There are a lot of people who are understandably confused by the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. In this article, we will try to give you a better understanding of the difference between these two WordPress sites. For additional research on this topic, you can turn to hostadvice and their WordPress knowledge base.
WordPress.com
In simple terms, WordPress.com handles everything so you do not have to worry about the system settings and database. This is why it is best suited for complete beginners with little to no experience in web development. WordPress.com is unquestionably the simplest way to start using WordPress, however, there are not many plugins or themes available.
WordPress.org
On the other hand, Wordpres.org provides advanced customization and paid options that will give your site a more professional appearance. The hosting and maintaining of your website is managed by an industry-standard application known as cPanel, which also allows you to set up your email and your database. Although learning to work with it, takes some time, once you start using it, you will find your way around.
Hosting
WordPress.com provides you with free hosting and a domain name so that you can set up your website for completely free. WordPress.org gives you much more control in every aspect, including the choice of hosting provider and domain name. In this article, we will go over a few important details when it comes to choosing a hosting plan for WordPress.org.
Loading speed vs. Data volume
Most inexpensive hosts will entice you with promises of unlimited data and storage, allowing your users to download or view your blog as frequently as they would like without having to pay more for hosting. As a result, even if you continuously downloaded from your site, the amount of data actually used throughout the month would be insignificant. In reality, it is completely offset by the speed at which your site will operate. So, do not be duped by these untrue promises.
There are also strict rules and restrictions regarding how to use your hosting storage. Since it has unlimited space, you might be tempted to think that you can use it to back up your entire data, which would be an added benefit. This is effectively prohibited, and storage can only be used for files that are expressly related to the website. In a nutshell, unlimited data is fraud. Therefore, change the term “unlimited data” to “low speed” whenever you see it in a host’s marketing gimmick.
Free Domain
You will need to pay a monthly fee when you sign up with a cheap host, but you will also get a free domain name and an email adress. The free domain might only cost $10 a year if you purchase it from another source, so be sure to account for that when calculating your costs.
Additional Domains
It makes sense to believe that having unlimited hosting enables you to add as many domains as you would like, but this is not always the case. For additional domains, some hosting companies charge an extra $30 per domain per year in addition to the domain name registration fee.
Databases
While good hosting providers have access to several databases around the world, others only have access to one database that can be located far from you. Databases are a very important factor when choosing a web hosting provider since they determine the entire performance of your site. The databases store all valuable information related to your website and are displayed to viewers when need it.
CPU cycles
The servers used by shared hosting providers are quite limited. In other words, even though you might have unlimited data or storage, you definitely do not have unlimited CPU cycles. This means if you try to launch a new Plugin on a shared hosting plan you can be greeted by a message informing you that it is not possible. This is why is important to research the CPU cycle when choosing a web hosting provider
Conclusion
WordPress.com will be the right option for you if you are a beginner on a tight budget. The end result will be a free website that does not appear professional. You will be limited in many aspects but if you are starting off, you might not even notice the limitations at all.
On the other hand, WordPress.com will allow you total control over your domain name, hosting plan, and the overall design of your website. In order to fully utilize this version of WordPress, you need to have a solid hosting plan. In this article, we gave you a few things you need to pay attention to so you don’t fall for a marketing trick, and false promises are given by a number of hosting providers.
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