WordPress.org or WordPress.com - difference and benefits

WordPress offers two fundamentally different options for setting up a blog or a website. While WordPress.com is a simple, all-in-one offering with limited functionality, WordPress.org is more sophisticated and powerful. WordPress.org users have to take care of aspects such as hosting themselves. In return, you benefit from greater flexibility and helpful plug-ins. This raises the question of which of these offers is more suitable for you as a user.

Setting up the website with WordPress.com

If you choose WordPress.com, setting up the website for the first time is particularly easy. You don’t have to worry about web space or hosting here. It is also not necessary to purchase your own domain. As a WordPress.com user, you receive a subdomain with the ending .wordpress.com for your own website. The offer also has existing web space. This is limited to 3 gigabytes. It is sufficient for creating texts and uploading photos, videos or audio files that do not exceed this storage space. A separate installation of WordPress.com is not required. You can start setting it up immediately after registering.

Setting up the website with WordPress.org (so-called self-hosted WordPress)

If you decide to download the software from WordPress.org (so-called self-hosted installation), the setup is more complex. Here you do not receive a subdomain ex works and the hosting is not taken over by the provider. Therefore, you have to take care of the acquisition (purchase) of the domain yourself as well as the hosting. You can find WordPress hosting from many different providers, although some specialize in it. This means you will find tailor-made service packages that will guide you through the installation with just a few clicks. Hosting packages differ in terms of performance and web space. How much storage space and which additional options are available to you depends on the provider you choose. A popular hosting service is webgo, which offers users individually tailored WordPress packages. Thanks to a 1-click installer, you can start using WordPress immediately. In addition, the provider also offers regular updating and maintenance of website content, such as the exchange of text or image content. Additional options can be found in secure SSL certificates, ranking tools for search engine optimization and virtual servers with extensive services. After WordPress (.org) installation, you can start by setting a suitable theme for your website. WordPress.org offers a number of themes and suitable plugins that can be installed directly in the provider’s admin area. At this point it can be said that setting up on WordPress.com is less complicated and does not entail any follow-up costs. However, there are clear limitations, which are reflected in a lack of flexibility and performance. A WordPress.com blog cannot be expanded, so you are dependent on the existing functions and the available web space. With a self-hosted version you benefit from more storage space, greater performance and a range of useful plug-ins and additional options.

Features, themes and plugins

Plug-ins represent one of the key differences between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. The latter solution does not offer the option of using plug-ins. Only self-hosted WordPress sites from WordPress.org offer you this option. However, some features are already available by default in WordPress.com. This includes numerous widgets, image galleries and sharing options for articles. However, if these basic features reach their limits, you have no option for expansion. A website created with WordPress.com is therefore less easy to customize. What is available for this version can be managed directly via the administration area. There are currently around 250 themes for designing your website. Many of them are free, while so-called premium themes require payment. Therefore, not every theme is available for WordPress.com, but only a limited selection. However, the advantage here is that the available themes are regularly checked and are therefore of high quality. If it’s a self-hosted site with WordPress.org, you can install all (premium) themes. The large selection includes business themes, event themes, video themes and themes with many other focuses. These themes can also be installed immediately via the administration area in WordPress. It is an advantage to pay attention to a return guarantee for paid themes, which is also available for WordPress.com. Likewise, providers of premium themes should provide sufficient support.

performance

Basically, WordPress is characterized as a slim system with high performance. However, in order to exploit this potential, an appropriate hosting provider is required. Often, underperforming or slow WordPress blogs are the result of poor hosting. For example, if the servers are busy or there is not enough RAM available, WordPress cannot perform at its best. Therefore, with the self-hosted version, it is advisable to make sure that the package you choose has sufficient RAM and that the servers are not occupied by too many customers.

Updates, Updates and Security Questions

When it comes to data protection, WordPress.com takes care of the most important matters itself. The self-hosted version relies on plugins that effectively protect you from external attacks. However, it is more important to always ensure that the site and the themes you have installed are up to date. Regular updates are mandatory and help close security gaps. If you don’t host your WordPress blog yourself, there remains some risk of data loss. If you choose the self-hosted version of WordPress.org, you enter into a contract with a hosting provider. This usually ensures availability of your data at all times and full access.

Conclusion and overview

To get started with running your own website, WordPress.com is a free, complete solution. However, as your website becomes larger and the number of visitors grows, this option quickly reaches the limits of its capacity and possibilities. WordPress.org requires more effort and requires its own hosting. However, the scope of services, flexibility and expandability speak in favor of this variant.