I had no idea that there were two \u2018versions\u2019 of WordPress, and it quickly became clear that I\u2019d just started to use the wrong one for my needs.<\/p>\n
This article aims to explain the difference between the two, as well as answer a few things you might be wondering along the way (how does<\/em> WordPress.org make any money if it\u2019s free??)<\/p>\n Hopefully, I\u2019ll help you avoid the same fate as me…<\/p>\n Before we continue though, most WordPress users (we would hope!) know the difference between the two, so if any WordPress aficionados out there have stumbled across this article, I recommend checking out one of our many other ‘you gotta know this’ blog posts<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re still reading, it probably means you\u2019re new to WordPress and want to find out more about it, which is great!<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s start with the basics – why choose WordPress for your site build?<\/p>\n There are two main ways of building a website.<\/p>\n The first is creating it from scratch with a series of text files in HTML\/CSS\/JS, and then publishing it to a web server to be hosted. This route requires knowledge of these coding languages, so it would only be suited to someone with the right skills.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not wanting to become a web developer any time soon and your goal is purely to create a website for your hobby or business, then the second option is probably more up your street – a Content Management System (CMS).<\/p>\n A CMS alleviates the need for technical knowledge when building a website – it has the interface and tools to allow you to create and organize your content without needing to write a single line of code.<\/p>\n There are a number of CMS you can use to create your website, but WordPress<\/a> is by far the clear favorite. It boasts over 60% of the market share of CMS websites<\/a> and is a wise choice for beginners.<\/p>\n Below are some of the reasons WordPress is the cream of the CMS crop:<\/p>\n I sure did.<\/p>\n There are a lot of differences between the two versions, but before we take a look separately at their pros and cons, the below helps put it into perspective:<\/p>\n Using WordPress.com is like booking a package holiday. You get the flights, the airport transfer, and the hotel included. The hotel is nice, but you wish it had a pool and perhaps some better evening entertainment. The flight also looks fine, but you wish you\u2019d got a bigger baggage allowance.<\/p>\n It might not be perfect but it was a good price, and you have the peace of mind of knowing it\u2019s all being taken care of in one place.<\/p>\n This is WordPress.com.<\/p>\n On the other hand, WordPress.org is more like planning your own holiday. You can get a cheap rate at an Airbnb, choose your own flight times, and get the bus or a cab to the hotel.<\/p>\n If you choose to create your site with WordPress.com, they host it for you, handle backups and updates. However, you\u2019ll have to pay if you want to use plugins or a custom domain name. They also have a level of control over your site including the ability to display third-party ads<\/a> – and the power to delete your site.<\/p>\n With WordPress.org, you source the different aspects yourself. You\u2019d compare hosting plans, find a good backup plugin and purchase a domain name. It\u2019s more effort, but it will probably work out cheaper in the long run, and you\u2019ll get so much more control over the end result.<\/p>\n WordPress.com is the little sister of the enormously popular WordPress.org.<\/p>\n The two are linked as one of the creators of the WordPress software itself (Matt Mullenweg)<\/a> is the co-founder of Automattic, which is the company behind WordPress.com. But, there are some huge differences between the two.<\/p>\n WordPress.com is primarily a hosting platform that allows users to create websites and blogs using the open-source WordPress.org software.<\/p>\n Since it\u2019s run as a for-profit business, it\u2019s marketed more widely and appears at the top of every \u2018WordPress\u2019 Google search thanks to their ads.<\/p>\n They offer paid plans that allow you to access certain features (which we\u2019ll get into shortly), however, you can easily create a simple blogging site for free.<\/p>\n Before we get into the pros and cons, it\u2019s important to warn you that the cons list will be a lot bigger than the pros.<\/p>\n This is because it\u2019s up against WordPress.org, which, as it\u2019s open-source, allows you to have a lot more control over what you create with it.<\/p>\n That being said, WordPress.com is a very successful platform…WordPress.com blogs have over 400 million monthly viewers for a start!<\/a><\/p>\n So, without further ado: reason number one…<\/p>\n Basic Domains And Hosting Are Free<\/strong><\/p>\n When I say \u2018basic\u2019 domain, I mean a domain ending in .WordPress.com.<\/p>\n Not so bad at all if you\u2019re running a blog, but definitely not ideal for a business venture.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, you have to pay to use a custom domain (don\u2019t worry – this is on the cons list!), but if you\u2019re looking for somewhere free to host a simple blog, WordPress.com should meet your needs.<\/p>\n WordPress is a growing platform – improvements and bug fixes are always in the pipeline<\/a>, so it\u2019s not just a case of building a site and leaving it to run – you have to update it when new versions are released.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t always easy when you\u2019re using WordPress.org and have a lot of different plugins, however with WordPress.com, it\u2019s something you don\u2019t ever have to worry about.<\/p>\n It handles all the updates for you, as well as ensuring your site is backed up regularly.<\/p>\n The downside of this though, is that they can delete your site at any point if they think it violates their Terms of Service<\/a>. Since the backups are stored on their end and you don\u2019t have access, it would be a crushing experience if your site was removed and you didn\u2019t have a copy.<\/p>\n Aaaaand that\u2019s about it.<\/strong><\/p>\n Whilst there are many reasons to use WordPress in general, the reasons to choose WordPress.com over its big sister, WordPress.org, are few and far between.<\/p>\n WordPress.com is a commercial business after all, so they\u2019re not going to hand out all the good stuff for free.<\/p>\n I already warned you that this list will be longer than the pros, so I hope you\u2019re strapped in.<\/p>\n If WordPress.com was a stand-alone entity and wasn\u2019t being constantly compared to WordPress.org (I know, I know – that\u2019s literally what I\u2019m doing now) maybe it wouldn\u2019t get such a hard time.<\/p>\n But the truth is, it has a lot of limitations compared to WordPress.org, which is why whenever people say \u2018WordPress\u2019, they\u2019re almost always referring to .org.<\/p>\n Here are but a few:<\/p>\n So you\u2019re absolutely not ok with your site URL ending in .WordPress.com – and that\u2019s fine!<\/p>\n Domain names are relatively cheap these days, so it\u2019s easy to purchase one that fits your needs.<\/p>\n You have two options when it comes to using your own domain through WordPress.com<\/p>\n If you already own the domain, you can either map<\/a> or transfer<\/a> it, however, you have to subscribe to one of their plans in order to do so.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t already own a domain, WordPress.com makes it really easy to purchase one through part of your site\u2019s setup process.<\/p>\n You can still shop around though – it\u2019s definitely worth comparing other domain providers.<\/p>\n I entered \u2018kirstanblog\u2019 as the keyword and was offered a .com TLD (top-level domain – the bit that comes after the \u2018dot\u2019) for \u00a315 a year through WordPress.com.<\/p>\n A quick search of the same keyword on GoDaddy, got me an offer of \u00a311.99 for the first year\u2019s hosting, and they offer discounts if you commit to multiple years.<\/p>\n Whichever way you decide to get hold of a domain, you\u2019re still going to have to pay to use it. Only WordPress\u2019 own domains are free on their site, so when you have to buy the domain and then have to pay a fee to use it, WordPress.org starts to look a lot more appealing.<\/p>\n Since there are a fair few cons to using WordPress.com, it will be easier to break the rest down into easy to digest bullet points:<\/p>\n I know – it\u2019s a lot of \u201cyou can\u2019t do this or that unless you pay!\u201d<\/p>\n Not much in life is free though, so if you\u2019re using a service, then usually you\u2019d be paying for it.<\/p>\n WordPress.com will always be a great choice for bloggers because it\u2019s free to use and easy to get the hang of.<\/p>\n However, many individuals and businesses around the world do use WordPress.com paid plans and run successful websites from the platform.<\/p>\n If you do start out with WordPress.com and decide you\u2019re ready to take the plunge and unlock the freedom that comes with .org, we wholeheartedly support this decision.<\/p>\n We have a fab guide showing you exactly how you can transfer your website across<\/a>, and if you decide to become a WPMU DEV member<\/a> to get access to our hosting plan and suite of plugins, our experts would be on hand to guide you through the switch.<\/p>\n Many things, my friend…many, many things.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s jump straight in – here are some of the features that make WordPress.org so great:<\/p>\n One of the main differences between the two versions of WordPress is that WordPress.org is truly free and open-source.<\/p>\n The code can be amended by anyone who so wishes – in fact, WordPress.org relies on people contributing code<\/a> in order to fix bugs and release updates.<\/p>\n This also means that it\u2019s easy for people to create plugins and themes.<\/p>\n WordPress.org wouldn\u2019t be where it is without their repositories being stuffed to the brim with awesome plugins and themes from talented creators all around the world.<\/p>\n Which brings me onto the next feature\u2026<\/p>\n Anyone can have a go at creating a plugin or theme, so your choices are endless on WordPress.org.<\/p>\n They do have to go through a verification process and be checked by WordPress volunteers though, which helps to filter out the ones with bad code – no one wants a plugin to break their site!<\/p>\n Now that you\u2019re free to install plugins, you can run an online store\u2026<\/p>\n An eCommerce plugin such as WooCommerce<\/a> (over 5 million active installs – need I say more) allows you to sell your wares on your WordPress site – and if you\u2019re doing it through WordPress.org, you won\u2019t pay a cent to them.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re running an eCommerce site, you\u2019re probably going to want to track your stats at some point.<\/p>\n Google Analytics<\/a> is the staple piece of kit you\u2019ll need for this, and whilst you have to pay to use it on WordPress.com, it\u2019s completely free with WordPress.org.<\/p>\n Ads are another way to make money<\/a> with WordPress.<\/p>\n You have full control over ads when you use WordPress.org, and they\u2019re super easy to manage with a plugin<\/a>.<\/p>\n External ads via Google Adsense<\/a> are an easy way to gain a bit of extra revenue if you\u2019re running a high-traffic site, but you can always sell your own ads if you want a bit more say in what\u2019s displayed on your site.<\/p>\n You might not want ads on your site at all, but if you do, you\u2019re the boss.<\/p>\n Speaking of being the boss…<\/p>\n With WordPress.org, you don\u2019t have to agree to a long and complicated Terms of Service, you install the software and then you\u2019re on your own. There\u2019s no higher power involved with the potential to share your content with third parties or delete your site at will.<\/p>\n You also have full access to your files, so you can make whatever changes you want to your files.<\/p>\n You\u2019re very limited with WordPress.com and need to be at least a Business plan customer to be able to access any files through an SFTP client<\/a>.<\/p>\n Code is easier to share than tangible goods.<\/p>\n For example, if you have an apple, then I take it from you, I now have an apple but you don\u2019t. On the other hand, if you have software and you share it with me, we both have software.<\/p>\n The above analogy was stolen from our article which explains in much more detail why WordPress is free<\/a>, so if you\u2019re genuinely interested, I\u2019d recommend checking it out.<\/p>\n If you write some great code and then decide to share it, other people have the benefit of working with the code – and you\u2019re no worse off.<\/p>\n The desire to help the \u2018greater good\u2019 is what drives the founders of WordPress to continue offering this amazing platform for free.<\/p>\n WordPress contributors make their money in other ways<\/a>, by developing plugins or themes, offering consultancy services…some even go on to found successful enterprises (take Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of Automattic for example.)<\/p>\n Would you believe me if I told you there isn\u2019t one?<\/p>\n We\u2019ve already established that you have to secure your own hosting – this is easy enough, especially with the comparison guide we put together<\/a>. You\u2019ll never guess who came out on top ;)<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also have to manage your own backups…or you could let a plugin do that one for you. Snapshot Pro<\/a> is one of the great reasons to become a WPMU DEV member – your backups will be automated, secure and convenient.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also have to update your site, but once you\u2019ve learned how to do that efficiently<\/a>, it\u2019s nothing to worry about.<\/p>\n If, like me, you end up building your site on wp.com and then realize after reading this that it should have been done on wp.org, don\u2019t fret, just follow our guide on moving your site from wp.com to wp.org.<\/a><\/p>\n WordPress.org definitely has the preferable pro to con ratio.<\/p>\n If you think that WordPress is the right platform for your website build, I\u2019d definitely recommend doing as much research as possible before you dive in.<\/p>\nWordPress, King Of The CMS<\/h2>\n
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But you mentioned two versions of WordPress?<\/h3>\n
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What Is WordPress.com?<\/h2>\n
Why Do People Use WordPress.com?<\/h2>\n
Backups And Updates Are Taken Care Of<\/h3>\n
Cons of WordPress.com<\/h2>\n
You Have To Pay To Use A Custom Domain<\/h3>\n
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Things You Can Only Do If You Subscribe<\/h3>\n
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Things you can\u2019t do at all:<\/h3>\n
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What\u2019s So Good About WordPress.org?<\/h2>\n
Free And Open Source<\/h3>\n
More Plugins And Themes Than You Can Shake A Stick At<\/h3>\n
Sell Your Products Or Services<\/h3>\n
Google Analytics Is Free<\/h3>\n
Monetize Your Site<\/h3>\n
Your Site, Your Rules<\/h3>\n
But How Is All This Free?<\/h2>\n
So What\u2019s The Catch?<\/h2>\n
All\u2019s Not Lost<\/h3>\n
Three Guesses Which Platform We Prefer…<\/h2>\n