Is WordPress free?

WordPress is one of the most popular (CMS) in the world.

It is a highly customizable platform, suitable for many types of web pages. Plus, it’s highly scalable, making it perfect for small personal blogs or large company websites.

WordPress is also open source, which means that users have access to its source code. Therefore, those with programming skills can customize the software the way they want.

You may be wondering if using software as powerful as WordPress is free. In this article, we will tell you what you can get for free and what you have to pay to have a website with , so you can calculate the necessary budget.

There are two types of WordPress: . WordPress.org software is free and open source. For its part, WordPress.com is a hosted solution that offers a free plan.

When we talk about WordPress, we mainly mean WordPress.org, the self-hosted version. It is the free CMS software developed by independent contributors that you can download and install on your web hosting to create a site.

Open source is a development method that encourages open collaboration to improve software. Therefore, the source code and documentation are freely available to the public for users and developers to use, improve, and modify as they wish.

WordPress.com, meanwhile, is a hosting service owned by . Instead of having to search for web hosting, WordPress.com provides you with these services. It uses WordPress software to offer a blogging platform to its users.

This makes starting a WordPress.com website relatively easy. Users just need to create accounts and choose a plan to access the blogging platform and get a free subdomain. In addition, there is a WordPress.com plan that is free and allows you to create a small personal blog.

That said, the convenience of a WordPress.com free plan does come with some compromises.

For example, instead of a custom domain like www.yourwebsite.comit only provides subdomains, like yourdomain.wordpress.com. The only way to use a custom domain is to upgrade to a paid plan.

Additionally, WordPress.com puts advertising on your site. Not only will you not get advertising revenue, but these ads can make your site less attractive and less professional.

For this reason, Automattic offers a free WordPress.com plan as a starter for new users or beginners. When users need to expand their sites or use a custom domain, it is necessary to subscribe to a premium plan.

How does WordPress make money?

WordPress.com makes money by offering hosting solutions for a price. Their premium plans range from 4 dollars a month for the plan Staff until the $45 a month for the plan eCommerce. Additionally, WordPress.com earns revenue from ads placed on sites using its free plan.

WordPress.org, on the other hand, is not owned by a specific company. The WordPress.org domain itself is owned by the , a non-profit organization.

Therefore, the foundation itself does not earn money. However, many WordPress users contribute .

Even so, the WordPress Foundation does not pay the developers who work on the software. Instead, they make money by developing and selling WordPress-related products, such as plugins, themes, or web development services.

What can you get for free in WordPress?

There are three main elements in WordPress that are free: the open source software core, the themes, and the . In addition, you have free updates for them. Let’s look at each aspect in more detail.

WordPress core software

First and foremost is free open source core software. However, you need to have web hosting and a domain name for it to work, which we will discuss later in this article.

Once you have the hosting, directly from your hosting account or download it from it and install it manually.

If you are using ‘s hPanel, simply navigate to Website -> Auto Installer and select WordPress. You will have to enter the credentials and choose the one to install. Make sure you choose the one available.

free themes

A WordPress theme is a bundle of files that define the look and feel of the site. It can come with page templates, typography, color options, and various customizable website elements and widgets.

There are thousands of free themes available to customize your blog, online store, and other types of sites. However, we recommend downloading them from the .

These themes go through strict reviews by the WordPress team to ensure they meet security standards. Avoid downloading those that are not available in the official directory.

In fact, if you get a theme from an untrustworthy source, you risk downloading a theme with malicious code or other vulnerabilities that attackers can use to break into your website.

Other than that, here are some things to look out for when choosing a free WordPress theme for your site:

Mobile Device Compatibility: Most people browse the Internet through mobile devices. Having a makes your site look great on any screen size.
Frequent updates– Developers update WordPress themes with new features, bug fixes, and most of all, security patches. We recommend choosing a theme that has been updated within the last six months.
Multipurpose vs. specific purpose– Multipurpose themes suit various types of websites. However, those created for specific purposes help to quickly launch e-commerce sites, portfolios or online magazines.

For , download it from the official directory. Then go to your WordPress admin panel, go to Appearance -> Themes and click Add new to upload the theme files.

For example, take a look at one of the most popular free WordPress themes: . It is a multipurpose theme that offers 85 pre-designed templates.

Once you have installed the theme in WordPress, you just need to import one of the templates and start customizing from there instead of designing the website from scratch.

free plugins

A plugin is a package of additional code that adds more features and tools to extend the functionality of a WordPress website. There are plenty of plugins for different needs, like a page builder, security enhancements, and .

Like the themes, we recommend getting the free plugins from the . Also, it looks for the last time the developers updated the plugin to ensure there are no security or compatibility issues.

Let’s look at the page builder as an example. It allows you to customize the appearance of a site using an intuitive drag and drop editor.

This method is much easier for some people than using the , where it is possible to change the appearance of the web page through the sidebar options.

updates

They are essential to keep your site safe from bugs and malicious attacks. Free updates apply to core WordPress software, plugins, and themes. Also, some premium plugins and themes offer free updates for a limited time.

When an update to the core WordPress software is available, you will receive a notification at the top of your admin panel. You can also go to the section Desktop -> Updateswhere you can check if the main software, themes and plugins are up to date.

We recommend that you run the WordPress core update on a test site. This will help you identify any compatibility issues with existing themes or plugins in a safe environment. These issues can break a feature of your web page, which you don’t want to happen in the live version.

What do you have to pay when using WordPress?

Although the use of WordPress is free, you have to pay for a hosting service and a domain name to have a site that uses this CMS. Also, you may need premium plugins or themes to get additional features.

hosting service

You need a service to use the self-hosted version of WordPress. Hosting companies provide the infrastructure, such as server and storage space, to store your website files and make your website accessible to visitors.

There are several types of hosting available, you can even find one to start with. Each one has a different price range and is suitable for a different volume of traffic:

: It is the most affordable type of hosting, with prices starting at €1.49 per month. It uses a physical server to host multiple websites. This type of hosting is the most suitable for small websites with low or medium traffic.
: uses an infrastructure similar to that of shared hosting, a single physical server to serve several clients. However, each user gets isolated server resources to improve reliability and performance. Prices range from €3.49 Y €32.99 per month.
: the best option to maximize uptime. It uses a server cluster to ensure that if one server has problems, it is quickly backed up by another. Of course, it is also more expensive, with prices ranging from €9.99 until €69.99 per month.
: is the service optimized for WordPress. It includes features like support for multiple PHP versions and an unlimited MySQL database. Prices range from €1.99 Y €9.99 per month.

Keep in mind that each hosting provider may offer different packages. Therefore, we recommend you check these aspects when choosing web hosting for a WordPress site:

WordPress Compatibility: PHP 7.4, MySQL 5.6 and HTTPS support to run smoothly.
automatic installer: This feature allows you to easily install WordPress from the control panel of your hosting account.
Excellent customer support– 24/7 customer support and knowledge base will be essential if you have any issues.
Enhanced Security: Protect your website and your visitors from cyberattacks by purchasing a hosting plan that includes a . Automated backups are also a nice addition.
Uptime Guarantee– Make sure the hosting provider guarantees 99.9% uptime.

Domain name

A is a string of letters, numbers, or characters that works like your website address. To , you will need to find an available name that represents your company and register it with a registrar, that is, a company that sells domain names and handles the registration process.

The price of a domain depends on the…