{"id":1391,"date":"2026-07-15T10:59:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T10:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jolt.co.uk\/help\/?p=1391"},"modified":"2026-07-15T10:59:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T10:59:01","slug":"difference-between-wordpress-com-and-org","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jolt.co.uk\/help\/difference-between-wordpress-com-and-org\/","title":{"rendered":"Difference between WordPress.com and .org"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Though they share the same name, <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WordPress.com<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WordPress.org<\/a> are quite different in terms of functionality, control, and purpose. Here&#8217;s a breakdown:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>WordPress.com<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Hosting<\/strong>: Fully hosted by WordPress. No need to purchase separate hosting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ease of Use<\/strong>: Beginner-friendly with minimal setup required.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Customization<\/strong>: Limited in terms of themes and plugins unless you upgrade to a paid plan.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cost<\/strong>: Free for basic features, but advanced features (custom domain, extra storage, premium themes) may require paid plans.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Maintenance<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WordPress.com<\/a> handles updates, backups, and security for you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Purpose:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ideal for building blog websites<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Can map custom domain to your site with WordPress.com Nameservers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>WordPress.org<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Hosting<\/strong>: Self-hosted. You need to purchase your own hosting and domain name.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Control<\/strong>: Full control over your website, including access to all files and databases.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Customization<\/strong>: Unlimited access to themes, plugins, and custom code.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cost<\/strong>: Free to download, but you\u2019ll pay for hosting, domain registration, and any premium plugins or themes with a hosting company.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Maintenance<\/strong>: You\u2019re responsible for updates, backups, and security.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Purpose:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For Self-hosting WordPress sites with full control in customization etc<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Uses your hosting provider&#8217;s nameservers for displaying your site<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Takeaway<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Choose <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>WordPress.com<\/strong><\/a> if you want a simple, managed solution with less technical involvement.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Choose <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>WordPress.org<\/strong><\/a> if you need full control, flexibility, and advanced customization options.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Though they share the same name, WordPress.com and WordPress.org are quite different in terms of functionality, control, and purpose. Here&#8217;s a breakdown: WordPress.com Hosting: Fully hosted by WordPress. No need to purchase separate hosting. Ease of Use: Beginner-friendly with minimal setup required. Customization: Limited in terms of themes and plugins&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jolt.co.uk\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jolt.co.uk\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jolt.co.uk\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jolt.co.uk\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jolt.co.uk\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1391"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jolt.co.uk\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1392,"href":"https:\/\/www.jolt.co.uk\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1391\/revisions\/1392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jolt.co.uk\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jolt.co.uk\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jolt.co.uk\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}