We will try to understand in this article, the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
WordPress.org
WordPress.org is the source website for ‘Wordpress’, which is a free blogging tool and open source content management software. About one fourth of the total websites in the world use WordPress. It was started in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little. It is written in PHP and is used with MySQL. You can download and install WordPress from WordPress.org. WordPress is used to create beautiful web pages, blogs and web sites. It has hundreds of Themes, Plugins, Widgets, and many other tools to develop a beautiful web site.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com is the web site, which uses WordPress software to create blogs and websites. You can sign up and create your own free blog like ‘yourblog.wordpress.com’ and can use the themes, plugins, and widgets to customize your blog. You can also buy a custom domain name if you want, like ‘yourwebsite.com’.
You can use WordPress in the following ways:
– You can sign up for a free blog at WordPress.com like ‘yourblog.wordpress.com’. By doing this you will be able to use all the free WordPress services like the free hosting, themes, widgets and plugins. There are some limitations in this option and the major one is that you cannot display any third party advertisements on your blog.
– You can buy a custom Domain Name and can use the free hosting services of WordPress.
– You can buy the domain name and hosting from somewhere else and you can install wordpress in the control panel of your hosting server. In this case you use WordPress as a CMS (Content Management System) only. I consider this option better than the other because you can do all the customizations you want, and there are no limitations. This option is called ‘self hosted wordpress’ these days, which, in fact, is not self hosting, but you don’t use the hosting services of wordpress, instead you buy a hosting plan from a web host.
What are the basic differences
Following is a list of some basic differences in WordPress.org (or the WordPress Software you can say) and WordPress.com:
Hosting
If you want free hosting, use WordPress.com, you can use the free hosting of WordPress.com and create a blog like ‘myblog.wordpress.com’ . You can do that on some other platforms providing same type of services like Blogger, Tumblr etc.
Domain Name
If you want to buy your own custom domain name like ‘mywebsite.com’ you can do that by upgrading your current blog at WordPress. You have to pay for the domain name in this case. You can also go for buying hosting from a web host and point your domain name to the hosting servers and can still use WordPress as a CMS.
Themes & Plugins
The number of themes and plugins available in the free hosting option at WordPress, where you make a blog, is limited but if you buy a hosting plan then you can use as many themes and plugins you want.
Monetization
WordPress does not allow any third party advertisements on its free blogs, instead it has its own Wordads Program with may limitations. But if you have bought a hosting plan from a web host and are using WordPress as a CMS, then there is no restrictions like this.
Conclusion
If you want to just learn how to make a blog, go for the free blog option at WordPress.com and start. But if you have a sound knowledge of some of the web development tools, the best idea is to buy a hosting plan (self-hosted wordpress), and use WordPress as a CMS.