WordPress.org is the free, open source WordPress software you download and run on hosting you sort out yourself; WordPress.com is a hosted service that runs WordPress for you, with a free plan and paid tiers. Pick .org for full control, .com if you'd rather never touch a server.
Figures here are as of Nov 2026, from WordPress.com's pricing page and WordPress.org's About and Download pages.
The short verdict
If you're a business owner who wants a site live this week and doesn't want to think about hosting, updates or security patches, WordPress.com is the easier road. If you want to own every file, pick your own host, and never be told what you can and can't install, WordPress.org is the one. Neither is the wrong answer. The wrong answer is picking one because the name sounded more official.
Here's where I'd land for most people reading this: start on WordPress.org with a decent host if you've got any technical help at all, or if your site will make you money. Choose WordPress.com if you're on your own, you value your evenings, and you're happy paying a monthly fee to have someone else run the engine.
Who owns what: hosted service or software you install
WordPress.org is the home of the software itself. Its About page says WordPress started in 2003 when Mike Little and Matt Mullenweg created a fork of b2/cafelog, that it's built on PHP and MariaDB, and that it's licensed under the GPLv2 or later. That licence gives four freedoms: to run the program for any purpose, to study how it works and change it, to redistribute it, and to share your modified versions. The Download page offers WordPress 7.1.4 and puts it bluntly: download and install it yourself if you're comfortable getting your own hosting and domain. It recommends PHP 8.3 or greater and MySQL version 8.0 or MariaDB version 10.11 or greater.
So with .org, the software is free, but the hosting, the domain, the backups and the updates are yours to arrange. You own the files, you choose the host, and you can install any of the thousands of plugins it mentions. If you want a starting list, I keep a round-up of plugins worth installing first. There's also a WordPress Playground, a live demo you can try right in your browser before you commit.
WordPress.com is a company running WordPress for you. You don't download anything. You sign up, pick a plan, and your site lives on their servers. Its pricing page shows a Free plan with no expiration date and four paid tiers. On the Free plan, your visitors see WordPress.com ads; the page says you upgrade to Personal to turn them off.
WordPress.com plans side by side
These are WordPress.com's own figures, per month, excluding taxes. The same plan costs a lot less per month the longer you commit for.
| Plan | Pay monthly | Per month, billed yearly | Per month, 2-year term | Per month, 3-year term | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | US$0 | US$0 | US$0 | US$0 | 1 GB |
| Personal | US$9 | US$4 | US$3.25 | US$2.75 | 6 GB |
| Premium | US$18 | US$8 | US$6.50 | US$5.50 | 13 GB |
| Business | US$40 | US$25 | US$20 | US$17.50 | 50 GB |
| Commerce | US$70 | US$45 | US$36 | US$31.50 | 50 GB |
The paid plans come with a free domain for one year with annual plans. The comparison grid also lists features such as Install plugins, real-time backups, and SFTP/SSH, WP-CLI and GitHub deployments; check which tiers tick each row before you buy, because that's where the plans differ most. If design is your worry, my beginner's guide to WordPress design works on either version.
The catch on the pricing page
The headline number isn't the number you'll pay month to month. The Personal plan is US$9 if you pay monthly, but US$4 a month billed every 12 months, and US$2.75 a month if you commit to 36 months. WordPress.com shows savings of 55%, 63% and 69% on Personal and Premium for the longer terms. So the cheap figure you remember from the page is a three-year prepayment, and the free domain only lasts the first year.
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The other catch sits on the .org side, and it's not on any price list. The software is free, but you're the sysadmin. If nobody on your team will update plugins and keep backups, the money you save on .com fees can come back as a hacked site or a broken one. Be honest with yourself about who's going to look after it.
My verdict: for a hobby blog or a simple brochure site, WordPress.com on an annual plan is fine and saves you hassle. For a business site you want to grow, extend and fully own, WordPress.org is where I'd build. Don't choose on price alone; choose on who's going to run it.
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Quick answers
Is WordPress.org free?
Yes. WordPress.org says WordPress is open source software licensed under the GPLv2 or later, and you download it for free. You still arrange and pay for your own hosting and domain.
Does WordPress.com have a free plan?
Yes. WordPress.com lists a Free plan with no expiration date, but free sites show WordPress.com ads to visitors. The Personal plan turns them off.
Which is cheaper, WordPress.com or WordPress.org?
WordPress.org software costs nothing, but you pay for hosting yourself. WordPress.com paid plans start at US$4 a month billed yearly on Personal, as of Nov 2026.
Can I move from WordPress.com to WordPress.org later?
WordPress.com's pricing page doesn't cover moving away, so check its migration guides before you commit to a long term.
