan)
Automatic updates & backup
You can’t add google analytics or any other plugins for tracking.
They will display ads on free websites.
#WordPress.org
Pros
Cons
High customization options.
You have to maintain your website yourself (Update themes, plugins, etc).
You can select your own hosting service.
You have to install WordPress software.
around 60,000 plugins
You have to do the backups.
A good number of templates
Affordable compared to WordPress.com.
You will get more control over SEO.
Conclusion
WordPress.com and WordPress.org are two great website builders. But they differ in a lot of features and functionalities. WordPress.com is mainly used by small business organizations and bloggers. It has a free version and also paid version. But a lot of features are limited in WordPress.com. On the other hand, WordPress.org is a perfect website builder for all types of businesses. WordPress.org is the real WordPress. Features are functionalities are better in WordPress.org when compared to WordPress.com. It has around 60,000 plugins and 9000 templates are available.
If you are a small business or blogger, then you can opt for WordPress.com. If you are an online store or any other type of business organization, then you can opt for WordPress.org.
Sophia Gilbert is an Email Marketing Specialist and Web Application Expert with 10+ years of experience. She meticulously tested and used most of the email marketing tools & website builders in the real field. Here she is sharing reviews and comparisons of different email marketing tools based on her past experience through different companies where she has worked.
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