Lots of people ask me about the difference between having a blog with WordPress.com Vs. having a blog with WordPress.org and most of them have the impression that both are the same however there is a lot of difference between the two which I will share in this blog post.
The basic difference between the two is that WordPress.com could be hosted free of cost and WordPress.org requires self-hosting which must be paid.Wordpress.com has a few limitations like the use of customized plugins, blog monetizing, use of customized themes, and so on.
Although I will elaborate on these points in detail let me clear one thing if you require a blog just for sharing your views & information with your readers, then wordpress.com would suffice however if you are looking for a customized design & monetizing your blog in the forms of services, advertisements, affiliates, etc. then you must go for wordpress.org. I know it costs you a bit every month but will you care about it if you have a good income from your blog?
Below are a few points of difference between having a blog with WordPress.com and WordPress.org:
Cost Involvement
As I already mentioned above, WordPress.com doesn’t charge anything to create a blog however you require to pay a nominal monthly amount for having a blog with WordPress.org because it will be a self-hosted blog.
Ownership
You own your blog when you host it yourself using WordPress.org and can upload any information (as long as it’s not illegal) so you have full control of your texts, images, etc. however in the case of WordPress.com, your blog account could be deleted anytime as and when they notice that your posts/images are not as per their rules and regulations.
Plugins & Widgets
By setting up a blog with WordPress.com, you could have several limitations like installation of useful plugins and widgets which is not the case with WordPress.org where you get options to install and use lots of plugins. For eg., you can install plugins like Chat, Newsletter Subscription, FAQ, etc. which can really be helpful to promote your business.
Design Themes
In the case of WordPress.com, you have limited options for changing the appearance/design theme of your blog however when you create your blog using WordPress.org, you get hundreds of nice & free designs to be integrated with your blog. Not only preset designs, but you may also hire a web designer to design a unique layout for your blog.
Backup
You will need to take care of your backup yourself in the case of the self-hosted blog with WordPress.org however in the case of WordPress.com, they will take care of your backup at their end only; so you don’t need to worry about it.
SSL/Security
When you host your blog yourself with WordPress.org, you will need to pay an extra amount to host company for getting a secured layer on the server (SSL) however when you create your account with WordPress.com, SSL will be provided by them only.
Technical Know-how
For installing a blog with WordPress.org, you need to have technical skills in order to configure and run it on your server whereas setting up a blog with WordPress.com is pretty easy and doesn’t require any technical skills.
So, it depends on your requirements whether you should go for a free account with WordPress.com or a paid account with WordPress.org however whatever the case is, you just need to make sure that you should do your blog marketing in an efficient manner to get increased traffic.
Considering the multiple benefits of WordPress.org over WordPress.com, you may also hire a blog consultant who can take care of your blog design, configuration & marketing.
