WordPress.com
Hosted WordPress from Automattic with a free plan, plugins on every paid plan and WooCommerce for online stores.
Founded 2005
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WordPress.com is the hosted version of the open-source WordPress software, developed by Automattic and launched publicly in 2005. Hosting, security and WordPress updates are managed for you on every plan. The Free plan has no expiration date but uses a yoursite.wordpress.com address, has 1 GB of storage and shows ads to visitors.
Paid plans cost $4 (Personal), $8 (Premium), $25 (Business) and $45 (Commerce) per month billed yearly, or $9, $18, $40 and $70 month to month. Every paid plan can install plugins and add CSS. Premium adds SEO tools and payment buttons. Business adds SFTP/SSH, WP-CLI, GitHub deployments and real-time backups, with WooCommerce available through plugins; Commerce bundles the store extensions. Paid subscriptions carry a fee from 10% on Free down to 0% on Commerce.
Best for
Bloggers, publishers and small businesses that want WordPress and its plugins without running their own hosting.
Pros
- Free plan with no expiration date; hosting included on every plan
- Plugins and custom CSS on every paid plan, from $4 a month billed yearly
- Full WordPress publishing with posts, pages, revisions and a built-in newsletter
- SFTP/SSH, WP-CLI and GitHub deployments on Business and Commerce
Cons
- Free sites show ads, use a wordpress.com subdomain and get 1 GB of storage
- SEO tools and payment buttons start at Premium
- A full store needs Business plus plugins, or Commerce at $45 a month billed yearly
- Real-time backups and one-click restores only on Business and up
From our tests
Screenshots of WordPress.com from our hands-on tests. Each links to the full-size image; the test name leads to the task, how we judged it and the other tool's result.
Pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly (12-month total) |
|---|---|---|
| FreeNo expiration; wordpress.com subdomain, 1 GB storage, shows ads | Free Free plan | |
| Personal$4/month billed yearly, excl. taxes; 6 GB storage, plugins, no ads | $9/mo | $48/yr ($4/mo) |
| Premium$8/month billed yearly, excl. taxes; 13 GB storage, SEO tools, payment buttons | $18/mo | $96/yr ($8/mo) |
| Business$25/month billed yearly, excl. taxes; 50 GB storage, SFTP/SSH, WooCommerce via plugins | $40/mo | $300/yr ($25/mo) |
| Commerce$45/month billed yearly, excl. taxes; integrated WooCommerce store extensions | $70/mo | $540/yr ($45/mo) |
Prices checked on .
Features
In Website builders
| Feature | WordPress.com |
|---|---|
| E-commerce | Yes · WooCommerce on Business and Commerce |
| CMS | Yes · WordPress posts, pages and revisions |
| Custom code | Yes · CSS and plugins on paid plans; SFTP/SSH from Business |
| Hosting included | Yes · All plans, incl. Free; global CDN and SSL |
| Design freedom | Yes · Themes, patterns and drag-and-drop layouts |
| Templates | Yes · Free themes; premium themes on paid plans |
| SEO tools | Yes · Premium plan and up |
| Memberships | Yes · Paid subscribers; fee 10% (Free) to 0% (Commerce) |
| Free plan | Yes · 1 GB, wordpress.com subdomain, shows ads |