What’s the Difference Between WordPress.COM and WordPress.ORG?

What’s the Difference Between WordPress.COM and WordPress.ORG?

Are you interested in learning WordPress to build a website or blog? Before you get started, it’s important to know that there are actually 2 different types of WordPress platforms: WordPress.COM and WordPress.ORG. In this video, I’m going to explain the key differences between the two platforms, share the pros and cons of each, then recommend which platform you should choose for your first website or blog. Stay tuned.

Hey whatsup guys, ODi Productions here from How2MakeWebsite.com, your #1 resource for how to start a website or blog as quickly and easily as possible.

So if you’re watching this video, I assume you’ve already heard about the wonders of WordPress, the content-management system which has allows hundreds of thousands if not millions of people to create their own website or blog with zero coding required.

I could sit here and talk all day about how awesome WordPress is, but I’ll save you the hassle. Just know that the WordPress platform is extremely powerful, and used by some of the biggest websites today such as TechCrunch.com.

Okay so, you wanna get started with WordPress, maybe did a little research, and you come to find out that there are actually two versions of the WordPress website: WordPress.COM and WordPress.ORG.

So to start things off, the biggest difference between the two is this:

WordPress.COM runs on a limited version of the WordPress platform which let’s people start blogging for free on the WordPress servers.

WordPress.ORG on the other hand, is the actual full WordPress platform itself, which you can download completely free and then install onto your own self-hosted web server.

Now if all that sounds super complicated, don’t be intimidated because it can actually be just as simple as using WordPress.com, but with much more potential.

Now I’m going to show you what each platform looks like while you’re using it. You might be surprised by how similar they actually are.

So up first is the WordPress.COM platform.

So as I’ve said, this is a simplified version of the WordPress platform which features a sidebar on the left where you can select different categories to personalize your blog and to add new blog posts and pages. Adding a new blog post is as simple as clicking a button, and then filling out your title and textbox, then hitting publish.

The important thing to note about WordPress.COM is that it’s simpler and let’s you get started for free, but your domain name will contain the .wordpress.com extension. WordPress.COM does offers paid upgrades, but I’ll get back to that in our Pros and Cons section.

So switching over to WordPress.ORG, which requires just a little bit of setup to install, you’ll be taken to a dashboard that looks exactly like this.

So once again, things are pretty simple with your left sidebar which let’s you change your theme and settings. I actually prefer the look of this WordPress.ORG layout which seems cleaner and easier to read. Adding a new blog post is just as simple as WordPress.COM. Go to Posts, click Add new, fill in a title and text, hit Publish, and you’re all set.

Perhaps the biggest difference and selling point of WordPress.ORG is the ability to add and install plugins.

Plugins are the one thing that makes WordPress so powerful, because they allow you to add advanced functions to your website, transforming WordPress from just a blog to a legitimate website.

For example, if we take a look at some of the top plugins. BuddyPress is a plugin which transforms your website into a social network where users can create profiles and talk to each other. Can you believe that? 5 years ago you’d have to pay thousands of dollars for a developer to custom code this, and now even a beginner can do it at the click of a button.

Other plugins include stuff like adding a Contact form, Transforming your website into an e-commerce store, adding a forum to your website, and so much more.

Best of all, most of these plugins are completely free to start using. It’s unreal what potential we have at our fingertips these days.

Now the other big difference is that you need to have your own web server to install WordPress.ORG. So how do you do this? It’s actually really simple and we even have a free step-by-step video which I’ll link to here. Anyways, here’s the process: First you pay a small monthly fee to signup with a web host provider, such as Bluehost.com for example, and then they give you access to a server. Once you have access, they even have a tool called WordPress 1-click install, which installs the platform you find on WordPress.ORG for you automatically. And that’s it, you’re done.

What’s even better is that a Web host provider like Bluehost, allows you to get a custom domain name for free with your signup. An example of a custom domain is YourName.com, without the .wordpress.com extension. On WordPress.COM, it would look like YourName.wordpress.com.

So there you have it. Now I’m going to share with you a summary of the Pros and Cons of each platform.

PROS and CONS of WordPress.COM

Pros:

– Simplest to setup and use

– Free to start

– Design looks professional with many themes to choose from

Cons:

– The .wordpress.com extension which looks unprofessional

– Limited functionality, so you can’t use PLUGINS

– Less customization

– Paid upgrades are much more expensive compared to self-hosting

Let’s do a quick price comparison between WordPress.COM and a web host provider like Bluehost.com for example:

If you upgrade to WordPress Premium, which costs $8.25 per month, you get the custom domain and 13 gigs of storage.

On the other hand, Bluehost starts at just $3.95 per month, you get the free custom domain, and you get unlimited storage.

To get unlimited storage on WordPress.COM, you’d have to choose the Business plan, which costs a whopping $24.92 per month.

As you can see, you get way more value by going with self-hosting.

PROS and CONS of WordPress.ORG

Pros:

– Full customization

– Custom domain included, no .wordpress.com extension

– Plugins

– Unlimited storage

– Much better value than WordPress.COM paid upgrades

Cons:

– Requires some setup (but you can install WordPress with a single click)

– Requires a small monthly fee for self-hosting

– Dashboard is not as simple as WordPress.COM, but it’s close

So there are the pros and cons of each platform.

VERDICT: Which platform should YOU choose?

Now if you’re wondering which platform you should choose for your first website or blog, here’s my personal advice.

For me, the biggest deal-breaker with WordPress.COM is not being able to use the thousands of free plugins.

Add to the fact that self-hosting is much less expensive than WordPress.COM’s paid plans, there’s just so much more value going with self-hosting and WordPress.ORG.

I mean for about 4 or 5 bucks a month, you can pretty much make any website you have in mind, and I can’t think of a better investment you can make for yourself.

Also, if you were to start off on WordPress.COM then decide you want to switch over to .ORG, the process can be a bit of a headache compared to just starting on .ORG from the beginning.

So in conclusion, WordPress.ORG has much more potential than WordPress.COM due to plugins, and even turns out to be a better value in the long run.

Now if you want to learn how to setup self-hosting and create a website using WordPress.ORG, make sure to watch our full step-by-step tutorial which I’ll link to here: