Home Blog Design What You Should Know Before Choosing WordPress.com or Wordpress.org

What You Should Know Before Choosing WordPress.com or WordPress.org

December 21, 2011 By Filed Under: Blog Design, Blog Plug-Ins, Blogging Tips, WordPress 42 Comments

WordPress.org vs WordPress.comIt’s choice time. Time to decide which WordPress option is the right one for your blog or website. The only problem is, well, you’re kind of confused—and afraid you’ll screw up.

One of the most frequently asked questions from my clients is, “What the heck is the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org? And should I even care?”

I always answer: “Simply put, yes.”

First, let me clear something up. Some people think that using WordPress.org means that their site will be located there. Not true. You will simply be using the software from that site on a hosting service that you will purchase (and have control over).

But if you decide to go with WordPress.com, your site will be hosted there.

So, for the sake of clarity, let’s change the options to:

WordPress.com vs. Self-hosted

Back to the comparison. There are distinct differences between the two and understanding what they are will make a huge difference in which one you decide to use.

Now let’s compare the basic features in terms of usability and flexibility.

Cost

No differences here. WordPress software is free in both cases.

Ease of Installation

WordPress.com – It’s free and easy to set up a simple blog or website. No installation necessary.

Self-hosted – The software is free, but you need to pay a small monthly hosting fee to a third party provider, as you do with your website. Some hosting services, such as Bluehost.com and Hostgator.com, have one-click installations. If the host you choose doesn’t, you will need some understanding of FTP (file transfer protocol) and database setup.

Updates, Back-ups and Security Features

WordPress.com – Everything is automatic: all backups, including your posts, updates, security and spam filtering.

Self-hosted – You need to back up your post and files, install spam filtering, and do your own updates. But there are plugins for these functions that make easy for you. For example, WordPress DB backup lets you schedule your backups and will email you the files. BackupBuddy will back up your whole site and database. WordPress has one-click updates on your dashboard. But before updating, I suggest you make sure everything is backed up!

Choice of Themes

WordPress is based on themes, or what some people think of as templates.

WordPress.com – You are limited on your theme choices. There are limited number of themes to choose from and more are added from time to time. You can search the available themes by characteristics through your dashboard. And they have a selection of premium themes as well.

Self-hosted – You have access to thousands of themes, both free and paid. With so many choices, you are more likely to find a theme that fits your needs, style and personal brand.

A note on themes: There are several great, free themes out there, but understand that with paid themes you are likely to get more stable features, updates as new WordPress versions come out, and much better support.

Plugin and Widget Options

Plugins are tools to help you expand the functionality of your WordPress blog or website. Widgets are like plugins, but give you a simpler way to arrange the various elements of your sidebar content—without having to change the code.

WordPress.com – Comes with a limited number of widgets and plugins. The one widget you will probably find most useful is the text widget. It lets you insert html code to create a widget that otherwise would not be available. But with this limits what you can do with your site. For example, you cannot add a shopping cart plugin and there are restrictions on how much advertising you can have as well.

Self-hosted – As with themes, there are a ton of widgets and plugins available on the Web and on WordPress.org. And, unlike WordPress.com, you are able to upload them to your site. A note: Research your plugins and widgets on the Web to find reputable and stable ones. For instance, find out if they will still work when you upgrade to a newer version of WordPress. Also, be selective. Don’t add plugins and widgets just because they are fun and cool.

Ability to Customize

The beauty of WordPress is the ability to customize your blog or website to convey your unique brand. In both cases, your theme has its own features to customize (for example, custom headers and colors).

WordPress.com – You are limited to which customization options each available theme has (custom headers, font size, etc.) WordPress.com does have an advanced feature: for $30 a year, per theme, you can customize the CSS (cascade style sheet). This will allow many more customization options, but you must understand CSS editing.

Self-hosted – There are two parts to this. First, you can now upload many more themes, including paid premium themes. Several of them have a wide array of custom options that don’t require CSS or html knowledge. The Headway theme is a good example of this. The second part: If you do know CSS or html, you have complete control to change code—if you are technically minded and know what the heck you are doing.

Ownership of Your Site

In my mind, this is the biggest difference. Full ownership of your site is critical.

WordPress.com

When you are on WordPress.com, you are on someone else’s platform. You must abide by their terms of use, and although you can export your content, how much control do you really have? On WordPress.com you cannot easily take the structure of your site and move it. If you inadvertently break their terms of use, well, they can shut you down without notice. WordPress.com does have some add-on features you can purchase, such as customizing your CSS, space upgrades, site redirection and the option of no ads on your site (yes, you can and will have ads on your free WordPress.com site).

Self-hosted - 

If you are self-hosted, you have total control over your site. If you don’t like one hosting service, you can move the whole thing somewhere else. You can also back up everything so you will never lose it.

There are additional differences between .com and self-hosted, but this gives you a starting point as you weigh your options. consider Just remember to figure out your goals and needs first and then find which option will best fit them. For simple blogs and some websites, WordPress.com will probably serve your purpose. But for more customized blogs and websites, consider putting WordPress on your own server, especially if you want the flexibility you’ll need to grow your site down the road.

In my books the choice is obvious, 99 times out of 100 I suggest self-hosting. What do you think?

Buffer
Filed Under: Blog Design, Blog Plug-Ins, Blogging Tips, WordPress Tagged With: , , ,

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About Bob Dunn

Bob Dunn is a WordPress blogger and trainer with a design and marketing background. He is known for his uncanny ability to make WordPress understandable to non-geeks. On his blog, bobwp, he teaches WordPress with videos, screenshot tutorials and real-world advice.

  • Jonathan Cameron

    Great comparison Bob. How much do you think SEO plays a part in this as well?

    My understanding was that (due to the ease of setting it up) using wordpress.com is a good bet to start with and then you can always move to self-hosted as the traffic to the site increases.

    Do you have any thoughts on the difference between the two from an optimisation point of view? e.g. you’ve no great control over the SEO for a wordpress.com site…

    • http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP

      @Jonathan Cameron Thank you! And yes, SEO of course plays a huge part and something I should have mentioned. All the plugins and tools available to you if you are self-hosted, cannot compare to the limitations WordPress.com can have. But then again, if you are doing great content, that will help you in either case.

      A couple of thoughts starting on .com. If you do, use your own domain and pay the extra $$’s as it will help some with your SEO and your branding. And yes, you can start there, but remember, depending how long you stay, and how complicated your site is, you will be able to move over the content, but most cases it will be a rebuild.

      • http://www.thejackb.com/ TheJackB

        @bobWP@Jonathan Cameron FWIW, I spent the first 6 years of my blogging career on Blogger and still receive a lot of traffic on that blog. I decided not to redirect it all to my WP site, but I have to tell you that I wish I would have moved to self hosted several years earlier.

        It would have made life a lot easier.

        • http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP

          @TheJackB You are not the only one I have heard say that… : )

  • LauLau81

    Thanks Bob for the nice post you have shared in this post…This is a big help…

  • delhiseocompany01

    That’s really useful chunk of information, I’m picking up a lot of good stuff here.

  • http://www.saraharrow.co.uk/ SarahArrow

    Good post Bob.

    I’d like to add that if you are thinking of monetizing your blog through affiliates you will struggle with that using WordPress.com

    • http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP

      @SarahArrow Thanks, I had briefly mentioned the limitations of advertising you can do there, but you are right. Monetizing your blog on .com can be a huge challenge as I believe they won’t allow you to have any ads, including affiliates. : (

    • http://www.wmwebdesign.co.uk/ wmwebdes

      @SarahArrow

      Actually Sarah I’m struggling with WordPress.org. LOL

      • http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP

        @wmwebdes@SarahArrow You wouldn’t be the first one. With either platform, overall, many people don’t find it super intuitive. But once you learn it, WordPress is awesome : )

        • http://www.wmwebdesign.co.uk/ wmwebdes

          @bobWP@SarahArrow

          No Bob, I’m not struggling with WordPress.org… I’m struggling to monetize it. LOL

          There are lots of articles and videos out there, which help with WordPress.

        • http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP

          @wmwebdes@SarahArrow Sorry, misunderstood. And yes, that is a challenge! Takes a lot of work…

        • http://www.saraharrow.co.uk/ SarahArrow

          @wmwebdes@bobWP perhaps I need to take you under my wing Keith and test a new product on you… are you game?

        • http://www.wmwebdesign.co.uk/ wmwebdes

          @SarahArrow@bobWP

          Old joke…

          “I said are you game, she said yes, so I shot her.”

          Sorry Sarah.

          Yes I’m game, sort of.

  • maidoesimple

    To be honest I never even considered using a wordpress.com blog, it’s so easy to install and manage a self-hosted blog that it doesn’t make much sense at all.

    As you say, the most important reason for this decision is all about ownership, even though freedom of customization plays a big part as well.

    I really think you should go self-hosted, even if you are not tech-savvy, there’s plenty of documentation around to help you get started.

    • http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP

      @maidoesimple Well said : )

      Actually, to be honest the only time I have recommended it is for a sandbox. In other words, if someone is contemplating using WordPress, and not yet sure, it’s a great way to set up a site you can play with and get a feel of WordPress. Of course, you won’t have all the bells and whistles, but it will help you decide. That way you don’t have to spend any dollars on hosting.

      But on the other hand I also tell people if you already have hosting, set it up as a sub-folder, that way if you do start a site, it will be so much easier in the long run!

  • MarkWalker

    Now let’s talk about security issues… since we put up our WordPress.org site a few moths ago, we’ve been hit with no less than 4 phishing scams from several “Royal Bank of…” hackers and this past weekend got blacklisted and pulled down from the web. Took almost 3 days to clear our emails, sites, etc. And I am not sure we are 100% back as of yet. Is there a security plugin I am missing here?!

    • http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP

      @MarkWalker Hey Mark, there is always that risk with all web sites unfortunately.

      There are some plugins that can help and I would recommend looking at this site, she gives some great info on WP security. http://www.wpsecuritylock.com/

      Now you may already be doing this, but two easy ways to make sure things are secure.

      1. Don’t use the default “admin” for your username and also use a very strong password, and consider changing it monthly.

      2. Keep your WordPress version and all plugins up-to-date.

      3. Be careful of some of the themes out there, especially if they are free and they are not on the WordPress.org site.

      Of course, there can be other issues, including security on the hosting as well.

    • http://www.wmwebdesign.co.uk/ wmwebdes

      @MarkWalker

      Mark – the first plugins I install on a new WordPress site are security plugins.

      I bought a copy of John Hoff’s “WordPress defender” which is well worth having.

      If you want to know more let me know or just Google it.

  • http://www.ipnostudio.com/ hypnodude

    I have a self hosted wordpress blog but this is surely a very detailed and clear post. I mean if someone is still thinking about this reading the post should make everything clear.

    Thumbs up. :)

    • http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP

      @hypnodude Thanks! We who are already using a self-hosted WordPress site know what’s good : )

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  • LaurenWeber84

    @DavePeckens Thanks so much for bringing the WP.org vs. WP.com article to my attention! I wish I would’ve understood b4 starting a blog!

  • Marypp_04

    #FF a este gran hombre trabajador @NealSchaffer lean los RT que le doy son en Ingles interesante

  • http://www.fearlesscompetitor.net/ JeffOgden

    Good post, Bob. For 5 1/2 years, http://www.fearlesscompetitor.com was on wordpress.com. But with our booming business, I decided recently to move it to a hosted blog.

    Having the option to really crank it up with plugins, especially the Genesis framework (a major extension to the WordPress platform) with a child theme as well as plugins like Discus commenting system made wordpress.org a much better option for serious bloggers.

    Glad I made the move, but I had to pay a pro to optimize it, so it cost a lot more.

    Jeff Ogden fearlesscomp

    President, Find New Customers

    • http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP

      @JeffOgdenfearlesscomp Glad to hear you have found the move worthwhile! And yes, it can come with costs to ramp things up, but you made the wise decision to have a pro optimize it. Often people make this move and still aren’t sure how to get the most out of their site…

  • hackmanj

    @nealschaffer thanks for sharing that, great comparison, darned url shorteners do make it harder to understand, lol. :)

    • NealSchaffer

      @hackmanj Those URL shorteners will get you every time!!! Have a Happy Holiday season Joe!

  • http://www.esparkinfo.com/ niteshahir

    As per your suggestion i prefer self hosting…But in the choosing of word press is also we use safely as we can use in self hosting. There is no problem use word press because this is my personal experience use of wordpress.

  • http://techmansworld.blogspot.com/ MHazell

    How about Blogger? I use that. I’m not that much of a fan of Automattic because of a sad story I heard about their Intense Debate comment system.

    • http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown

       @MHazell I don’t know about @bobWP , but for me, any platform that encourages readers to leave your site (due to the “Next Blog” tab in the navigation) loses major points. 
       
      As far as comment systems go, Automattic is more for the WordPress.com platform – WordPress.org (the self-hosted option) allows many more options for commenting. And to be fair, the native Blogger comment system is pretty poor (just out of curiosity, was that a reason for your blog having Disqus?).

      • http://techmansworld.blogspot.com/ MHazell

         @DannyBrown  @bobWP You can also add a CSS code to nuke that.
         
        Very simple….
        (html path) {display: none}

        • http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown

           @MHazell  @bobWP Simple if you know CSS and where to put it – most Blogger users use it because they want something simple. . ;-)

        • http://www.bobwp.com/ bobWP

           @DannyBrown  @MHazell Yeah, I’m with Danny on this, that next blog tab is very annoying, and even with CSS change, so many people don’t understand that. Not only does that tab take you away, but what if the next blog was offensive to the reader, likely that would reflect on your blog as it would have been their last experience.
           
          And as far as Automattic, yes, they do WordPress.com and that’s where they make their money. Self-hosting WordPress is a matter of just using the software, which is open source, and is GPL licensed. I am also curious about your remark on the commenting system as well : )

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  • http://www.w3origin.com/ w3origin

    This is an effective post to read.