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As I understand it, WordPress.com has all the features of WordPress.org plus more, as well as fully managed hosting for a price. Is that correct?

What are the top reasons one would choose WordPress.com over WordPress.org?

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I disagree that this should be closed as non-constructive. There are differences between the two platforms and they really are aimed at separate audiences and there is documentation to back that up. The answers below can be edited and expanded and become a useful resource. – JCL1178 Jan 24 at 1:12
This Question definitely should be closed because a) it's asking for opinions, and b) it is easily answered with a simple Google search with the exact Question title as the search terms. The first result is a comparison straight from the horse's mouth, outlining capabilities - as well as pros and cons - of each. – akTed Jan 24 at 9:06

closed as not constructive by John Conde♦ Jan 24 at 1:07

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2 Answers

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You were partially correct. WordPress has two offerings. WordPress.com is the hosted and managed platform while WordPress.org is where you can get the download-and-host-it-yourself package as well as obtain free themes and plugins to extend WordPress's capabilities.

The biggest difference between the two is that WordPress.com accounts do not get to install their own themes and plugins. Instead, you choose from themes and features from what Automattic (the parent company) allows for you account level. By walling off access to the full range of themes and plugins, they can better account for speed and security issues and also provide a basic free experience with paths to upgrade functionality for fees.

WordPress.com does have different levels of service that you can purchase that allows you to do things like add your own domain name, customize the CSS theme, add streaming video hosting, etc. There are also plans available for super high traffic sites or enterprise sites where you have access to Automattic developers who will make or install pretty much anything you ask them to do.

Self-hosted WordPress requires that you have access to a web server that's running PHP and MySQL and some basic knowledge of how to upload files and manipulate a database. But once you get WordPress installed and running, you are free to install any theme or plugin you wish and also modify any file you wish. This makes self-hosted WordPress a very flexible and capable platform balanced against minimal configuration and coding needs. However, unless you have some experience running a web server and specifically running WordPress, you can generate a lot of headaches for yourself. Self-hosted WordPress installs generally need some tweaking to be both fast and secure on a typical shared hosting ISP and being able to download anything you can find is as much a blessing as it is a curse.

Middle ground solutions have sprung up to fill the gap between the two extremes. Services like Page.ly and WP Engine have sprung up to fill the gap between running WordPress more or less by yourself and locking yourself into WordPress.com's rather rigid offering. Those services manage the server and database environment for you and provide optimized speed, security, and backups while still allowing you to deploy almost any theme or plugin you want. They are more expensive than typical shared hosting accounts but provide a lot of added value.

Ultimately the decision of which platform depends on your desire to control the hosting environment and the need to deploy a preferred or custom theme or plugin. If you are just looking to start a personal blog and don't want to be bothered by the headaches of full hosting then you should look into WordPress.com. If you want to tweak and customize every last little bit of your site or you prefer to control your own content and data, self-hosted is the way to go.

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WordPress.com has a pretty thorough support article on this topic that you may find beneficial. WordPress.com essentially exists as a service to de-mistify blogging on WordPress for users that don't have much interest in customization. You can just sign up, blog, and not have to worry about dealing with anything overly technical. If that doesn't sound like your thing, you can install the WordPress software on a web server and tailor it to your needs.

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As an aside, one would hope the Asker has already read through that link, since it is the top result of searching for the exact Question title in Google. – akTed Jan 24 at 9:10

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