This is an important topic and I think a lot of people are confused as to what the difference is between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. I know I was when I first started learning about WordPress!
So I want to take a little bit of time and discuss the differences in the simpliest way, so you can know the difference and choose which is best for you. Or maybe you are just looking to learn what the difference between the two are – and we’ll try to answer that here.
First, know that both are WordPress.
One is the community that has the theme, the plugins and where developers all go to update the open source software. This is WordPress.org
WordPress.com runs any site made on WordPress with the WordPress open source software. The company is actually created by one of the original founders of WordPress. The difference is this is a site that offers hosting services and a marketplace for premium themes and other things for WordPress.
So essentially, one is just the software and the other offers a service.
The Cost For WordPress – I thought It was Free!?
WordPress is free. That is, the software that you download and can use.
WordPress is created using open source GPL license and it is updated and maintained by volunteers and enthusiast of WordPress all around the world.
So yes, WordPress is free!
But…and there is a but…
In order to run WordPress or have a website up and running, you do have to get hosting in order to run your site.
This hosting service can be from a site like WordPress.com. And that is where there is a cost.
The cost for hosting your website on WordPress.com is dependent on the size and scale and other factors so you can check out the different packages for yourself.
You can also host your website on different hosting platforms that offer WordPress hosting and support. What this means is that you do not need to use WordPress.com to run your WordPress website but you can.
There is More to WordPress.com Than Just Hosting
I hope it’s clear now that WordPress.org is where community go to download the code and also where people interact about the open source software.
For WordPress.com, even though I described it as a place where you can host your website and a marketplace. There’s a lot more that WordPress.com offers.
With WordPress.com you have a lot of the other services and offerings that other host providers offer –
- Hosting (we already know this now!)
- Analytics
- Security
- Performance
- Themes and plugins
- Security
- Ownership
- And other things
WordPress.org and WordPress.com are NOT the samething
Just to be clear, these are not the same websites or the same things. One is the open source website with the theme and software and the other is a business that offers the software as an installation and also other services such as hosting.
If You Use WordPress Where Is Your Site Hosted?
This question can’t really be answered here because the answer is “It depends”…
It depends on where you get hosting. If you get hosting from WordPress.com then it will be hosted there. If you get hosting from somewhere else like Hostgator or Hostinger then it will be hosted there. It’s really up to you or the client or whoever is in charge of deciding where one wants to have their site hosted.
Just know that with a lot of host providers, they offer one click installation for WordPress to get set up with the latest version so you don’t have to go to WordPress.org and download the theme yourself and upload it.
What If I Choose the Wrong Hosting? Can I switch?
Yes you can! You can always transfer the files and data by downloading it and uploading it onto a new server like WordPress.com if you decided to use another host provider first. Just remember to save everything before your current hosting expires and you don’t have access to your WordPress files.
I hope this is helpful in helping you understand the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org! It’s not the most exciting thing to learn about but I think it’s important, especially if you are as confused as I once was because they are so similar in name!