Summary:
It’s pretty straight forward, ORG is the website for the system itself, the free open-source code. COM is basically a hosting, a service that you can buy to have a website.
If you don’t know what a hosting is
Hosting is basically a computer running 24/7 in somebody’s basement. The basement is usually called a data center or a server. There are thousands of companies that sell hosting space, so some amount of GB that you can rent from them. If you do that, you can then put the data of your website on it and connect your domain to it. They are often sold together. Once a user puts your domain into their browser, they will connect to that server and see your website. So there are no websites without hostings.
WordPress.ORG as a system
WordPress is basically just a code, a free code. You can download it from WordPress.ORG and use it. It allows you to set up a website and edit it, without any need for coding. It’s what’s called CMS (Content Management System). But to be able to run it and have a website online, you have to install it on some hosting. As explained above.
So the cheapest way to have a website is to find a hosting provider, rent it and most of them nowadays have a button: Install WordPress. Boom, it’s done, you have a website running on WordPress.
In that sense, you don’t ever have to go .ORG, you can find all the themes, plugins etc. in the system itself.
WordPress.COM as a hosting
WordPress.COM is where the authors of the system make money, and we should be thankful for them, for creating this monster that runs up to 40% of the internet. On the other hand, their pricing is very weird, I don’t get it. And there are probably only a couple of reasons why to use it:
- It’s easier to set up, probably takes like 5 minutes, instead of 15 for regular hosting.
- It’s probably more secure, WordPress is attacked a lot, and you should always install a security plugin.
- It’s probably well optimized, so your website should be pretty fast.
As I said, I don’t get the pricing. You could rent a decent hosting that starts around $5 a month. That is for having everything that WordPress offers at your disposal. While WordPress.COM offers many different pricing plans, but only the business one offers you all the themes that you can use. And that is 7x more expensive than regular hosting. I tried to see, if my theme Minimalio, which is a free theme on ORG, would be available, and it’s only on the expensive business plan. So, yeah, strange!
I have never tried the COM hosting, because why should I, I am fine with spending ten more minutes setting up the system, it’s basically just pushing a button, I am also fine with installing a security plugin, also pushing few buttons. But if you don’t mind money and you don’t want to spend extra time choosing some hosting provider and dealing with the hustle, COM is definitely a better option for you.
