WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
As you know, WordPress is open source and essentially free software that facilitates the building of database driven and CMS (Content Management System) enabled websites. If you know anything about websites you know that these need to run on a web server. This is at the root of the difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org – essentially where and who is hosting your site!
There are two ways to host your site with WordPress:
- Host a WordPress installation on your own server by downloading the required WordPress installations files from wordpress.org or from your hosting provider
- Host your site on wordpress.com – this will cost you nothing for hosting, you do not have to download any software or manage any server-side configurations.
So which one should you choose?
Starting with wordpress.org. Here, the downside is that you must provide your own hosting and domain name but the upside is that you are in full control. By hosting your own site using your own domain and hosting provider you may lose the ease of no installation but gain the ultimate flexibility of doing pretty much whatever you want.
When it comes to installation, often your hosting provider will have WordPress either pre-installed or as a simple one-click install. If not, you can download the latest version of the software from wordpress.org and then install it on your server.
Next, wordpress.com. This is the easier option by far, but also the most restrictive. Here, wordpress.com takes cares of hosting the site for you. There is no need to download software, pay for your hosting, or deal with managing a web server. The downside is that you are severely restricted with what you can install on you WordPress site and have a limited number of themes to choose from. Also, unless you choose to purchase a business plan, your “free” domain will include wordpress.com.
Here is a summary of the main differences.
WordPress.com | WordPress.org |
---|---|
WordPress hosted, security and backups included | Self hosting on your server, you must provide security and backups |
No hosting cost | Hosting costs apply |
Free domain but will include wordpress.com | Own domain name, you can register any domain you want, subject to availability |
No plugins and limited themes | Complete freedom to install themes and plugins without restriction |
Registration with wordpress.com is required | No registration with wordpress.org is required |
Summary
In this lesson we discussed the differences between wordpress.com and wordpress.org. You should have a really good grasp on the pros and cons of each approaches. For this course we are taking the wordpress.org route to explore WordPress to the fullest. Where you install WordPress is down to you; for example on a local server (like WAMP) if for testing and development or on your hosting providers server for public facing web sites.