Did you know that WordPress.com and WordPress.org are two distinct platforms? Here is the ultimate comparison of WordPress.com vs WordPress.org.
Beginners frequently mix up WordPress.com with WordPress.org, leading them to select the incorrect blogging platform for their purposes. Even those who are aware that they are two distinct platforms are unaware of the distinctions between them.
Our users frequently question us which platform is superior: WordPress.com or WordPress.org. To assist you in answering this question, we have produced the most complete comparison of free WordPress.com vs WordPress.org (self-hosted version).
Our objective is to highlight the fundamental distinctions between WordPress.com and WordPress.org so that you may select the best platform for your needs.
As you know, choosing the perfect platform is very important for any online success, so we have prepared a most compelling comparison of WordPress.com vs WordPress.org. The comparison will be focused on text, table-based, and full infographics.
However, if you want to start a blog and set other features and functionalities the RIGHT way, then you can skip this article and loot at the below-mentioned ones.
On the other hand, if you’re a newbie to WordPress and confused about which platform you should go with, then you’re certainly in the right post. Please, read on!
Table of Contents
Before going to discuss in detail the pros and cons of WordPress.com vs WordPress.org, first, we’ll look at the main differences that make these two platforms unique from one another. And, let you know our recommendation which one should go with at the end.
With WordPress.org, you can use custom/commercial themes. Also, all other themes, are free in the market. However, modification, customization, or whatever you want to do to your site is possible.
On the other hand, free WordPress.com themes are very limited to use that is available in your WordPress respiratory. Customization and notification are not possible. Plus, you can’t upload any custom themes.
All plugins are allowed for WordPress.org. You can upload any free, paid, or custom plugin that you want. This maximizes WordPress’s potential as CMS.
But, with WordPress.com (FREE), you won’t be allowed to upload any free, paid, or custom plugin that you want. Instead, there are built-in plugin features are available.
With WordPress.org, you’ve to pay a monthly web hosting fee. Plus, you have to pay a domain registration fee yearly. However, the cost of hosting may get expensive, for high-traffic sites. Estimated cost is $46 – $100 / year.
WordPress.com blogs are FREE for up to 3 GB of Storage space. They will display their ads on your website. Note, as you can not have a domain, you’ll be limited to subdomains. No customization options are available!
Ads are very important to earning money from any site. With WordPress.org, you can sell as many ads as you wish to sell on your site. The important part is, that you’ll get the full 100% of the earnings that you’ll make through ads.
Whereas, you’re not allowed to sell any ads on your site with WordPress.com. But, users with high-traffic websites – 25,000 monthly pageviews, can apply for advertising permission with revenue sharing.
In WordPress.org, you’re bound to use or display ‘Powered by’ links. It’s totally up to you, whether you want to use it or not.
On the other hand, FREE WordPress.com users are forced to display the ‘Powerd by’ link on their site. Simply put, you’ve to advertise for which you don’t get any money.
With WordPress.org, you can install an SEO plugin that is the best and trendy. By doing so, you can make your site more SEO optimized than ever before. It leads to generating traffic that will take your site rank higher in search engines.
Whereas, you won’t have much control over SEO with WordPress.com because you won’t be able to install any plugin on your site. So, website SEO is impossible with WordPress.com (FREE).
You can install Google Analytics and other third-party tools to get all insights into your website you need. Google Analytics works best with WordPress.org.
Free WoordPrss.com comes with the built-in stat, so you won’t be able to install other more powerful third-party analytics.
You can easily create an e-commerce store with WordPress.org. Thousands of themes and plugins are available there for you to create your online store easily. Sell anything- digital or physical goods via online payment gateways such as PayPal, Credit Card, Bitcoins, etc.
On the other hand, there is no chance of creating an online store with free WordPress.com. In fact, they recommend switching WordPress.org (self-hosted) from WordPress.com to make a proper online store. Although now, an E-commerce plugin is available which will cost $540 / year.
You can create powerful and effective membership sites with multiple levels, drip content, learning management system, restricted access, etc on WordPress.org.
Whereas, you can’t create membership sites with free WordPress.com because it requires an advanced control system like e-commerce sites. Though, you can install a membership plugin for this purpose. And you’ll be costed $300 / year.
You’ll be the only one who is responsible for your site maintenance. So, keep your site always updated, backed up regularly, control SPAM, and most importantly SEO optimized. WordPress.org lets you control all things.
On the other hand, you won’t be worried about anything with WordPress.com (FREE). All things will be updated through Automatic staff. Maintainance includes- updates, backups, optimization, and more.
Well, we’ll recommend you to go with WordPress.org instead of WordPress.com. While one of the paid upgrades is required when using the FREE version of WordPress.com, we believe one can not maximize the potential of their website unless they have additional features like plugins, custom modifications, etc.
If you’re like us and want to keep 100% of the revenue you make, then it is much more cost-effective to get web hosting and take full control over your site. If you need help learning about WordPress, then start reading our site. Setting up a self-hosted WordPress.org is not hard as well.
To sum up, you have all the things above that you need to know about WordPress.com vs WordPress.org. go through the post and take a wise decision. Choosing the perfect platform is very important for any online success, so do choose wisely.
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