WordPress has been the most popular, widely used & free CRM platform for creating blogs and websites. Being fully managed by Automattic, it is one of the easiest and ready-to-use blogging platforms out there on the internet. You just have to create an account and follow some simple steps like picking a domain name and a theme you like and you can start adding and editing your content.
But whenever you ask some random person about WordPress, most of them think that they are talking about WordPress.com and they have no idea what WordPress.org is. That’s where we should actually start the comparison. When comparing the two things, WordPress has always been about WordPress.com and its plans.
WordPress may have the same CRM as WordPress.com but it has been made entirely differently and instead of being managed by Automattic, they have provided the entire control of the website to the users. With many WordPress.org being a self hosted version of WordPress.com, you can build your entire website online and on your own.
Which One To Prefer?
If you are new to this WordPress environment and space, you might have at first come across WordPress.com and their plans. Later on after certain research you must have seen WordPress.org and again gotten all confused over which one to choose.
We are going in-depth into the differences between these two sites. At first let’s understand the basic difference between the two:
WordPress.com is a build your own website platform, apart from being free to get started with, you wouldn’t have to pay anything extra for web hosting or domain name. All you gotta do is visit the website, sign up and after following some basic steps, you will be good to go.
WordPress.org is an open source website software. It is an operating system for your website. The software is free to download and use and doesn’t cost you any money. But you will be needing a hosting service in getting started with activating your website. The inner working of both platforms are similar to each other and it allows the same level of customization mostly.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Main Differences
Storage
First of all, WordPress.com offers 3GB of cloud storage space in their free plan which increases with increase in plans. While on the other hand when you opt in for WordPress.org, it will all depend on the web hosting service and which plan you take.
Domain
WordPress.com provides you with a free subdomain at first which can be like example.wordpress.com and you will have to choose other plans to get your own custom domain while in WordPress.org you will have to buy domains via web hosting services.
Security & Backups
With WordPress.com, you will be getting basic security and backup options but with WordPress.org you will also get some levels of security from your web hosting service which can be helpful to some extent but soon you will start needing security plugins and backup plugins to secure your website.
Technical Issues
WordPress.com handles all the technical difficulties and issues as it manages the entire website and every situation, you won’t have the authority to do anything other than waiting for them to fix the issues. In WordPress.org, you will have full control over what you do on your website, fixing your own issues and making changes to it.
Themes
WordPress.com lets you choose from a limited collection of free and premium themes while with WordPress.org you can have access to thousands of free and premium themes giving you the power to choose from different ranges of themes and layouts. Apart from this, you can also import themes downloaded from any sources.
Plugins
In WordPress.com, you can use external plugins with the 25$/month plan. For the rest of the plans, you will have to use the pre-built features. You won’t be able to add extra features to your website which aren’t provided with the plan. While in WordPress.org you will have access to more than 50,000 plugins from WordPress plugin repository which you can choose from, for your website. You can install any free or premium WordPress plugin whichever you desire. This can be very crucial when you are aiming on customizing your website.
Monetization & Advertisements
You can’t have advertisements on your website unless and until you choose a business or eCommerce plan in WordPress.com. On top of that, WordPress will display their ads on a free plan which you will have to pay 4$/month, but with wordpress.org you can put advertisements and monetize your website the way you want. You can use any ad services and the entirety of earnings will be yours.
Final Thoughts
No matter whichever you decide between WordPress.com and WordPress.org, you will find pros and cons in both of them so it all comes down to you, your website’s purpose and future aspects. When you are aiming on making a serious website for your blogging passion or business or ecommerce website, WordPress.org would be proven cheaper in the long run and will drastically help you make the most out of the website. While WordPress.com is for everyone who wants to get into the wordpress environment to experience having their very own website without having to spend a penny on it. When you want to make a website just for yourself.
