Beginners often get WordPress.com and WordPress.org mixed up, which makes them choose the wrong blogging platform for their needs. Even people who know they are different platforms don’t know what makes them different. Our users often ask us which platform is better: WordPress.com or WordPress.org.

We have made the most thorough comparison of free WordPress.com vs. paid WordPress.org to help you decide. We want to show you the main differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org so you can choose the right platform for your needs. We made the most in-depth comparison of WordPress.com and WordPress.org because picking the right platform is important to your online success.

WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org: A Comparison

The best way to figure out what makes WordPress.com different from WordPress.org is to look at each platform on its own.

WordPress.org

WordPress.org, also known as “the real WordPress,” is the well-known website platform you’ve heard so much good about. It is open-source software, meaning anyone can use it for free. You only need a domain name and a place to host your website. This is why self-hosted WordPress is another name for it. Here are the pros and cons of building your website or blog with self-hosted WordPress.org.

Benefits of WordPress.org

You have complete control over your website when you utilize WordPress.org. You can do whatever you want and change it as much as you need to. Here are some reasons why WordPress.org is our #1 choice for the best website builder and why you should use it to make your website.

• The WordPress software is free, easy to use, and based on an open-source model. More than 43% of all websites on the web use WordPress.
• You own both your website and everything on it. Your site won’t be shut down just because someone thinks it goes against their rules. You are in full control.
• You can add free, paid, or custom plugins or apps to your WordPress site.
• You can modify the method your website looks to suit your needs. You can use any WordPress theme you want, whether it’s free or costs money. You can also make designs that are unique or change anything you want.
• You can make money from your WordPress site if you run your ads and don’t give any money to anyone else.
• You can utilize powerful tools like Google Analytics for traditional analytics and tracking.
• With self-hosted WordPress, you can set up an online store to sell digital or physical goods, accept credit card payments, and ship or deliver the goods from your website.
• You can also make membership sites, sell memberships for premium content, courses, etc., and build an online community around your website.

Cons of WordPress.org

Using a self-hosted WordPress.org site has very few downsides.

• You will need web hosting, just like every other site. Here is where the files for your website are kept on the internet. At first, it costs between $3 and $10 per month. But as your website grows and gets more visitors, you can expect the web hosting plan costs to go up, but by that time, you’ll be making enough money to pay for them.
• You’ll need to put WordPress in place. Most popular WordPress hosting companies make it easy to install WordPress with just one click. You can also use our full tutorial to learn how to install WordPress correctly.
• You are responsible for updates. You can update your WordPress site quickly and easily by clicking the “Update” button.

How much a WordPress.org site costs depends on what you want to build. There are also free templates versus paid templates, free plugins versus paid plugins, and so on. For as little as $46 per year, you can build a website on a low budget. For more details, see our lead on how much it costs to build a WordPress website. For 99% of people, we always tell them to use WordPress.org.

WordPress.com

Automattic, the company, run by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, made WordPress.com, which is a hosting web service. Users often mix up WordPress.com and WordPress.org because they were both started by the same person.

There are six pricing plans for the WordPress.com hosting service:

• Free, but very limited.
• Personal: $48 annually; 
• Premium: $96 annually
• Business: $300 a year
• eCommerce: $540 annually
• VIP: Prices start at $5000 per month

Let’s look at what’s good and bad about WordPress.com.

Benefits of WordPress.com

For hobby bloggers and people who want to start a blog for their families, the free WordPress.com platform is a good choice. Here are some reasons why you might want to use WordPress.com:

• Up to 3GB of space is free. If you want more space after that, you will have to switch to a paid plan.
• You won’t require to worry about backups or updates. 

Cons of WordPress.com

Free WordPress.com is different from WordPress.org in that it has a few restrictions. Some of the bad things about using WordPress.com are:

• They put ads on all sites that are free to use. People who use your site see those ads, but it doesn’t make you any money. You can switch to a paid WordPress.com plan if your users don’t want to see their ads.
• You can’t sell your website ads, making it much harder to make money from them. If you have a site with many visitors, you can sign up for their WordAds advertising program, where you and they share the money you make. WordAds can be used right away by people on the Premium and Business plans.
• You cannot upload plugins. Built-in Jetpack features are already turned on for people who use the free plan. Users of the Business plan can choose from a list of compatible plugins to install ($300/year). The WordPress.com VIP program starts at $5000 per month and lets you add plugins.
• You can’t add your themes. Users on the free plan can only choose from several free themes to install. Users with a premium or business plan can also choose premium themes. For the free version, there aren’t many ways to change things. Users of the Premium and Business plans can use their CSS.
• You can only use their stats. You can’t add Google Analytics or install any other tracking system as powerful as that. Google Analytics can be set up on a business plan.
• When you make a free WordPress.com site, you get a subdomain with the WordPress.com brand (like https://yourwebsite.wordpress.com). You’ll need to pay for a plan to get a custom domain name (like https://www.yourwebsite.com).
• If they think your site breaks their rules, they can delete it anytime.
• Your site will have a link that says “powered by WordPress.com.” If you switch to the Business plan, you can get rid of it.
• Unless you switch to the eCommerce plan, WordPress.com does not have eCommerce features or payment gateways.
• WordPress.com can’t be used to make membership sites.

As you can see, the free, personal, and even premium plans for WordPress.com hosting don’t give you much freedom. Business ($300 per year) or VIP ($5000 per month) plans are required to use some of the more advanced features.