WordPress.com vs WordPress.org: what's the difference in 2026?

The quick verdict

Pick WordPress.com if you want WordPress without running a server. Automattic hosts the site, plugins work on every paid plan, and Personal starts at $4 a month billed yearly. Watch the fees if you sell: payment buttons cost 10% per sale on Personal and 8% on Premium.

Pick WordPress.org, the self-hosted version, if you want full control and the easiest exit. You choose the host, get every file and the database on any budget, and pay a 0% platform fee with WooCommerce. It scores 10 out of 10 on our exit score; WordPress.com scores 8. You also own the upkeep.

The difference

Both run the same open-source WordPress software. WordPress.org is where you download that software for free and install it on web hosting you rent yourself. WordPress.com is a hosting service from Automattic Inc. that runs WordPress for you, with plans and limits it sets.

Think of it as owning a house versus renting a well-kept apartment in the same style. Same rooms, different rules about who fixes things and what you can change.

Side by side

WordPress.com also sells longer terms. On its pricing page, Personal is $3.25 a month on a 2-year term and $2.75 on a 3-year term; Business is $20 and $17.50; Commerce is $36 and $31.50.

Cost over 3 years

We priced the same small-business site three ways: about 10 pages, a blog, a contact form, one business email address and the same premium theme. For WordPress.com we use the 3-year term, which avoids guessing at renewal prices inside the three years.

How we got there:

• WordPress.com: Personal at $2.75 a month and Business at $17.50 a month on 3-year terms.
• WordPress.org hosting: SiteGround StartUp is $2.99 a month prepaid for 12 months ($35.88), then renews at $17.99 a month ($431.76 for years 2 and 3).
• Domain: all three include a free first year. Neither WordPress.com nor SiteGround publishes its renewal price, so we budget $18.48 a year, Namecheap’s published .com renewal.
• Email: Google Workspace Business Starter at $7 per user a month on the annual plan, or $84 a year.
• Theme: GeneratePress Premium at $59 a year, the theme add-on we use on the WordPress sites we build. Free themes work on both, so this line is optional.
• Left out: card processing, paid plugins and sales tax.

WordPress.com Personal is the cheapest of the three. It comes with limits, though: 6 GB of storage, a 10% fee on payment-button sales, no server or database access, and no full-site backup download. Business removes those limits and adds 24/7 priority support, but it costs more than self-hosting on SiteGround.

Self-hosting has its own range. Bluehost Starter is $3.99 a month on a 36-month term ($143.64 up front) and renews at $9.99 a month. Kinsta’s managed hosting is $30 a month billed yearly.

Design and ease of use

WordPress.com is easier to start. There is no host to pick and nothing to install. The free plan has a limited set of themes; Personal adds dozens of premium themes, and Premium and up include all of them. Every paid plan can also upload third-party themes and install plugins.

WordPress.org asks you to pick a host and install WordPress (many hosts do this for you). After that, nothing is gated by plan. You can use any of the thousands of free themes in the WordPress.org directory, commercial themes, page builders such as Elementor Pro (from $49 a year for one site) and any of 60,000+ plugins.

The real ease-of-use difference is upkeep. We build on self-hosted WordPress every week, and the work is steady: core, theme and plugin updates, backups and security checks. WordPress.com runs the hosting for you, which takes much of that off your plate.

Server access follows the same split. On WordPress.com, SFTP, SSH and database access start on Business. On WordPress.org you have full access to PHP, CSS, JavaScript and the database from day one.

Support

Support is where WordPress.com earns part of its price. Per its pricing page, the free plan gets community forums, Personal and Premium get free support, and Business and Commerce get 24/7 priority expert support.

WordPress.org has no company behind your site. You get the community forums and documentation, plus whatever support your host provides, so the quality of your host matters more than the price on its sign-up page.

Store, blog and SEO

Selling

On WordPress.com, Personal and Premium can only use payment buttons, with a 10% or 8% transaction fee. A full WooCommerce store needs Business or Commerce, both at 0% transaction fees. Commerce adds store tools and premium store themes.

On WordPress.org, WooCommerce is a free plugin on any host, with a 0% platform fee. Your payment gateway charges its own rates, and many store features are paid extensions billed yearly; WooCommerce Subscriptions is $279 a year.

Blogging

Blogging is the same core software on both: posts, pages, categories, tags, revisions and comments. Storage is the main difference: 1 GB on the free WordPress.com plan, 6 GB on Personal, 13 GB on Premium and 50 GB on Business and Commerce. On WordPress.org, storage depends on your host, such as 10 GB on SiteGround StartUp.

SEO

Both get WordPress core SEO: clean permalinks and XML sitemaps. Both can add SEO plugins such as Rank Math or Yoast, but on WordPress.com only on paid plans. We use Rank Math on the WordPress sites we build.

AI features

AI is not a deciding factor here. Neither WordPress.com’s plans nor WordPress core list an AI site builder among their features. On WordPress.org, and on WordPress.com plans that allow plugins, AI writing and design tools come from third-party plugins you choose and pay for separately.

If you want AI to draft a whole site, look at a hosted builder such as Wix or Squarespace instead.

Leaving later

Both score well, because both use WordPress’s standard export format. Our exit scores rate how much of a site you can take with you, out of 10.

WordPress.com exports an XML file with posts, pages, comments, categories, tags and links to your media. The media library can be downloaded separately. The theme, design changes and plugins are not in that file. On Business and Commerce you can download a full backup of files and database at any time, per WordPress.com’s export guide, which also recommends Jetpack for moving into self-hosted WordPress.

WordPress.org gives you everything: the same XML export plus every file on your server and the full database. Any WordPress host can run the site as-is.

Moving from WordPress.com to self-hosted WordPress is well documented, since WordPress.com’s own export guide covers it. If your domain was registered through WordPress.com, check its transfer steps first; keeping the domain at an independent registrar avoids the question. Our guide to moving your website walks through it.

Which one should you pick?

Pick WordPress.com if

• You want WordPress but do not want to choose or manage a host.
• You run a blog or simple site on a budget; Personal starts at $4 a month billed yearly.
• You want plugins in a managed setup and are happy on Business for server access and 24/7 support.
• You will not sell through payment buttons on Personal or Premium, where fees are 10% and 8%.

Pick WordPress.org if

• You want every file, the database and the freedom to switch hosts any time.
• You want a WooCommerce store with no platform fee without paying for a top plan.
• You need custom code or server access on a small budget.
• You, or someone you pay, will handle updates, backups and security.

Neither? Look at these

• You want a drag-and-drop builder with AI drafting: Wix vs WordPress.
• You want designed templates and one bill: Squarespace vs WordPress.
• You are a designer who wants visual control: Webflow vs WordPress.

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