WordPress.com vs WordPress.org – Which is Better?

If you are a personal blogger, and you don’t care about making money from your website, then go with the free WordPress.com. If you are a business or a blogger that wants to make money from your site, then we recommend using the self-hosted WordPress.org. It gives you the freedom and flexibility to grow your website the way you want. While you can get several advanced features with the WordPress.com Business plan ($300 / year for each website), you can make that money go much further on a self-hosted WordPress site which costs $46 per year. In our expert opinion, WordPress.org is hands down the better platform. That’s the platform that every professional blogger, small business owner, and even big name brands like Disney uses.

Can I Monetize Free WordPress.com Website?

WordPress.com does not allow you to run ads on free WordPress.com websites. If you run a high traffic website, then you can join their own WordAds program and share your ad revenue with WordPress.com. You can put some affiliate links on your website, but that’s about it. Basically, you have very limited options to monetize content on your WordPress.com website. Whereas with WordPress.org, you have full control over content management system, so you have unlimited monetization options for your new website.

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org – Which one is better for Ecommerce?

WordPress.org offers the easiest way to build an eCommerce website. You can use WooCommerce to build your store or choose from many other WordPress eCommerce, membership, and LMS plugins. WordPress.com also offers an eCommerce plan starting at $540 per year which is a hefty amount if you are just getting started. It is still limited in terms of features, and you’ll have to follow WordPress.com’s terms of services for your eCommerce store. See our guide on how to start an online store without a high budget. It includes how to get your own domain for free along with all the powerful features that you need to grow online.

How do I start a WordPress.org Website?

To start a self-hosted WordPress website, you need a domain name and WordPress hosting. A domain name is your website’s address on the internet such as google.com, wpbeginner.com, etc. Web hosting is where your website files are stored on the internet. We recommend using Bluehost for hosting your website because they are one of the largest web hosting companies in the world. They’re also an official WordPress.org recommended web host. Last but not least, they’re offering our users a free domain + free SSL + 61% off on hosting. For step by step instructions, you can checkout our free guide on how to make a website. If you need help, WPBeginner team can even install WordPress and build your website for free. Learn more about how our free WordPress blog setup works.

Can I move from WordPress.com to WordPress.org?

Often new users who don’t know the difference between WordPress.com vs WordPress.org end up starting with the free WordPress.com service. Once they see the limitations of the platform, they want to switch to “the Real WordPress” aka WordPress.org. Yes, you can definitely switch from WordPress.com to WordPress.org and fairly easily move all of your content. We have created a step by step guide on how to move your blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org, or you can take advantage of our free blog setup service, and we will transfer your blog for free.