Is it worth it to self host a wordpress blog, or use wordpress.com

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sheepishwolf

New member
Which do you think is better, using wordpress.com and buying a domain and extra features through the website, or self hosting a wordpress blog? I bought my domain through wordpress.com because when I first started out blogging, I wasn't secure on how exactly to use a host and wasn't good with coding and plugins. For those reasons, I decided to take the easier route and be hosted on wordpress.com. I have been considering exporting my blog though, because of there being more theme options for self hosted blogs. Does anyone have any experience with either of these wordpress blogging methods, and which did you feel was better?
 
Well there are pros and cons of hosting with wordpress.com. The major pro is that they have a very safe environment and their system is very difficult for a hacker to infiltrate. The major draw back of hosting with wordpress.com is that they are a bit up cost wise and you do not have that much flexibility in terms of editing the templates. If price is not an issue than it is advisable to host with wordpress.com
 
eatmintgood said:
Well there are pros and cons of hosting with wordpress.com. The major pro is that they have a very safe environment and their system is very difficult for a hacker to infiltrate. The major draw back of hosting with wordpress.com is that they are a bit up cost wise and you do not have that much flexibility in terms of editing the templates. If price is not an issue than it is advisable to host with wordpress.com
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Yes, the prices for simply editing the fonts and CSS on wordpress.com blogs are quite high. However, the way that they have it set up makes it very easy for beginners in blogging to have a professional looking blog since they have features like that so simply and efficiently built into the website. But when you factor in the cost of a good, reliable host which do you think would be the better choice, cost wise.
 
In terms of difficulty it is not even difficult if you do get a shared hostint with any hosting company . Almost all of them does offer one click install of wordpress from inside their control panels which can be done even by the beginners.
 
The one advantage I hear about a lot for Wordpress self-hosting is the ability to monetize your blog, if you want to do that. You have more freedom to place ads and things like that. I've heard that it's a good route to start on Wordpress.com and then move to a domain when you know a bit more about hosting. There's so many low price hosting options out there that make it easy to install a Wordpress site. Some are even free. Just make sure php and MySQL is supported :)
 
Self-hosting is not expensive and with plugins, you can do everything just as easy on your own domain and servers. Monetization is the big reason, but there are other factors to think about. If you let Wordpress be your host, they get power over your blog and can delete it for any reason at any time. Often all it takes is a competitor to make a spam complaint and your site goes dark. Also, if you should ever want to sell your blog, it would need to be on your own hosting.
 
Wordpress.com blogs are much easier to manage and do not take a whole lot of know-how, making them the obvious choice for people who are not very tech savvy. If you know how to set up your own wordpress site, I would use your own web hosting, since plugins make wordpress 1000x better and you cannot use them on wordpress.com.
 
If you are going to pay to use Wordpress, you might as well just put that money towards a general web hosting package and install Wordpress yourself. Many web hosts offer free installers as well. Plus, with a hosting package you can install other scripts as well, as you may need them for your site down the road - such as a forum, shopping cart, etc.
 
I'm a supporter of what eatmintgood told, having your site hosted on Wordpress.com is more secure and reliable, but you would have to cover up a large amount of fees and have you would have a limited ability on editing.
 
Self-host, every time. WordPress.com is perhaps a little more secure but that's about the only benefit.

WP is one of the easiest apps in the world to run and is included in 99% of the "one-click install" tools that come with hosting. Since that's pretty much the only thing you'd have to do manually with self-hosting - everything else is done through the same dashboard as on WP.com - I don't see the advantage.

If you self-host, you can also run multiple sites on the same hosting plan at no extra cost, use whatever monetisation you feel like, have no limits on plugins, themes or whatever else and can still tie it all in to WP's site and stats via Jetpack. That's a pretty significant set of advantages. :)
 
It is definately worth it to self-host a Wordpress blog. With self-hosted blog you will have ability to upload custom themes, ability to upload plugin and complete control to change code if you’re technically minded. You do not need to be a technical genius to use self-hosted WordPress!

I have used Wordpress.com service once but it wasn't very pleasant after using self-hosted blogs for 3-4 years.
 
If you are thinking of your blog in a serious way, you should go for Wordpress.org and host this on your own domain. It adds credibility to what you say if the blog is hosted on your own domain. Also if you have a unique website design for this, it will be easier for you to brand your blog amongst thousands of others.
 
I can see two options here. You can either continue with wordpress.com and just buy a domain from godaddy, and then redirect it to your blog address. Alternatively, you can choose the more difficult way which is to go with the above suggestion from Rithu and use wordpress.org to create and host your own website (bigger learning curve but more flexibility).
 
Selt hosting your WordPress blog is by far the best method. There are thousands more plugins and themes that you can use and the actually frame of your blog is much more customizable than what you are allowed to do with a WordPress.com blog. Plus I believe you have ot pay for their premium package in order ot make money with your blog. Go for it, it is not at scary as you might initially think! :)
 
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