WordPress is one of the most popular website development tools. Many people are confused between wordpress.com and wordpress.org. if you search on google there are two results display on the front page which is wordpress.com and wordpress.org.
This article will explain the key differences between WordPress.com vs WordPress.org and help you pick the best one for your needs.
WordPress.com is an all-in-one “build-your-own-website” platform. It’s free to get started with, and you don’t need any external hosting or external domain name. All you have to do is go to WordPress.com, sign up for an account, and you’ll be able to start building your site or blog right away.
WordPress.org is an open-source website software – an operating system for your website or blog. This software doesn’t cost you anything by itself, but you need to have a hosting account (a web server) in order to use it.
The key differences between them:
• Price
• Setup process
• Number of themes
• Number of plugins
• Customization
• Support/help
• Backup and security
• Monetization option
Price
Wordpress.com
Wordpress.com offers both free and premium plans:
The Free plan indeed is 100% free with no strings attached. As part of it, you can set up a website on WordPress.com’s subdomain (e.g., YOURSITE.wordpress.com), use up to 3 GB of disk space, and you have to be okay with WordPress.com’s own ads throughout your site.
The premium plans go from $4 – $45 per month and come with different features and perks. Even the cheapest plan (called Personal) comes with a free domain name for one year.
WordPress.org:
The WordPress.org software itself is 100% free. However, if you do want to make your site visible to the public, you’ll have to get web hosting and a domain name – and those come with a price tag.
Verdict: If you just want to get started with a basic personal website, WordPress.com is cheaper In any other scenario, WordPress.org is going to be cheaper? more value for money overall, all things considered
Setup process
Wordpress.com
Just go to wordpress.com and click on start a website. WordPress.com will take you through the steps, one by one, letting you configure your new website in an easy-to-grasp way. Just enter your email, a name for your site, and pick a design from a set of pre-made themes.
Wordpress.org
Go to the web host service and sign up. During the setup process at the host’s platform, you’ll get access to one or more methods of installing WordPress on your hosting account.
If you’re going to use a hosting platform such as Bluehost (which we recommend), you’ll get access to a one-click installer. In this case, similarly to WordPress.com, just provide a name for your site, fill out a couple of forms, and have your site ready to go.
Verdict: WordPress.com. The platform has been built to make the setup process as easy as possible.
Number of themes
WordPress.com:
The number of themes you’ll have access to will depend on the specific WordPress.com plan you choose:
• The Free and Personal plans give you access to 150+ free themes.
• The Premium, Business, and eCommerce plans give you access to all the free themes plus 200+ more premium themes
WordPress.org:
To put it simply, the number of free and premium themes available for the WordPress.org software goes in the thousands.
First, you can pick from 8,000+ free themes from the official directory at WordPress.org. Then, you also get to install any other free theme that you find elsewhere on the web – there are thousands of those as well.
Verdict:
WordPress.org. There are thousands upon thousands of themes available online.
Number of plugins
WordPress.com:
It allows you to install plugins only if you’re on the Business or eCommerce plan, which goes for $25 and $45 a month, respectively.
On these plans, you get access to 50,000+ plugins.
WordPress.org:
You can install new plugins on a WordPress.org site no matter where you host your site or how much you pay for that hosting.
By default, you get access to 50,000+ plugins (the same ones you get with the Business or eCommerce plans at WordPress.com), but you can also install thousands of other free as well as premium plugins from around the web.
Verdict:
WordPress.org. With no additional payment, you can choose from tens of thousands of plugins – both free and premium ones.
Customization
Wordpress.com
The customizations available for WordPress.com websites are a subset of what can be done with websites running on the WordPress.org software.
Wordpress.org
WordPress.org, since it’s entirely open-source, you can get into the nitty-gritty of your site, change the themes, install new themes from the web, install and configure plugins, hire professionals to custom-code on your site (if needed), or work on writing custom code on your own.
Verdict:
WordPress.org. You’re not limited by anything.
Support/help
WordPress.com:
There’s no support for the Free plan. Email and live chat support are available from the Personal plan up (from $4 / month).
WordPress.org:
There’s no support from the official WordPress.org channel itself. Where you can get support, however, is your WordPress web, hosting provider.
Most web hosts offer 24/7 support. If you pick a host that knows about WordPress, you will also get access to skilled WordPress custom support teams.
Backup and security
WordPress.com:
With WordPress.com, you get basic security options and backups built-in right from the get-go. You’re basically relying on WordPress.com’s internal security and all the mechanisms that the company built around its service. It’s more or less a black box, but there haven’t been any serious breaches or break-ins reported yet.
WordPress.com will also take care of updating the software running under the hood.
WordPress.org:
The WordPress.org software itself is transparent (everyone can see the source code), and it is built with care to adhere to modern security requirements and standards.
A clean WordPress install is already pretty secure and doesn’t make it too easy for hackers to break in. It’s going to be more than enough for a personal project.
• Improve your WordPress security using word fence or secure.
• Take a backup using a backup guard or updraft plus.
Verdict:
WordPress.com. You simply don’t have to do anything at all in terms of maintenance. The same goes for security and backups.
Monetization option
WordPress.com:
Free and Personal sites cannot be monetized at all.
If you want to make money from your WordPress.com site, you’ll need at least the Premium plan.
WordPress.org:
It can be monetized in any way you want. There are no limitations whatsoever. Since WordPress.org is open-source software, you can install/enable/add whatever method of monetization you wish.
Verdict:
WordPress.org. You can do whatever you wish in terms of monetization when running WordPress.org software.
Conclusion
In a summary, you can choose according to your need and types of business.
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