Do you want to start a website but are probably stuck on the first step? choosing between the version of “org” and “com”. In this article, we will learn which is the right platform between WordPress.com vs WordPress.org to start a website.
In fact, WordPress.com vs WordPress.org are two completely different website solutions. And both have been formed by different organizations. Hence, you need to understand the difference between them to choose the right solution for starting an online business.
There are many content management systems (CMS) available in the market that help in building a website.
Usually, beginners get confused between WordPress.com and WordPress.org due to which they make mistakes in choosing the right platform for their requirements.
Although, they know that both are different platforms but they are not aware of the difference between them.
All the users are more curious to know this. So to help you out, we have put together the most comprehensive WordPress.com vs WordPress.org (self-hosted version) comparison article.
The main purpose of this article is to highlight the important differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org to you.
So that you can choose the right platform for your website.
What’s CMS ( Content Management System)
The Content Management System is also known as CMS in short. It is software that helps the user to create, manage and modify the content on the website without requiring any specialized technical knowledge.
CMS helps beginners to build a successful website without any coding knowledge.
Instead of creating web pages, storing images, and creating your coding system for tasks the content management systems handle all your basic infrastructure stuff.
So that you can focus your attention on the leading parts (SEO) of your website.
One of the best examples of a content management system is WordPress which is used to create, modify and maintain a website.
Different Between WordPress.com and WordPress.org
Typically, if you look up WordPress on Google and other search engines you will find WordPress.com and WordPress.org results.
These are two different products that have similarities but are completely different. Because they have different target markets with different features, strengths and weaknesses.
Both are content management systems (CMS) designed to make building a website easy to use. But it works about them in a completely different way.
Overview
If you want to know what WordPress is and how it works then this article will cover an in-depth overview. And by the end of this article, you can understand which type of website to build with which platform.
WordPress.org
WordPress.org is a free content management system software that is used to run the self-hosted version of WordPress. It gives you more freedom.
To build your self-hosting website, you will first need to register a domain name and also buy a web hosting plan. The type and quality of web hosting you choose will determine your website performance.
The WordPress self-hosted version provides the full capability of creating a website so that users can install any WordPress theme and plugin.
Additionally, the self-hosted versions of WordPress are excellent for users who value high flexibility, and customization. And plans to scale the website in the future.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com is a hosting company that uses the WordPress CMS software for all the websites they host.
It is a hosting company that uses the WordPress CMS system for all the websites they host. You will need to upgrade to a paid plan to use a custom domain name.
In addition, WordPress.com also has several other limitations such as the user can not install any WordPress themes and plugins.
Overall WordPress.com is more suitable for those users who want to build a website quickly and don’t want to go for flexibility and customization.
Features
What are the main features of WordPress.com and WordPress.org are mentioned pointwise? In the following section, we will go over the most important ones.
WordPress.org
WordPress.org is a self-hosted content management system that is used by 43% of the websites available on the Internet. For this, you must have domain and web hosting.
Furthermore, it needs to be set up. Once set up, managing a site is a lot easier and much of it is capable of being automated.
WordPress.org is free and open source so your main investment will be on the domain name, hosting and premium themes and plugins you use.
With the help of the WordPress self-hosted CMS (WordPress.org) platform, you can easily create many types of websites such as eCommerce stores, blogs or any other type of site.
Key features of WordPress.org include:
- Simplicity: This makes it possible for you to be online quickly and receive publications. WordPress.org is designed so that nothing comes in the way of getting goals for your content.
- Publishing tools: This makes it easy to manage your content. Provides you with the facility to view your content as drafts, scheduled posts and revisions of your posts.
- Plugins: Here you are given complete freedom to use thousands of plugins (free and paid) to make your website more effective. And you can even create and use your plugin.
- Themes: You have hundreds of options for themes, some free and paid. Simply, you can use any theme according to your website.
- Fully responsive and SEO-friendly: WordPress.org gives you the complete facility to customize the content to make the content SEO-friendly and responsive.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com is a hosted platform that makes it easy to start a personal blog and website. There is no setup, no maintenance and no worries whatsoever.
If you want to start a personal blog as well as get creative with a lot of effort then choose WordPress.com.
Key features of WordPress.com includes:
- Dozen of themes: Ability to choose from hundreds of customizable themes with new additions on weebly.
- Mobile-friendly: One-click setting option for a site that looks mobile-friendly. Choose from a selection of responsive themes that look great everywhere.
- In-depth stats: Get in-depth knowledge of your visitors– where they are from, what they read, they visit – with rich stats.
- Search engine optimised: It includes a build-in sitemap and other SEO tools that help your website to rank higher in search engines.
Pricing
As we all know that WordPress is free and open source, but we’ll know how much it costs to run it.
WordPress.org
WordPress.org is a free and open source platform that we have read about in the previous part of the article. This means that it is completely free to download and install.
We know that the platforms are free. Keep in mind that you will have to bear the cost of the domain name, hosting, and SSL certificate. Normally, the cost of the domain name can be $14.99/year, hosting $4.99/month and SSL certificates $50-$70/year.
If you go for Bluehost to start a website with the wordpress.org platform, you get a domain name and an SSL certificate for free while you pay just $2.95/month for web hosting. Click here to buy web hosting with 70% off.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com offers a subscription-based model for its users. Which includes different pricing tiers with additional features.
However, WordPress.com’s free plan is free to use. There are certain limitations with 3 GB space with the free plan but you can create and publish a blog.
While there are many traditional features with the premium plan that allows you to create a store, sell products, use a custom domain, monetize a website, and much more.
Premium plans range in price from $4 per month to $45 per month. In which an increasing number of features are provided depending on the needs.
Unlike the open-source version, the domain name, web hosting, and certificate (except for the free plan) are already included with each plan.
Help & Support
WordPress.org
As we already know that WordPress.org is a free and open source website solution that you can target by setting up the site using a guide like “How to start a blog“.
Using this will help you keep costs down. However, customers don’t necessarily have dedicated support when using the product.
If you run into any problem here, you get suggestions and advice from developers and experienced users. In addition, WordPress.org has extensive documentation support for its customers.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com does not offer any expert support with its free plan. You’ll need to find information on community forums, posts on other user-generated questions, and online documents for your solution.
You get more support if you use the premium plan. From business plan to above, you have 24/7 priority live chat support that is ready to solve your problems.
Completely, support is only available to a ecommerce plan user on WordPress.com. In which, one-on-one expert support is include.
Conclusion
There is a lot of history behind the decisions but you probably already know the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org in this article.
Same Domain Confusion: WordPress.com vs WordPress.org are unfortunate for beginners who are going to start a website.
We hope this article helped you understand the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
If you want to build a flexible and scalable website that you have complete control over. So, the WordPress.org platform is the best option for you, getting started with Bluehost is a simple and affordable option. Because Bluehost offers 70% off + free domain name and free SSL certificate on hosting purchase.
We wish you the best of luck with your website and hope you chose the right platform: WordPress.org.
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