Eine der am häufigsten gestellten Fragen unserer Nutzer ist: „Muss ich für die Nutzung von WordPress bezahlen?“.
Wir sagen ihnen, dass WordPress eine freie und quelloffene Software ist, woraufhin meist die Frage folgt: „Warum ist WordPress frei?“.
In diesem Artikel werden wir erörtern, warum WordPress kostenlos ist, wie hoch die Kosten für den Betrieb einer WordPress-Website sind und wo der Haken liegt.
WordPress ist eine Open-Source-Software. Sie ist frei im Sinne von Freiheit, nicht im Sinne von Freibier. Sie fragen sich vielleicht, was der Unterschied zwischen diesen beiden Begriffen ist.
Open-Source-Software bietet Ihnen die Freiheit, die Software zu nutzen, zu verändern, darauf aufzubauen und weiterzugeben, ohne dass Sie dafür Gebühren zahlen müssen.
In anderen Bereichen können jedoch Kosten anfallen. Wir werden die Kosten für die Verwendung der Open-Source-Software WordPress später in diesem Artikel diskutieren.
Video-Anleitung
Wenn Sie eine schriftliche Anleitung bevorzugen, lesen Sie weiter.
Warum wird WordPress nicht als Software verkauft?
Wir werden oft gefragt, warum die Leute und Unternehmen hinter WordPress es nicht verkaufen? Wenn WordPress so gut ist, wie alle sagen, dann würden sie natürlich viel mehr Geld mit dem Verkauf verdienen.
Immerhin werden über 43 % aller Websites im Internet mit WordPress betrieben.
Dies wäre sinnvoll, wenn WordPress im Besitz eines einzigen Unternehmens oder einer Einzelperson wäre.
WordPress ist ein Open-Source-Community-Projekt, zu dem Zehntausende von talentierten Menschen beigetragen haben, um es zu der großartigen Software zu machen, die es heute ist.
Ein Kernteam von Entwicklern leitet die Projektentwicklung, aber jeder kann Patches beisteuern, Fehler beheben, Funktionen erstellen, Funktionen vorschlagen, usw.
Außerdem wechseln die Projektleiter von einer Version zur anderen. Wenn Sie sich stark in der Community engagieren, können Sie auch ein wichtiger Mitwirkender von WordPress werden.
Die Philosophie hinter Open-Source-Software
Die Open-Source-Software-Bewegung vertritt die Philosophie, dass Software anders ist als andere materielle Produkte. Sobald eine Software erstellt ist, kann sie viele Male mit geringen Kosten kopiert werden.
Nehmen wir das Beispiel einer Spielzeugfabrik.
Jedes hergestellte Spielzeug besteht aus verschiedenen Teilen, und jedes Teil hat seine Kosten. Die Fabrik kann die Herstellungskosten dieser Teile berechnen, um eine angemessene Gewinnspanne für das Produkt zu ermitteln.
Andererseits sind die Kosten für die Erstellung von Software und die Anfertigung von Kopien nicht die gleichen. Einige Gruppen glauben, dass die Gewinnspanne der Software mit jeder verkauften Kopie ungerechter wird.
Um mehr über die Ideale von Open-Source-Software zu erfahren, lesen Sie die GNU-Philosophie.
Wie kann man mit WordPress Geld verdienen?
Die beiden wichtigsten gewinnbringenden Teile jeder Open-Source-Software sind Produkte und Dienstleistungen, die auf derselben Open-Source-Software basieren.
Oft wird WordPress mit WordPress.com verwechselt, aber das sind zwei verschiedene Dinge. WordPress (oft auch als selbstgehostetes WordPress oder WordPress.org bezeichnet) ist eine kostenlose Blogging-Plattform und Website-Baukasten.
Matt Mullenweg, Mitbegründer von WordPress, hat ein Unternehmen namens Automattic gegründet, das unter WordPress.com kostenlose Blog-Hosting-Dienste mit eingeschränktem Funktionsumfang anbietet, für die man bezahlen bzw. upgraden kann, um Funktionen freizuschalten und Werbung zu entfernen.
Um jedoch alle Funktionen von WordPress freizuschalten, müssen Sie ein Upgrade auf einen teuren kostenpflichtigen Plan vornehmen. Zum Beispiel können Sie mit WordPress.com keinen Online-Shop eröffnen, wenn Sie nicht für den eCommerce-Plan bezahlen, der bei 45 $ pro Monat beginnt.
Automattic hat über $985 Millionen an Finanzmitteln erhalten.(Quelle)
Andere Entwickler sind ebenfalls dazu übergegangen, mit WordPress ein erfolgreiches Millionen-Dollar-Geschäft aufzubauen, indem sie kommerzielle Plugins und Themes entwickeln und sogar WordPress-Hosting anbieten.
Einige Beispiele für erfolgreiche, millionenschwere WordPress-Unternehmen sind:
- WPEngine – Ein verwaltetes WordPress-Hosting-Unternehmen, das über 290 Millionen Dollar eingenommen hat und jetzt auch kommerzielle StudioPress-Themes besitzt.
- Awesome Motive – Geführt von Syed Balkhi, ist ein weiteres Multi-Millionen-Dollar-Unternehmen rund um WordPress. Das Unternehmen verwaltet WPBeginner, OptinMonster, WPForms, MonsterInsights, SeedProd, AIOSEO, Smash Balloon und andere beliebte WordPress-Plugins, die von über 25 Millionen Websites genutzt werden.
- ElegantThemes – Multi-Millionen-Dollar-Theme-Unternehmen hinter dem beliebten Drag & Drop Page Builder Divi und mehrere andere Plugins.
Verwandt: Siehe unsere Liste der besten WordPress-Unternehmen.
Gute WordPress-Entwickler und -Berater verdienen auch ein komfortables Vollzeiteinkommen, indem sie für ihre Kunden maßgeschneiderte Websites, Anwendungen und Plugins rund um WordPress erstellen. Viele von ihnen verdienen selbst mehr als sechsstellig im Jahr.
Ist WordPress urheberrechtsfrei?
Nein, WordPress ist nicht urheberrechtsfrei. Es ist in einer Weise lizenziert, die es jedem erlaubt, es zu nutzen, aber jeder Beitrag zur Software ist urheberrechtlich geschützt.
Es ist unter der GPL (General Public License) veröffentlicht. Das bedeutet, dass Sie den Code verwenden, verändern und weitergeben dürfen. Sie haben das Urheberrecht an den Änderungen, die Sie an der Software vornehmen, aber nicht am gesamten Code.
Die GPL verlangt, dass jedes abgeleitete Werk, das Sie veröffentlichen oder verbreiten, ebenfalls unter der GPL lizenziert werden muss. Sie können das Copyright für alles haben, was Sie wollen. Aber Ihr abgeleitetes Werk erbt automatisch die GPL-Lizenz, so dass es anderen freisteht, Ihren Code auf jede beliebige Weise zu verwenden, zu verändern und weiterzugeben.
Stehen alle Premium-WordPress-Themes und Plugins unter der GPL-Lizenz?
Laut einem offiziellen Blog-Beitrag auf WordPress.org stehen auch Themes unter der GPL. Bilder, CSS und JavaScript, die in Themes und Plugins verwendet werden, können davon ausgenommen werden, aber alle PHP- und HTML-Teile von Themes und Plugins nutzen in großem Umfang WordPress-Funktionen. Daher sind sie abgeleitete Werke und stehen unter der GPL-Lizenz.
Auch wenn einige Leute anderer Meinung sind, befolgen die meisten vertrauenswürdigen WordPress-Unternehmen die Richtlinien der Community und halten sich daran.
Vererben die mit WordPress veröffentlichten Inhalte auch die GPL?
Nein, Sie haben das Recht, Ihre Inhalte so zu lizenzieren, wie Sie möchten. Es sei denn, der Inhalt, den Sie veröffentlichen, ist tatsächlich ein abgeleitetes Werk von WordPress oder einem anderen unter der GPL lizenzierten Werk.
Wenn Sie zum Beispiel Ihre Artikel, Fotos oder andere Kunstwerke in Ihrem Blog veröffentlichen, besitzen Sie das volle Urheberrecht daran.
Wenn Sie jedoch einen Blogbeitrag schreiben, in dem Sie anhand von Beispielen zeigen, wie eine WordPress-Funktion verwendet wird, kann dieser Blogbeitrag anders lizenziert werden. Der in den Beispielen verwendete Code ist ein abgeleitetes Werk und unterliegt automatisch der GPL-Lizenz.
Die WordPress-Marke
Der Code von WordPress als Software ist unter der GPL veröffentlicht, aber die Worte WordPress, WordCamp und das WordPress-Logo sind eingetragene Marken der WordPress Foundation.
Weitere Einzelheiten finden Sie in der Markenpolitik der WordPress Foundation.
Um zu unterscheiden, ob es sich um eine offizielle oder eine von der Gemeinschaft betriebene Website oder Ressource handelt, bittet die Stiftung darum, „WordPress“ nicht in ihrem Domainnamen zu verwenden.
Das ist der Grund, warum unsere Website WPBeginner und nicht WordPressBeginner heißt. Jede Website, jeder Schulungskurs oder jede Ressource, die Sie sehen, hat WordPress in ihrem Domainnamen und wird wahrscheinlich von jemandem betrieben, der nicht genug über WordPress weiß. Das bedeutet, dass Sie ihnen wahrscheinlich kein Geld geben sollten.
Die meisten seriösen Unternehmen, die mit WordPress arbeiten, sind sich der Markenrichtlinien bewusst und respektieren die Regeln.
Kosten der Verwendung von WordPress
WordPress ist eine kostenlose Software, die Sie herunterladen und nutzen können. Um WordPress im Internet zu nutzen, benötigen Sie jedoch WordPress-Hosting.
Sie können WordPress.com verwenden, um einen kostenlosen Blog zu erstellen, aber beachten Sie, dass es einige Unterschiede gibt. In unserem Vergleich zwischen WordPress.com und WordPress.org finden Sie weitere Einzelheiten.
Die Kosten für die Verwendung von WordPress sind relativ gering und gelten auch für den Betrieb jeder anderen Art von Website. Die einzigen wirklichen Kosten sind das Webhosting (7,99 $ pro Monat) und der Domainname (14 $ pro Jahr).
WPBeginner-Benutzer können jedoch einen kostenlosen Domainnamen und bis zu 77 % Rabatt auf das Webhosting von Bluehost erhalten, was bedeutet, dass Sie eine Website für nur 2,75 $ pro Monat erstellen können.
Bluehost ist ein offiziell empfohlener WordPress-Hosting-Anbieter. Er ist zuverlässig, bietet eine 1-Klick-WordPress-Installation, einen 24/7-Kundensupport und vieles mehr.
Verwandt: Wie man einen WordPress-Blog startet (Ultimative Anleitung)
Zusätzliche Kosten können durch kommerzielle WordPress-Themes entstehen, auch bekannt als Premium-WordPress-Themes. Sie sind jedoch nicht verpflichtet, diese zu verwenden, da es mehr als 10.800 kostenlose WordPress-Themes gibt, die Sie verwenden können.
Oft werden kommerzielle Plugins verwendet, aber Sie sind nicht verpflichtet, diese zu verwenden, da mehr als 59.000 kostenlose WordPress-Plugins zur Verfügung stehen.
Wir haben einen detaillierten Leitfaden darüber erstellt, wie viel es wirklich kostet, eine WordPress-Website zu erstellen, mit Anleitungen, wie man eine Website mit einem geringen Budget erstellen und Geld sparen kann.
Ist WordPress kostenlos FAQs
Im Folgenden finden Sie einige der am häufigsten gestellten Fragen dazu, ob WordPress kostenlos ist oder nicht:
Was kostet WordPress?
WordPress.org ist eine Open-Source-Plattform, die Sie kostenlos herunterladen und nutzen können. Allerdings sind damit Kosten verbunden, wenn Sie Ihre WordPress-Website im Internet veröffentlichen möchten. Die Hauptkosten sind das WordPress-Hosting und ein Domain-Name, die bei Bluehost bereits ab 2,75 $ pro Monat zu haben sind.
Sie können die Funktionen und den Funktionsumfang Ihrer WordPress-Website auch mit Premium-Themes und -Plugins erweitern. Mit kostenlosen Plugins und Themes können Sie jedoch die Kosten niedrig halten.
Gehört mir meine WordPress-Website?
Ja, Sie können die Open-Source-Software WordPress.org bei einem Webhosting-Anbieter installieren, um eine Website zu erstellen, die zu 100 % Ihnen gehört. So haben Sie die vollständige Kontrolle darüber, wie Sie Ihre Website betreiben.
Dies ist bei anderen Lösungen wie WordPress.com nicht der Fall. Bei WordPress.com kann Ihre Website jederzeit entfernt werden, wenn sie gegen die Nutzungsbedingungen verstößt. Außerdem gibt es nur begrenzte Anpassungs- und Monetarisierungsoptionen.
Kann ich mit WordPress Geld verdienen?
Ja, Sie können Ihre WordPress-Website auf viele verschiedene Arten monetarisieren. Sie können zum Beispiel eine Mitgliederseite erstellen, Affiliate-Marketing betreiben, mit Google AdSense werben, digitale Produkte verkaufen und vieles mehr.
Sie können auch das kostenlose WPForms-Plugin verwenden, um Online-Zahlungen und Spenden über Stripe direkt auf Ihrer Website zu akzeptieren.
Wir hoffen, dass dieser Artikel Ihre Fragen zur WordPress-Lizenzierung, zu den Kosten für den Betrieb einer WordPress-Website und zum Geschäft mit WordPress beantwortet hat. Vielleicht interessieren Sie sich auch für unsere Liste der einfach zu startenden Online-Geschäftsideen, mit denen sich tatsächlich Geld verdienen lässt, oder unsere Empfehlungen für die beste Webdesign-Software.
Wenn Ihnen dieser Artikel gefallen hat, dann abonnieren Sie bitte unseren YouTube-Kanal für WordPress-Videotutorials. Sie können uns auch auf Twitter und Facebook finden.
Syed Balkhi says
Hey WPBeginner readers,
Did you know you can win exciting prizes by commenting on WPBeginner?
Every month, our top blog commenters will win HUGE rewards, including premium WordPress plugin licenses and cash prizes.
You can get more details about the contest from here.
Start sharing your thoughts below to stand a chance to win!
Amogh Agrawal says
Such a awesome article and very well crafted!
Vince says
Thank you for this information! I just started my own WP blog and this filled in many gaps of my knowledge that I didn’t find in my initial research of blogging platforms. This is definitely a great reference to pass along to others!
hope says
I really learned alot from this website today and it is not the first time I wanted to compare WP.org and WP.com…I really liked everything about WP.org but my question is that what are host payment methods, im from south Africa PayPal and other methods are not easy for me…but bitcoins are always easy and cheap, is there any bitcoins payment method?
Brittany S. says
Hello, I’m sorry to bug you with this question, but I tried asking it on the WP forums and got no response. Since this post mentions the costs of having a WP account, I hope this is an ok place to ask this.
I currently have a free wordpress.com account. I simply want the .wordpress gone from my domain name.
Every place I look in the help docs or forums, it states to look at the plan pricing, and of course, when you look at the plans, you see that a custom domain is free with any plan. Ok, got it.
However, this is why I’m confused. The site lets me go in and add a custom domain and private domain registration to my cart for $18/year and $8/year respectively. So $26/year total. It says nothing about having to buy a plan.
Now, if you stop and think about this for a sec, it doesn’t make sense. If you MUST have a plan in order to have a custom domain, and if a custom domain is FREE with a plan, then why would the system show pricing for a custom domain? See how that doesn’t make sense?
Essentially, I’m not brave enough (yet) to just say screw it and try to pay the $26 bucks and see what happens. I just wondered if anyone here knows. Any time pricing and such is mentioned on the WP forums, the same link to the plans is given and that’s the end of the conversation.
Thanks in advance!
WPBeginner Support says
Please see our guide on the difference between self hosted WordPress.org vs free WordPress.com blog.
Admin
Tonomoshia says
I bought the domain for the $26. It is separate from the plans. The plans have monthly costs (paid yearly I think) and include certain upgrades for each level. I did not get those upgrades, just the domain name and private registration for the $26 per year. You can definitely get the domain without worrying about a plan.
Sneha says
Thank you so much for this information.
I have a query.I am meaning to shift from wordpress.com to wordpress.org in order to run an e-commerce store.I already had bought the personal plan from wordpress.com.While exporting,will my plan and the subsequent amount go down the drain?
Regards
WPBeginner Support says
Plans and other purchases on WordPress.com can be canceled and refunded with in 30days of purchase. Domain registrations can be canceled and refunded during 48 hours after purchase. Please contact WordPress.com support for more help.
Admin
Azam ali says
There are wordpress free themes, I want to know that how much permission are we having to use them freely
WPBeginner Support says
Most WordPress themes are GPL Licensed, you may want to contact your theme developer for terms of service and support.
Admin
ilayaraja says
i bought one copy of wordpress theme license(per user). can i apply it on my friend site?
WPBeginner Support says
Contact theme developer to learn more about their licensing terms.
Admin
Adebayo idris says
How can I create free website with wordpress?
Shazia Kausar says
Thanks for great post.
Elyse Sokoloff says
True beginner, semi-luddite here. I thought I had things figured out but now I’m confused again. I started a blog through WordPress and I’m assuming it was wordpress.com. I bought my domain name, so does that mean I’m self hosted? If I upgrade my blog to a Genesis or Headway site, how does that change how I’m hosted, or does it? Your site has been very helpful thus far, thanks for all your work.
WPBeginner Support says
Please see our guide on the difference between self hosted WordPress.org vs free WordPress.com blog.
Admin
Elyse Sokoloff says
Ah, got it. I had read it but was still confused. Re-reading I think I get it, I’m NOT self hosting. And if I want to do something like Genesis or Headway I’ll need to become self hosted, say on Blue Host for example. Correct?
Mahesh Rajamani says
yes! you are right!!
Pete says
Nice read. I am currently a duda pro but costs are becoming too high. I have 30 websites and pay £330 per month to duda. I do charge my clients a monthly fee but would rather keep the £330 by using wordpress instead. Can even use that saving for themes or plugins.
Am i correct in thinking that I can construct 30 websites on wordpress and host it with godaddy for around £6per month? Or am I missing something?
Unfortunately we cannot transfer websites from duda to another platform but where there’s a will there’s a way??
Joel Silverman says
Great article! Thanks for helping me understand some of the things to consider. The article on the differences between wordpress.com and wordpress.org was good too.
WPBeginner Support says
Glad you found it useful.
Admin
Chidi Anslem says
Great and useful post. I found this very enlightening. It’s cleared most of my misconceptions.
Oge Brenda says
Hi Chidi. I need your help please, I want to launch a fashion blog on a free host. Which of the word presses do I use? I have read through and in all honesty found it hard to understand the terms and I don’t really know how you go about it. Can you break it down for me?
WPBeginner Support says
Hi Oge Brenda,
You may want to see our step by step guide on how to start a WordPress blog.
Admin
one says
very informative post. It’s helps me to understand the difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org.
Christian says
Yay! I hate TF too
I really enjoyed how the article „missed“ mentioning TF heheh
Victoria says
I am about to head off on an amazing holiday overseas & wish to keep a blog to email to family & friends of all the highlights & experiences of our trip. WordPress was recommended by a friend who has a blog through you. I just wanted to double check that what I set up will be free, that I will be able to email what I write & that I can do all this from the Macbook Air (running Mac OSX 10.9.5) that we will take with us? Thanks.
Willow says
If you don’t use WordPress on the web will people still be able to view your blog?
rayan says
Tell me about famous e-commerce websites using wordpress. I am a web designer using wordpress, and i want to convince my customers that wordpress is good enough to have your online store running perfectly.
Nina says
I am starting a blog and was wondering if it is a good idea to start with the free WordPress as I gradually add content. Right now I have zero content.
Since it is possible to transfer to WordPress.org in the future, is it worth it to take advantage of the traffic that the free WordPress provides in the meantime? Or would it be too much of a hassle/inconvenience to my future readers to transfer over?
I read that WordPress.org does not help you gain traffic… what do you suggest? I want to do everything right from the beginning so I can establish a good foundation for my blog/business. Please help! Thank you!
WPBeginner Support says
Please see our guide on the difference between self hosted WordPress.org vs free WordPress.com blog.
Admin
Daniyal Ahmed says
Thank you so much for this great article. I need to ask, is WordPress plugin author (free plugin those available on wordpress.org) also consider as WordPress contributor or not ? Actually you didn’t mention about those in article as a contributor.
WPBeginner Support says
Basically anyone working and sharing the work with rest of the WordPress community is considered a contributor. One can contribute by answering support requests on forum, helping with documentation, organizing WordPress meetups and WordCamps, and so on. However, only those users who contribute to the development of the WordPress core are credited as core contributors.
Admin
Saloni says
I am a beginner. I created my site in hubpages few days ago. Now I am bit confused. I want to know which is profitable wrt making money online. It’s self hosted(myname.com) or like the one I am currently having.
Secondly, if I create a website in WordPress(myname.com) will It be entirely self hosted by me or will that be hosted by others and not me?
Can you plz suggest which one I need to create? How much I need to pay yearly fee? Also, can you plz provide link to create?
Monir says
How good is wordpress for multi-vendor e-commerce site?
WPBeginner Support says
There are already many such sites built with WordPress, and they are doing great.
Admin
jalil khan says
this is best site for information about WordPress..I want your advice about my plan that is I wanted to run a video site not self hosting and which Host is best for me in low Cost..
Thanks
WPBeginner Support says
Please see our WordPress hosting guide.
Admin
Sacha says
WordPress is truly is amazing!
Letala says
Thanks. This article was very helpful.
Serouj says
My entire business is based on WordPress. I can only say thank you!
Adeel Sami says
Hey WPBeginner guys,
Now I know what involves to run a self-hosted WordPress blog.
No doubt this is the best blogging open-source software who gets contribution from hundreds of developers who are good at making WordPress a free software for the people like me.
Being said, I love it over any other software that give ability to run a blog or a forum. And being free is just our good luck.
Thank you once again!
~ Adeel Sami
Darshan Gajara says
Hey WPBeginner, thanks a ton for sharing such insightful information about WordPress guidelines.
elisa says
How will other people be able to see my blog??Can I use facebook to attract traffic for my blog?Is it allowed? If no then can u suggest otjer ways to attract readers for my wp blog??please help i am totally a newbie
WPBeginner Support says
Facebook does allow promotion of your blog using your Facebook page. But it also limits the reach of your page’s posts so you will have to boost each post for more reach. You can also use Twitter and other social platforms to promote your blog.
Admin
eileen f says
Hi I am very new to blogging not new to writing but the entire blog thing. I successfully downloaded the android version of wordpress to my note 3 but I wanted it on my laptop. I downloaded wordpress from wordpress.com to my laptop and opened up a plethora of malware and other applications that obviously weren’t expected. I finally cleaned my pc of the infection but still really want to find the safest wordpress app to run on my laptop. Can you let me know where I can find such an app or from the correct website to find the true free uncompromised version? Just the application not the extra apps that came tumbling down like before. I would greatly appreciate
WPBeginner Support says
There is no official WordPress app for desktop. There are plenty of third party blogging clients that you can use, like Windows Live Writer.
Ali Khan says
You can begin from wpbeginner
Syed Balkhi says
You would need to follow this tutorial:
https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-properly-move-your-blog-from-wordpress-com-to-wordpress-org/
Nsquared says
Help! I just paid $18 on WordPress.com for my own domain thinking I was self-hosting. After reading this article…apparently I am not. How do i self-host even i’ve already bought my domain on WordPress.com?
Afzoon Rampal says
I am a learner about wordpress. But dont know lots of places to learn about it. Here i found just a discussion about it. Anyone know where should i begin?
bri says
excellent explanation…. i didn’t get it til now thanks WPBeginner!!
Debra says
I don’t know anything about code or themes or much of anything else you spoke about — GNUs, which I assume aren’t animals, and other acronyms—– I just want to write about what I want to write about and make some honest money as I go. If WordPress has the tools and I can easily understand how to use the tools, and I don’t have to pay a lot of money upfront to use the tools, I’m overjoyed. Somebody told me that if I used web hosting at WordPress, I’d have to shell out a couple thousand dollars a month minimum. I’m guessing now that I have read what you’ve written here and found out that I can understand what in blue blazes you are saying enough to stumble through the process without screwing up too badly, that it really won’t cost be a couple thousand up front to get started?
WPBeginner Support says
The costs of hosting your own WordPress site depend on how popular your site becomes. Hosting could be expansive but there are plenty of options available to choose from. We would recommend you to take a look at our list of recommended WordPress hosting providers.
Admin
ahsan karim says
You are a great man. bundle of thanks
Shane Chambers says
Very helpful article! My concerns have been exploring how viable WordPress would be for an initial startup product. I’d like to potentially take a WordPress Theme, modify it for an initial launch of my web startup, and integrate custom code from there as I go along. I’ve been concerned about scalability, etc. of WP as an overall platform. After reading your article, I’m now concerned about this GPL under GNU. It sounds like any innovations I built on top of a theme or code I inherit from WordPress would not necessarily be protected under my IP? If so, that’s a huge problem for me and would completely rule out me using WP as a platform. What would be the point if my competitors or anyone can just take all the hard work I’ve done and replicate it immediately? Obviously, I need to research this myself.
More details: my startup is initially building a niche job board with all the modern features (profile, job match, applicant mgmt., social integration/authentication, xml job pull, etc.), and eventually integrating future innovations which might include things like integrating another open source functionality like CRM or recruitment tech. Having “open source” availability is important to me so that I can modify algorithms if need be (such as the job matching), integrate new code features as I scale, and so I can have access to the underlying customer database for analytics, etc.
I would appreciate any helpful feedback. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you!!
Jessica Santos says
Editorial Staff,
I’m currently using Blogger right now but I have recently been informed that the material I submit onto my current blog is not neccessarily mine. I have read that WordPress is a better site for a blog because it is not only free but I have full ownership and full abilitiy of what to do with the material published on my blog. However, I am still questioning whether or not it is safe for me to post/submit my work onto a blog from WordPress. I am a writer, poet and photographer and I would not appreciate the knowledge of someone, even a blog site, to take my material from me, alter it or claim it as their own. Do I have full ownership? If so can I post/submit material/content with reassurance that it will not be taken and considered someone elses or considered to belong to WordPress?
Jessica
WPBeginner Support says
Content you create on your website, on your own, is yours and you have complete ownership of it. However, if the content you are posting is someone else’s work then they can claim the copyright infringement. In that case they can file a complaint with search engines to deIndex your content, or contact your web hosting service provider to take down infringing material.
Admin
chris says
im none the wiser-what a load of waffle.is it free or not????
its still impossible to know how to log in to word press and impossible to get help. i have no time to spend days siftting through hours of forums to find out hhow to sign in or some other stupid simple thing
is this the level of inane stupidity humanity bhas come to? Everyones time is being stolen by computer inanitys. Everyone reading this would be far better off going out and buying a typewriter. Within second syour awy- no impossibly complicated systems,silly anal codes or password-just words on a page. Better still, pick up a pen and write on a piece of paper
WPBeginner Support says
Yes it is free. However, WordPress needs WordPress hosting service, like a typewriter needs paper, a desk, and ink. You can always pick up a pen and paper, but it will not make your written word instantly accessible to everyone in the world. Signing in to WordPress is not difficult type your website address with a /wp-admin to access the adminstration area. Like if your web address is example.com you would go to http://www.example.com/wp-admin to login. As for help, you can search WPBeginner Archives for help and you are always welcome to post your questions here. You can also join us on Facebook and Twitter and ask your questions there.
Admin
Grace says
Great post! I arrived at this article after reading a comment you made elsewhere on the site that you don’t recommend Themeforest because they „do not follow the spirit of GPL“. Could you explain what you mean? I thought reading this post might help me understand what you meant, but it didn’t.
So happy I discovered your site, Syed!
Editorial Staff says
Grace,
Up until recently, Themeforest forced their authors to sell their themes under a proprietary license. I’m not going to explain what GPL is, you can read about it on GNU Public License page. But long story short, Themeforest has recently gave their authors the freedom to sell their work under the GPL license.
However that wasn’t the only reason I don’t recommend them. The quality of most themes there are not very good (at least from the best practices standpoint). The themes might look great aesthetically, but usually cause a lot of bugs with numerous plugins.
-Syed
Admin
Adrian says
Many thanks for this article Syed – incredibly useful. I’ve been using Weebly Pro for a good year now and, while there have certainly been benefits for me in terms of time to launch, I have always found it very restrictive, sometimes painful and invariably I’ve ended up having to massage the code anyway – although the „free“ hosting certainly helps (and it’s great for very small businesses to launch quickly).
I’ve been planning to make the jump to WP for some time now, and you article has inspired me to finally put some time into it -especially as I am confined to bed for the next 10 days – perfect opportunity.
Thanks again, please keep up the great work!
– A
Ian Dunn says
„WordPress is an open source software. It is free in the sense of freedom not in the sense of free beer.“
Actually, WordPress is free-as-in-speech AND free-as-in-beer. The two concepts aren’t mutually exclusive.
Editorial Staff says
Free doesn’t refer to the price, it refers to freedom. You can read more about it here:
http://codex.wordpress.org/License
Admin
Ian Dunn says
Free can refer to both the price and freedom, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratis_versus_libre. When you say that „WordPress is not free in the sense of free beer“, you’re implying that people have to pay in order to obtain a copy of WordPress, which isn’t true. WordPress is free-as-in-speech because the GPL gives you the freedom to modify it, but it’s also free-as-in-beer because you don’t have to pay for it.
Editorial Staff says
Thanks for the clarification. I went and re-read the entire article to make sure that it reflects an accurate meaning and it does. It says there might be costs involved somewhere while using WordPress, and there is. We never implied that you have to pay for WordPress. If you read the whole article, then you will see under the section Costs of using WordPress, it says „WordPress as a software is free for you to download and use. However, to use WordPress on the web, you will need WordPress Hosting.“ << which costs money.
Ian Dunn says
I think maybe the problem is just in the way that sentence was phrased.
“WordPress is an open source software. It is free in the sense of freedom not in the sense of free beer.”
I’m guessing you meant to say something like, „WordPress is an open source software, which means that it is free. ‚Free‘ primarily refers to freedom to modify the software, as opposed to obtaining the software without payment, although it is also free in that sense.“
But the way it was worded, it literally says that WordPress is not free-as-in-beer: „…not in the sense of free beer.“
And that’s where the problem is. WordPress IS free-as-in-beer, in addition to being free-as-in-speech.
Antonio Casella says
How refreshing to find a person actually replying. That’s certainly a plus. I also like the philosophy/ethics that appears to be behind the WordPress concept. Thanks, Syed, for posting the training video above. I’m about to launch into the blog/website, partly to promote my novels. I’ll start with the free package at first to see how it works out.
Editorial Staff says
Let us know if we could be of any help in your journey with WordPress
Admin
Keller Coleman says
Great post, I love my WordPress site
Igor P. says
It is great to know that such an open community like WordPress powers millions of sites and feeds thousands of professionals. According to the WP survey conducted in 2012, around 74% of respondents where making their living from WordPress. It is noble what this open source software can offer.
Editorial Staff says
Yes Igor, it is truly remarkable what WordPress has done for so many.
Admin
Caspar Hübinger says
This article gives a great overview on the monetary costs to run a WordPress site and on why and how WordPress as a software can be used free of charge.
There is, however, a “hidden” cost implied in running a WordPress powered site successfully, and that would be the gaining of knowledge (resp. the time and energy required to gain knowledge).
As with all great tools, WordPress won’t do the magic for you alone. You will have to learn how to use it right. Which themes and plugins are safe to use and abide the WordPress Coding Standards, so they won’t mess up your installation? How to test new plugins to make sure they behave well? (Ever tried WP_DEBUG true in a test environment?) How to backup your site and restore it from a backup if something went wrong.
All of that could be named a cost, too, because in order to succeed you will either have to do it yourself, or hire an expert (or service) to do it for you.
Editorial Staff says
Caspar, you are correct. Time is very valuable, and you can/should put a dollar value on it. Despite the learning curve, anyone with dedication and motivation can totally accomplish what they need to do without spending $$$ on someone. There are sites like WPBeginner here to help. There are tons of amazing folks in the forums who are answering questions on a regular basis. WordPress StackExchange also has a great community.
Rest assured, experience is one of those things that you cannot buy. Gotta play the game like the rest of us.
Admin
Paul says
Excellent post. This should be required reading for anyone who is considering or has already started a wordpress.org blog or site. The question about why wp is free was always in the back of my thoughts? Now I know.
Paul
Editorial Staff says
Thanks Paul. Glad this article was able to help. It is making the rounds in social media. Share it with your audience and spread the knowledge
Admin
Austin Gunter says
Great post. I get a lot of questions from larger companies who are using WordPress for their sites, and still more who are doing research into whether they should be using WordPress or another CMS. Having this post as a resource will help answer their questions
Imran Hunzai says
Hala GPL! Hala WordPress!
Haseeb Ahmad Ayazi says
These were also in my mind. Thanks to Syed Balkhi for this great information