Self Hosted WordPress.org vs. Free WordPress.com [Infograph]
![Self Hosted WordPress.org vs. Free WordPress.com [Infograph]](http://www.wpbeginner.com/thumbnails/orgvscom.gif)
When starting out as a beginner, this question comes in everyone’s mind. Which one is better? Is it better to pick the Self Hosted WordPress.org, or is it better to go with Free WordPress.com? In this article we provide you with an infographic that compares both options side by side with list of pros and cons. We also tell you in the end which one is our pick. Click on the image to see the full version of the Infograph.
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i like wordpress …
to manage and get full control i choose self hosting
I disagree with the last WP.com bullet point. There are tons and tons of corporations that use WordPress.com (both VIP and not). And with the domain mapping upgrade, it’s easy to remove the .wordpress.com part of your blog’s URL.
Anyway, as to which is better — I think it entirely comes down to what you’re looking for. “With great power comes great responsibility.” Not everyone wants that responsibility or to have to deal with upgrades, traffic (what if you get Dugg), and so forth. WordPress.com is blog and forget.
Alex read the caption below. “Free WordPress.com”
We are aware that there are numerous corporates that are using the VIP WordPress.com program. Which is ok, but we do not recommend using free WordPress.com to any corporates or any new businesses. It is impossible to have custom themes in the free WordPress.com which is what most corporates want. Now unless they upgrade to the VIP version, they are not going to get that.
The corporations who use a free WordPress.com tend to use the Sandbox theme and the Custom CSS upgrade to skin the site to their needs.
On WordPress.com blogs that get more than 50k pageviews per month the user can has the option to get show ads in partnership with WordPress (revenue sharing is 50:50).
In fact, if you do not want ads on your blog then wp.com is just prefect and better than the self-hosted ones. And TOS is everywhere (including in the web host’s policy). It can very successfully be argued that if you do not have commerical/very professional needs, then wp.com blogs are actually ahead of wp.org in many ways!
I really like the analogy that Matt Mullenweg uses to compare the two service, “It’s the difference of owning a home, and just renting an apartment…” Watch this video it’s the 2nd question.
http://wordpress.tv/2009/10/29/matt-mullenweg-wordpress-now/
He also talks about VIP…
Didn’t even know that video existed. Just watched it and it is a great analogy. Thanks for sharing that with us Brad.
It’s more wiser to choose Self hosted WordPress than Worldpress.com . Even if you are a beginner. it’s never too late move all of your free WP to self hosting WP. The cost of self hosting is more cheaper than upgrade your free WP to the premium.
I think if you’re just starting out, and not sure if blogging is going to be your thing – it’s best to save the money and start out at WordPress.com, once you’re sure that it’s something you want to do – spending the money on finding a host and unique design is the way to go
The fact that you can use any theme sells it to me.
Self hosted is best. No doubt about it.
Ben
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PixelClouds.com
I would suggest to even peeps that are not intending to go “big” to purchase a domain, and self-host a wordpress install. My main reason is simply that when I support them – I have to manage 301 redirects. Loss of Google PR is one factor (yes, it’ll follow, but NOT 100% all the time!)
Also, branding.
Thanks Martin for your input. Yes it is an important point to consider when starting is that if you do choose to move to self-hosted platform, you might Search Engine Ranking Positions (SERPs) and Google Pagerank (PR).
I am sharing this article on my Blog (http://imranhunzai.wordpress.com), is it legal?
It is legal to share infographs as long as you link to this article for users to view the full infograph. You may not copy the full infograph and host it on your server. In short, simply take a thumbnail of this infograph, paste it on your site and link to our site for the users to view the full infograph.
In my view, it’s better to start with self hosted platform. The main thing is freedom. You can do whatever you want and whatever you like because it’s your own…and you can learn understand more about it.
thnx for the post, important stats
wordpress.com now offer custom urls for their users (without the “.wordpress.com” suffix) – this kinda conflicts with the “branding” section inside your infograph.
Do they offer that on Free WordPress.com ??
One other thing to add is simple credibility. Hosting on your own domain shows you are serious about your blog as a hobby or as an enterprise.
Can you also add a 3rd column reviewing paying WordPress.com as their paid host (as TechCrunch does).
There is no point in doing that because it is not something that beginners need. Now if you are a company that is at Tech Crunch’s level or Giga Om’s level, and you get millions of users then you would need WordPress.com Paid hosting. Otherwise it is much more suitable and efficient to run a Self-Hosted WordPress site.
i have my own wordpress blog hosted on a small server. it is very easy to install and to use. i choose self-hosted because i can make mirror changes if i want to