One of the most common questions people have about using WordPress is the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org
WordPress is a content system manager, and the main difference between them is that WordPress.com allows you to create a site on their own platform and they take care of that. While WordPress.org is a package that you download and install in your own hosting.
What are the main differences?
The main differences between them are WordPress.com doesn’t require the installation of anything. You can easily create an account in their site and build your web/blog. The free version only allows a domain name that includes the appendix “.wordpress.com”, which is fine for informal projects, but not for professional use.
If you want to add your custom domain name you can do it by paying a small subscription fee.
As I mentioned above WordPress.org needs to be installed in a hosting site with a custom domain name.
In this case you will need to pay for your hosting, there are many hosting companies with very economical plans. Some of them started offering plans with WordPress already installed and others offer 1 click install which makes super easy to get your WordPress installed.
Why I choose WordPress.org
As mentioned above, WordPress.org presents many more possibilities to build and customise a website.
This allows to import your owns themes, and you are not limited to use only the WordPress themes.
Another reason is that the free version of WordPress.com doesn’t allow you to install plugins. One of great things about WordPress is the thousands of plugins that allow the addition of many features to your website.
The installation of plugins and use of premium themes is possible in WordPress.com, through subscription to a business plan. I my opinion, these plans are very expensive considering that for less money you can get a hosting and install your WordPress.org and get the same features. You can check their plans here https://wordpress.com/pricing/
If you want to build your own website using WordPress.org, you can check my online course Build your own Website.