WordPress.org or WordPress.com! Confused?

Many of you might be in a dilemma which one to choose either self hosted WordPress.org or Free WordPress.com. From my personal experience I am sharing some pros and cons on them along with my recommendation which one is more suitable for your requirements .
Pros of WordPress.org:

– It’s absolutely free and easy to use.
– Its easy to upload and use plugins.
– Ability to upload custom themes and modify them.
– Having complete control to change codes if you’re technically minded and the option to earn money by using your own ads.
– Optimizing your content according to your needs and selecting what you want to be indexed by the search engines .

Cons of WordPress.org:

– Requires good web hosting which may cost around $7-12 per month.
– A good understanding of technical knowledge to set up.
– Being responsible for creating and maintaining backups of your site.
– Updating WordPress software whenever newer versions are available.
– Taking responsibility to prevent SPAM and if you enable Akismet (which comes built-in with WordPress.org), then this problem is alleviated.

Pros of WordPress.com:
– It’s free and much easier to setup than the self hosted WordPress option.
– All technical maintenance work such as setup, upgrades, spam, backups, security etc is taken care of.
– Your blog is on hundreds of servers and will always be available even under high traffic.
– Your dashboard is secured (SSL) making it safe to log in even on shared networks.
– All content is backed up automatically.

Cons of WordPress.com:

– Unable to add or upload custom themes.
– The PHP code behind your blogs cannot be modified without professional help.
– Unable upload the plugins.
– The possibility of your site might be deleted any time if it violates their Terms of Service.
– Inform others that your site is powered by WordPress.com even if you subscribe to upgrades.

Which one should I use?

Now you know the pros and cons of both, its suggested if you want to blog but do not want to edit or monetize then select WordPress.com. For a professional blog and having full control of its appearance and the ability to use plugins that will assist in monetizing then use WordPress.org.

Is one easier than the other?

Probably “no” to this question. Because the interface to both is very similar, there are many free WordPress video tutorials available to guide you through the whole dashboard process.

So, I hope this article helps you to make a smart choice and build blogs with ease and satisfaction.