WordPress.com looks like the easiest free way to start a website, but the Free plan is very limited. The paid plans now unlock most of WordPress, though some features, like backups, developer tools, and lower payment fees, only come with the higher plans.
After helping over 2 million users build websites, we have seen exactly where the platform limits growing businesses. You simply should not have to migrate your entire site just as you are starting to find success.
In this guide, we will share the major limitations of WordPress.com based on our extensive testing and real user stories. Let’s look at the restrictions that might hold your business back.
An Overview of WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org
Before we dive into the limitations, it’s crucial to understand the fundamental differences between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. Many people think they’re the same thing, but they’re actually quite different platforms with distinct advantages and restrictions.
WordPress.org (Self-Hosted WordPress)
WordPress.org is the original open-source content management system (CMS) that powers over 43% of all websites on the internet. Being open-source means the software is completely free to download, use, and modify however you want.
With WordPress.org, you have complete control over your website. However, you’ll need to purchase web hosting and a domain name separately, which is why it’s called ‘self-hosted’ WordPress.
WordPress.com (Hosted Solution)
WordPress.com is a commercial hosting service built on the same WordPress software, but operated by Automattic (founded by WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg). Think of it as a simplified, all-in-one package where hosting is included.
With WordPress.com, you don’t need to worry about finding hosting or installing software – everything is handled for you. You can start with their free plan or upgrade to one of their paid plans for additional features.
💡 Note: If you decide to try a paid plan, use our WordPress.com discount link to get 50% off your first payment on any paid plan. The discount applies automatically, so you don’t need a code. See our WordPress.com coupon page for details.
The Reality Behind the Convenience
While WordPress.com’s all-in-one approach might seem perfect for beginner bloggers and business owners, this convenience comes at a significant cost.
In our experience helping thousands of website owners, we’ve found that WordPress.com’s limitations often outweigh its benefits, especially for anyone serious about growing their online presence.
Let’s examine each limitation in detail so you can make an informed decision about your website’s future. Use these quick links to jump to any specific concern:
- Plugins Need a Paid Plan (and Some Are Blocked)
- Theme Uploads and Custom CSS Need a Paid Plan
- Store Features Depend on Your Plan
- Built-In SEO Controls Start at Premium
- Payment Tools and Fees Vary by Plan
- Possible Website Suspension (Without Warning)
- Branding Limits on the Free Plan
- Backups and Developer Tools Start at Business
- Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress.com Limitations
1. Plugins Need a Paid Plan (and Some Are Blocked)
Whether you use WordPress.com or WordPress.org, the core software only allows you to create a simple personal blog or website. That means you can only write content, add images, publish your pages or posts, and that’s it.
To do special things, like sell online or get advanced SEO tools, you will need to install a WordPress plugin, which is like an app that extends the WordPress software.
Basic forms are the exception on WordPress.com. Its built-in Form block works on every plan, including Free, and handles contact, RSVP, registration, and feedback forms. Advanced features like multi-step forms, file uploads, and Google Sheets integration need the Business plan. On a self-hosted site, you’ll still need a plugin to add a contact form.
In WordPress.org, you get access to over 70,000 free plugins for various functions. You can install a page builder to get more customization options for your web design or a Google Analytics plugin to track your site performance.
These plugins are what turned WordPress from a simple blogging platform to a powerful and widely used website builder.
On WordPress.com, you can install free and premium plugins on every paid plan, starting with the Personal plan at $4/month, billed annually (it renews at $5/month). The Free plan can’t install plugins at all.
The real limit is that WordPress.com blocks a short list of plugins that clash with its own caching, backups, and security, such as W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, BackWPup, and iThemes Security. You can see the full list on their incompatible plugins page.
If you use WordPress.org, then you can install any free or premium plugin, no matter what. And if you use a hosting provider like Bluehost, then you can even get some must-have WordPress plugins pre-installed so that you can use them right away.
Bluehost has also offered an exclusive discount for WPBeginner readers so that you can save even more money!
2. Theme Uploads and Custom CSS Need a Paid Plan
WordPress themes are ready-to-use template files that users can install to design their websites. This way, you won’t need any coding or design skills to make your site look good.
With WordPress.org, you will have the freedom to pick from over 8,000 free themes or install a premium theme of your choice.
On WordPress.com, Free plan users can’t upload their own themes. Uploading premium and third-party custom themes, such as those from WordPress.org, ThemeForest, or a custom build, works on every paid plan, including Personal.
The Personal plan also includes WordPress.com’s whole premium theme collection. Partner themes are sold separately.
Of course, the over 8,000 free themes available are great. But often, premium themes come with advanced features, like more customization options and unique designs.
If you know how to style your theme using CSS, you can add custom CSS on any paid WordPress.com plan. The Free plan doesn’t allow it.
3. Store Features Depend on Your Plan
You can install the WooCommerce plugin on any paid WordPress.com plan, including Personal. On the Personal, Premium, or Business plan, you install WooCommerce yourself and buy any paid extensions separately.
The Commerce plan costs $45/month and bundles premium extensions and premium store themes. It also takes no WordPress.com transaction fee.
For small business owners, this price tag can feel a bit steep, especially when compared to WordPress.org.
On WordPress.org, you can install the free WooCommerce plugin to sell online. Then, you can sell multiple physical and digital products, get your storefront pages running, and enable online payment methods.
If you need more features, then there are tons of free and premium WooCommerce plugins available to extend the core WooCommerce plugin. This way, you can buy and use the tools you truly need to maximize your small business budget.
4. Built-In SEO Controls Start at Premium
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most important marketing tactics for getting more traffic to your website. Both WordPress.com and WordPress.org have features that make optimizing your content for search engines easy.
For example, both platforms include heading tags in the block editor. You can use these to create structure in your pages or posts and help search engines and users navigate your content.
They also have an alt text editor to provide more context to images. Search engines use this information to understand what the image is about. Screen readers also read the text out loud to visually impaired users when they are browsing the web.
The difference comes down to SEO plugins and which WordPress.com plan you’re on.
On WordPress.org, you can easily install a plugin like All in One SEO to get more SEO control. Some of this plugin’s features include the meta title and description editor, on-page content suggestions, an internal linking assistant, and so on. The same plugin also works on WordPress.com, starting with the Personal plan.
In fact, you can install an SEO plugin on any paid WordPress.com plan. WordPress.com’s own SEO controls, like custom titles, meta descriptions, and the option to hide a page from search engines, are only on the Premium, Business, and Commerce plans.
Free plan sites get neither, which makes it pretty hard to optimize your content and do technical SEO.
The block editor also includes an AI Assistant block for drafting and editing your posts, but it isn’t an SEO tool.
You can also see stats via Jetpack to evaluate your website performance. Still, it’s not as in-depth as using a Google Analytics plugin like MonsterInsights. If you want to connect Google Analytics on WordPress.com, you’ll need the Premium plan or higher.
5. Payment Tools and Fees Vary by Plan
Monetization in WordPress.com has improved over the years, but it still has some drawbacks if you are looking to make money from your website.
WordPress.com’s built-in Payments block uses Stripe to accept one-time payments, donations, tips, paid content, and paid newsletters. It’s available on the Premium plan and above, though some older Free and Personal sites keep the payment blocks they already use.
The PayPal Payment Buttons block, which lets you accept PayPal payments, is also on Premium and above. WordPress.com doesn’t take a fee on PayPal payments.
On the Personal plan, you can still take payments with WooCommerce or another compatible payment plugin.
Plus, WordAds (WordPress’s advertisement program) is only available for Premium users or higher.
Third-party ad networks like Google AdSense work on the Personal plan and above. You add the ad code with the free WPCode Insert Headers and Footers plugin, which is the method WordPress.com’s own guide uses. Each ad network still has its own approval rules.
What’s more, WordPress.com takes a fee on Payments block sales on top of Stripe’s own fee. The cheaper your plan, the higher the fee:
| Plan | WordPress.com fee |
|---|---|
| Free | 10% |
| Personal | 8% |
| Premium | 4% |
| Business | 2% |
| Commerce | 0% |
If your plan expires, the fee goes back up to 10%.
On the other hand, WordPress.org puts no limit on how you make money on your blog or website. As a result, you can have full control over your revenue.
You can also join any advertising platform or use any online payment provider you want. Here are some guides on how to do that:
- How to Sell Ads on Your WordPress Blog (Step by Step)
- How to Properly Add Google AdSense to Your WordPress Site
- How to Add Amazon Ads to Your WordPress Site
6. Possible Website Suspension (Without Warning)
Speaking of limited monetization, WordPress.com may also take down your site if you don’t follow their terms of service for advertising, among other things.
The other rules are pretty standard, such as avoiding spam and illegal activities. However, some users have reported unexpected suspensions without warning.
Here is what their user guidelines say: “Bear in mind that these are just guidelines — interpretations are solely up to us. These guidelines are not exhaustive and are subject to change.”
On the other hand, WordPress.org doesn’t have such specific terms or guidelines. Since it’s free software, the policies depend on the hosting provider and server configuration. This offers users more flexibility, but you do need to comply with your host’s rules.
7. Branding Limits on the Free Plan
On the WordPress.com Free plan, you don’t have complete control over your website’s branding.
You can customize your site’s appearance to some extent, including changing the color scheme, adding a custom logo, and customizing the site’s layout.
However, on the Free plan, the level of customization is limited. You can only choose from WordPress.com’s free themes, since premium themes come with the Personal plan and above.
You also can’t upload your own theme or add custom CSS to change your site’s design. And while you can change your site’s colors, custom fonts need the Personal plan or higher.
What’s more, if you use the free WordPress.com plan, then you will have WordPress.com ads displayed on your website. Any paid plan removes them.
On WordPress.org, you have much more flexibility in branding your site, and you won’t have any ads shown on your website unless you put them there.
Plus, you can use and customize any theme available. If you want more customization options, then you can just install a page builder plugin like SeedProd.
To use a custom domain name as your site’s main address on WordPress.com, you need a paid plan. Annual plans (1, 2, or 3 years) also come with a free domain name for the first year, but monthly plans don’t. However, this feature is not something new, especially since many WordPress hosting providers like Bluehost offer it, too.
8. Backups and Developer Tools Start at Business
Every WordPress.com site, including Free sites, gets SSL, a web application firewall, daily malware scans, and automatic WordPress updates. The plan limits show up in backups, monitoring, and developer tools.
Like many other website builders, WordPress.com offers several plans that you can purchase as you build your business. What’s tricky is that certain security and performance features are only available if you upgrade to a specific plan.
For example, only Business and Commerce users get WordPress.com’s automated daily backups with restore (more often on busy sites, with 6 months of restore points) and downtime monitoring. These tools can help ensure that your site is available at all times, and you can restore it in case a disaster strikes.
On the Personal and Premium plans, you can install your own compatible backup plugins and security plugins instead. WordPress.com only blocks the ones that clash with its platform, such as BackWPup, WP BackItUp, iThemes Security, and Really Simple Security. Check the incompatible plugins page before installing one.
SFTP, SSH, database access, and staging sites are only available on the Business and Commerce plans. This is still a common reason growing sites outgrow the lower plans.
Many people choose self-hosted WordPress.org to avoid these problems. With it, they can choose a hosting platform and buy a hosting plan with the storage space, bandwidth, and other resources that suit their needs best.
On either platform, if your plan doesn’t include the backups you need, you can install a plugin like Duplicator to add them.
These reasons make WordPress.org a much more scalable option than WordPress.com, especially for an online business.
When Should You Use WordPress.com Instead of WordPress.org?
In most cases, we recommend using WordPress.org instead of WordPress.com. That being said, based on our experience, WordPress.com could be suitable if:
- You want to create a free blog with a WordPress.com subdomain. If you are just running a personal blog and have no intention of branding it, then a free WordPress.com website could be a good option.
- You want a simple site that doesn’t need built-in backups, staging, or developer access. In this case, the Personal or Premium plan could be enough, since both support plugins and custom themes.
- You are a content creator or online business owner who wants to use an all-in-one website-building solution. WordPress.com’s Business and Commerce plans can be suitable as they are already tailored to these use cases.
- You need direct WordPress support. With WordPress.org, the help you get often comes from community forums, blogs like WPBeginner, or theme or plugin developers. If you are a paid WordPress.com user, then you can get direct email or live chat support.
How to Move From WordPress.com to WordPress.org
While WordPress.com is good for certain types of users, many WordPress.org hosting providers offer solutions that have made this open-source platform much easier to use.
For example, hosting services like Bluehost, Hostinger, and SiteGround include a one-click WordPress installer. This way, you won’t need to set up the platform manually. Just click a few buttons, and you can log in to WordPress right away.
What’s more, they also offer pre-installed free plugins, so you won’t have to find plugins on your own. For instance, Bluehost’s WordPress installation includes OptinMonster and WPForms, which are must-have WordPress plugins to grow your website.
The best part is that WordPress.org doesn’t restrict how you make money from your site or the plugins you can install on your WordPress account. This gives you full control over the activities and growth of your business.
If you already have a WordPress.com site but aren’t satisfied with it, then you can migrate it to WordPress.org easily. You can read our step-by-step guide on how to move your blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org.
Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress.com Limitations
We receive emails every day from users trying to decide between the two WordPress platforms. Here are the answers to the most common questions we get about the restrictions of using WordPress.com.
1. Is WordPress.com actually free?
Yes, WordPress.com offers a completely free plan. However, this plan is very limited. It places advertisements on your content that you do not make money from, and you can only use a custom domain name with a paid plan. It is mostly suitable for simple personal diaries rather than professional businesses.
2. Can I move my site from WordPress.com to WordPress.org later?
Yes, you can move your website at any time. We often help users migrate when they realize they need more features than the hosted platform offers. You can follow our step-by-step guide on how to move from WordPress.com to WordPress.org to do this properly.
3. Can you make money with WordPress.com?
Yes, but your options depend on your plan. On the Free plan, you can’t add ad code or plugins. From the Personal plan up, you can add third-party ad code and lead-capture plugins like OptinMonster. The built-in Payments block, PayPal buttons, and WordAds start at the Premium plan, and lower plans pay higher fees on Payments block sales. Ad networks also set their own approval rules.
4. Do I really need plugins for my website?
Eventually, yes. Basic contact forms don’t need a plugin on WordPress.com because of the built-in Form block. But you will need plugins for advanced SEO, photo galleries, online stores, and lead capture. Plugins work on every paid WordPress.com plan. The Free plan can’t install plugins at all.
We hope this article helped you learn what the limitations of WordPress.com are.
To sum up, the Free plan is the most limited, while the paid plans differ in backups, developer tools, payment fees, and built-in SEO controls. If you want full control without plan tiers, then self-hosted WordPress.org is the better choice.
You may also want to see our comparisons of Wix vs WordPress, Squarespace vs WordPress, and WordPress vs Blogger.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Hayden
The benefit of using wordpress.com is having unlimited resources and bandwidth. Usually, resources and bandwidth are the difference between different hosting plans; at wordpress.com, it’s features and media storage. Depending on your needs, wordpress.com might actually be a win.
kzain
I was wondering what are some common problems I can face when migrating from WordPress.com to WordPress.org, and how these can be best managed.
WPBeginner Support
The most common point of confusion is if you have a domain name, if you do not change where the domain is pointing it will continue to show the WordPress.com site. For how to transfer your site we would recommend taking a look at our article below!
https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-properly-move-your-blog-from-wordpress-com-to-wordpress-org/
Admin
Dennis Muthomi
I have been a WordPress.com user back then, and YEP! its very very limitated.
The main one is LIMITED access to themes and plugins which severely limited my ability to customize my site.
ANd that made to move over to WordPress.org.
The freedom to choose from thousands of themes and plugins on WordPress.org has been a game-changer for my website design and site functionality.
Chris
WordPress itself does not make the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com clear. Thanks for this illuminating article.
WPBeginner Support
You’re welcome!
Admin
Hajjalah
Surely, WordPress.com has very many limitations. The biggest challenge is limited themes and plugins which limit the possibility of desired customization and website design. I personally had to quit and migrate to WordPress.org and indeed from my end, WordPress.org themes and plugins customization provide the greatest experience for website designing.
Mrteesurez
There limitations are not entirely new to me as I have used WP.com for couples of years before switching to Wp.org.
Let talk only one SEO, how many time have you search and see WP.com sites used by professional business, No.
Unless you upgrade which is even expensive, you can not have your own domain or use SEO plugin to optimize your site, so you will free traffic from search engines.
Jiří Vaněk
You’ve described it very accurately. While you can work around various limitations and adapt your website, this is a key issue that can truly limit a website’s potential. I can’t imagine not being able to use plugins like AIO SEO or, even worse, my own domain. SEO is crucial for anyone who wants to be visible online, and I think WordPress.com understands this very well, which is why they have structured their pricing and plans the way they have. They know that many users will be pushed to upgrade to higher plans. This is one reason I’ve never gotten used to using WordPress.com. I prefer the freedom that the .org version offers. The ability to choose any hosting plan or even run my own server is a huge benefit of WordPress.org.
Isabelle
Can I convert from .org to .com?
WPBeginner Support
Yes you can, we have our guide below with how to easily do this
https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-properly-move-your-blog-from-wordpress-com-to-wordpress-org/
Admin
Jiří Vaněk
I’ve always used WordPress.org on my own hosting or server and actually never thought about the limitations of wordpress.com. However, I have been asked a few times if this is a good hosting option for WordPress. I couldn’t answer because I didn’t know the limits. Now yes. Thanks for the clear list, it really comes in handy.
WPBeginner Support
You can upload pictures to a WordPress.com site but you would want to reach out to their support for any current limitations.
Admin
Heidi Jasper
So, I’ve read over the info on WordPress.Org and WordPress.Com, on differences between blog sharing companies, and all these comments and I still have questions….on WordPress.com can I upload my own pictures for a Gardening Blog? Are there limits to the number of blogs I post or pictures I upload?
Steve Walker
I really think this article needs a bit of an update. WordPress.com has a free tier and multiple paid tiers where many, if not all, of the things you cannot do in the free tier can be done. WordPress.org is the source of the software for self-hosted sites, but for those new to WP, managing hosting and configuration might be more than they are looking for. I use both self-hosted and WordPress.com Business tier and 99% of the time there is no difference except the peace of mind that somebody is optimizing the infrastructure versus doing it myself.
WPBeginner Support
We can certainly take a look at this article, for our more current comparison you could take a look at our article here:
https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/self-hosted-wordpress-org-vs-free-wordpress-com-infograph/
Not all sites require managed hosting, there’s also the option for shared hosting
Admin
Michael
I have signed up to a personal plan at Wordpress.org but through my personal account. I have 2 sites now, one that is free and is just used for personal blogging and suits my purposes fine. The other one however which i am currently in the process of setting up is for business purposes. I am starting to get the feeling though that I have been scammed, not intentionally scammed but just certain details omitted at the signup stage like how many pages you can have with a personal website? Currently in my editor it shows all the buttons for pages but I seem to only be able to navigate to Home and Blog in the customising editor but in the site editor I am able to navigate to all the pages i have created?? Its really weird and I have to say I am not very fond of the editor interface, Why couldn’t they just combine the customising editor into the site editor like google does, so much easier and straight forward to understand?
Tyler
Testing shows automating blog posts also has a limitation, it looked like i hit a terms of service, it removed the subdomain.wordpress.com and I have to say my test was very insightful. Thanks for the blog mate. It’s a hard topic to discuss the complexities of wordpress ownership & the slap on the wrist that is swapping from free version to your own personal hosted solution.
Robin
It’s possible to switch from your free WordPress blog to wordpress.org’s software, yeah?
WPBeginner Support
Hi Robin,
Yes, see our step by step tutorial on how to move from WordPress.com to WordPress.org.
Admin
Mary Connor
I want a personal record of my travels for friends and family. That’s all. No money, no ads, no paypal or buttons.
Can I write about and add multiple photos in a single posting?
Cheryl Ahlquist
Is my use of a free wordpress.com blog site limited to a certain number of years or to a limited amount of space used on my site? I would like to continue to indefinitely use the free wordpress option if possible.
OT
Hi ! I already decide wordpress.org but i am a 0 about codes and maintenance is my biggest question. When you talk about maintenance what it is mean.
WPBeginner Support
Hi OT,
It means that you will have to install updates when they are available. You will see a notification in WordPress admin area that updates are available and you just need to click on update to install them. You will also need to setup a backup plugin to automatically backup your WordPress site.
Admin
shiq4
I want ask one question, is it fine to offering a page for my own service such as content writer’s page?
Leigh
One of the things that is never mentioned in using WP.com is that it has excellent security and a very strong fire wall to protect your site/blog from hackers.
Our site (which publishes global news on human rights issues around the world) actually moved from a very developed WP.org platform back over to WP.com this last year. WP.com was actually the original platform we used over a decade ago. But after we grew to a site that had over 105,000 impressions per day we also started having an ongoing assault of global hackers trying to get into our site. This required more and more security on our end….with more more cost and effort in hiring the right security experts. We also had many more hassles. Along with all of this we had numerous times when our WP.org site went offline due to hackster attempts. Wordpress.com is much more safe for any of you wanting this with your site/blog.
WPBeginner Support
You should have given Sucuri a try. We use it on all our WordPress sites.
Admin
Leigh
Hi There – Our past experience is with a great app that is used by many people on WP.org called Bullet Proof Security (we used the Pro version) and we did work closely with Edward Alexander the creater of this program. While this is probably one of the best, it also requires alot of tech (knowlede) based management and troubleshooting when php, .htacess and other actionable code needs tweeking when hackers efforts are present. Going over to WP.com made the process with security a no time, no problem, no effor processt. Thanks again for provinding this forum to discuss this important topic. : )
Mr Free account
I have been building web-site for many year and had a look at worldpress.com using a free account and did not think much too it.
Yes i can upload one picture to be used on the home page but apart from that they don’t let you upload nuffing and all you can do is embed images that are hosted on remote servers by using the editor and switching to HTML view.
Web-pages are all about pictures and it seems like a waste of time if they won’t provide any space for uploading files even on a free account so i think i will knock it on the head
Velik
I feel scammed. When I signed up for wordpress recently and bought my own domain – around $70 in total, nobody told me that there are TWO types of wordpress :
Wordpress.COM and Wordpress.ORG
You can’t access permalinks, nor add/remove plug-ins on Wordpress.COM . Now I need to buy a new domain and pay $70 more in order to do this….
I feel scammed.
WPBeginner Support
You don’t need to buy a new domain name. You can use your custom domain at WordPress.com with your new self-hosted WordPress site. Take a look at our free blog setup service if you need more help.
Admin
Alana
This is a very resourceful article that can help many people. Last week I purchased my domain (premium) on wordpress.com and feel scammed because I didn’t realize that I cannot add advertising, plugins, and that I earn through wordads by US based traffic only coming to my page.
Now I am making my plan to move over to wordpress.org because my whole intention was to build my brand, focus on product reviews, airlines, and hotels that I have used that I trust. I cannot do this with wordpress.com. I have thirty days to claim my refund………
Amanda
Hello Editorial Staff,
I know Wordpress.org would be ideal for my needs as I would like to have a blog about my craft projects and then be able to sell them, but currently do not have the income to spare to pay for a self-hosted website though Bluehost.
You said to Widdershins that they can put a paypal button for their book. Can I do the same for multiple items or just one or two till I can switch to a self-hosted website?
Thank you,
Amanda
WPBeginner Support
It is not a good solution, but you can do that.
Admin
M Obrien
If I decide blogging is not for me can i remove my blog?
WPBeginner Support
Yes you can.
Admin
M.A.
I have been using WordPress.com for over a year now, and just this week, I am having trouble downloading pictures to my blogs? Is there ever a maximum # of blogs/pics I can post before it is full? Please help.
WPBeginner Staff
Please contact WordPress.com support.
Darrell Wolfe
And THAT is the reason I went from Wordpress.Com (even though I liked all of those features they do have and it’s technically easier to use) to Blogger.Com because I want to make money on my blog before paying to use a blog.
Will Word-press ever lighten up on this monetization policy? It seems like they’d be loosing money by blocking monetization and Affiliate links? How am I supposed to learn to use their service and upgrade if I can’t use their service first? It seemed very elitist. Like they didn’t want me on their services?
So why do they put all these blocks on?
Darrell Wolfe
KathyE
I’m interested in creating a website that includes a blog, but is not ‘blog-driven’ . We are an art gallery. Is Wordpress.com or is Wordpress.org more appropriate. Thanks.
Editorial Staff
Definitely WordPress.org
Admin
Dawn Oviedo
So if I register my domain to own it… Can I bring it with me to Wordpress.org? What is the minimum traffic needed to be considered for Wordads?
Thx
Editorial Staff
Yes you can bring your domain over to WordPress.org. Requirement for WordAds have changed, and they no longer reveal the minimum traffic.
Admin
Geoff
Everything you say about not being able to upload themes is correct, but it makes the situation sound a little more dire than it is. There are still over 200 themes (50 being premium) and they seem to add a couple more every week.
Many of these themes have very nice visual customisation options, even if you don’t pay for the ‘custom design’ features. If you do pay, you’ll see that they’ve done an excellent job there: Users can create unique colour schemes with a brilliant designer tool, get access to lots of web fonts, and even more through Adobe. The CSS editor is snazzy too, even allowing LESS and Sass to be used.
Of course, if you want to make functional changes you’ll be out of luck.
Editorial Staff
You are correct, there are 200+ themes on WordPress.com. But there are almost 1700 themes for WordPress.org (in the free WP repository). This is not counting tons of commercial themes that are not listed in the repository.
Admin
Geoff
I wasn’t challenging your correctness, just the tone:
> “In any case the theme choice is very limited. Secondly, you can not modify those themes.”
200 themes isn’t really ‘limited’, and you can modify them. Your thesis for this article is totally correct: WP.com has big limitations. Users should know up-front what they want to accomplish. I was just picking at the fact that you made it sound like there were hardly and themes available and that you couldn’t touch them. (without paying for CSS anyway).
Gautam Doddamani
i believe wordpress.com is a great step for whoever wants to take the plunge into the blogging ocean…beginners can analyze and assess themselves if they have what it takes to make their business a professional one…there are many limitations i agree but its great for free blogging!
Adam
But all this info should have been appearing the step before registration not only from this link.
Then the customer will know what he wants. For instance I did register but as I am very new to creating a blog or websites I didn’t know all this and I didn’t understand that my domain which I registered by Wordpress is now stuck 60 days due to a law that doesn’t allow the user to move the domain to a another webhost. This should some go be appearing before payment .
Now I can’t install plugins and have to wait 60 days until I remove my domain
Regards
Adam
Editorial Staff
You can’t transfer your domain, but you should be able to change the nameservers and point it to another location.
Admin
Widdershins
So … I can have an ad for my book – which I have, with links to my publisher … but if I self publish a book, I can’t SELL it FROM my wordpress.com blog … for instance have a paypal ‘buy me’ button for it on my blog … yes? … no? … otherwise?
Editorial Staff
You can add a paypal button on your WordPress.com site.
Admin
Umer Rock
Yes WordPress is very limited… but for beginners it is very best to start their demo WordPress
Rohit
At the price, it does not get cheaper for the reliability they offer. It can be a good starting point for many blogger, who want to experiment with a blog, but on a budget. You can always migrate if your blog grows big.