WordPress is the world’s most popular website platform, but as there are two versions with several overlapping functions it can become confusing as to what you can and can’t do with each version.

 

WordPress.com and WordPress.org sites share a lot of similarities, but there are also a few key differences to consider when setting up your site (or trying to fix a problem). Knowing those differences can prevent a lot of frustration further down the line.

 

Price

 

Both versions of WordPress are free to use for your website, but things such as your domain name, hosting and add ons may cost extra. On WordPress.com, free sites come with ads (with revenue going to WordPress, not the site owner).

 

While the basic, and most common, form of WordPress.com is free, you can also pay for Premium ($129/year) or Business ($399/year) plans too. These allow you to have extra functions on to your site, but nothing that you can’t get for free with .org.

 

Domains

 

With .com sites, you have two options for your domain. You can choose to pay for a domain of your choosing, or you can sign up for a free account that follows this basic structure: civicwebmedia.wordpress.com.

 

For .org, there’s only one choice and that is that you need to pay for your own URL.

 

Hosting

 

WordPress.com includes free hosting when you sign up, as well as automatic data backup. For WordPress.org, you need to arrange your own hosting which can cost anywhere from a few bucks a month to hundreds a year, and you need to create backups to your site yourself.

 

Themes

 

Both versions of WordPress work with themes, where you install a ready-made site and then customise it to fit your needs.

 

WordPress.com themes are more limited in a few ways. Firstly, by number. Currently there are 375 themes to choose from (194 are free, 181 are premium – or paid – themes). While this gives a bit of choice, it pales into comparison with what’s available for .org sites – ThemeForest, a popular marketplace for templates, has more than 21,000 premium themes available.

 

WordPress.com themes are also a lot more restrictive. While you can still add your logo and change the colour scheme, with .org themes you can do a lot more. For more experienced users, you’re able to edit the theme coding directly – meaning you can make small tweaks or huge changes to the way your site looks. You can also install plugins, which can dramatically alter your site’s appearance and performance.

 

Plugins

 

Plugins are only available for .org sites, and they give users a lot of power. There are currently more than 40,000 plugins available, and most of them are free or have a free option.

 

Plugins can be used to make your site do almost anything. Whether that’s improving your SEO, cutting down spam comments, creating an online store or adding in a reservation system. Almost anything you can think of for your site has already been created, and most plugins can be installed and set up in just a few clicks.

 

WordPress.com does offer some of these options, but only if you pay the recurring annual fee.

 

Conclusion

 

Overall, WordPress.org is the better option for businesses. While you do have a small fee to pay upfront for hosting, after that you have a lot more control over your site and a lot more flexibility in what you can do.

 

WordPress.com offers a great service for people setting up personal blogs or photography portfolios, and because updates and security are handled for you, it makes things simple. However, because of its limitations (and its high price to upgrade) it might not have quite the same power to create exactly the type of site you want.