Differences, Pros & Cons Of WordPress.com And WordPress.org
Many people are confused between WordPress.org as well as WordPress.com. But, there are some of the differences existing between them that you should know about. As both of these run on WordPress and so, confusion is common.
Both of these use plugins as well as themes that are readily available for free online. But, it is very important to understand the distinctions existing between the two options so that you can make an effective choice.
So, in this regard, you should read about the major characteristics of both WordPress.org as well as WordPress.com as discussed in the below-mentioned section:
About WordPress.com
WordPress.com is considered to be a free platform that you can use for crafting a website or a blog. You can compare these services to Squarespace or Wix as these platforms tend to offer the same features.
Automattic (WordPress creators) entirely manage this platform. The best part about this, it is one of the easiest platforms among all the other options available.
Just, you will have to register for a free account, select the subdomain, choose a free theme and start adding content to it.
But, before you get started with it, you should consider its pros and cons discussed in the below section:
Pros
A vast majority of the users can use WordPress.com completely free of cost.
Free accounts are available with a free subdomain name, free hosting, free themes, pre-installed SSL, Jetpack essentials (site stats, related posts, and a lot more), easy website customizer options (such as a customized logo, image, or background color), etc.
Another best thing about this platform is that it is very easy to use. Just after creating your account, you can start blogging. But, if you want more features, then you should focus on upgrading to a premium plan.
Certain features are only available on the premium plan. So, you can opt for the premium plan if you want to use premium themes, Google Analytics or WordAds. Again, if you want to remove the WordPress branding, you should focus on uploading 3rd party plugins or themes.
Cons
After knowing about these benefits, you should know about the limitations of WordPress.com. Whether you opt for a paid or a free account, you will certainly not get total control. This is one of the major disadvantages.
Your content is owned by WordPress.com as everything you craft is hosted. Also, this is maintained on the multisite of WordPress.
Another important thing is to abide by their User Guidelines. So, there are always restrictions with controversial content such as spam, adult content, gambling, etc.
In this case, you do not have the option to use Google analytics. To do so, you will have to upgrade to a higher option i.e. a Business plan. Therefore, you will have to spend your money in the case, you wish to have a track on your website and a lot more. Also, you will have to spend some extra money for monetizing your blog.
About WordPress.org
WordPress.org also makes use of the same CMS as WordPress.com but it is considered to be a separate entity. In this case, you would be able to fully control your website. This is the self-hosted WordPress version. So, you should focus on using this for building your online website.
Also, in this regard, you should know about the pros and cons to make an effective decision.
Pros
To get started with this, WordPress.org possesses every functionality that is similar to WordPress.com but on steroids. Irrespective of the things you create, you have complete rights as well as control over your content.
Most of the hosting companies do have general user agreements. As long as you are doing anything legal, you have complete freedom to write as well as post whatever you want. You can pick a custom domain name for your website.
Choose any of the hosting plans according to your preference from the top web hosting companies. You have the option to make use of any premium or free WordPress plugin or theme you find on the web.
WordPress.org contributes to offer identical instinctive options as well as Gutenberg builder similar to WordPress.com. Also, WordPress.org is considered to be the best option in case you are the owner of a small business considering bringing your services or products online.
It contributes to offer full eCommerce support via. free plugins such as Easy Digital Downloads, WooCommerce, and also 3rd party services like Ecwid and Shopify.
Cons
Although the cons of WordPress.org are much less, there are a few which you should know about. The first one is that WordPress.org costs money even though it is free to use. You will have to invest your money in the WordPress hosting plan as well as domain registration.
If you want, you can opt for the free plugins and themes and select a shared hosting plan from a reliable hosting service provider.
Another con is that you need to install WordPress specifically on your server. You can manage the setup on your own. In this regard, a vast majority of the hosting companies tend to provide 1-click installation like Bluehost as well as Cloudways.
The last disadvantage is that you are completely responsible for the maintenance and security of your website. When you use WordPress.com, they focus on managing everything except your content creation.
But with WordPress.org, you will have to update the WordPress version. You also need to utilize some basic WordPress security measures such as regular website backups and strong passwords.
Final Verdict
So, the above-discussed ones are some of the main distinctions, pros, and cons of WordPress.com as well as WordPress.org that you should know about.
Hope, this guide will prove to be very useful to understand the distinctions existing between WordPress.org and WordPress.com
You have total control over your blog or website i.e. content, plugins, themes, styling, hosting, and everything with WordPress.org. This is one of the biggest differences existing between both of these platforms.
Understanding all these distinctions is considered to be very important to make an effective choice between both of these options.
