WordPress vs WordPress.com
Thinking of swapping WordPress.com for the open-source WordPress? Here’s the honest trade-off.
21k PHP GPL-2.0 today
What you give up vs WordPress.com
- Plugin-heavy setups can become slow without caching layers and optimization expertise
- Security surface area is large; requires regular plugin/core updates and hardening
- The block editor (Gutenberg) has a steeper learning curve than Squarespace's drag-and-drop builder
- Default multisite and headless configurations require significant additional configuration
What you gain
- • Full data ownership — self-host WordPress on your own infrastructure.
- • No per-seat SaaS bill (WordPress.com: plan limits and upsells for basic features).
- • Open-source code you can audit and extend (GPL-2.0).