Wordpress.com vs. Wordpress.org

You’d think this explanation would already be written somewhere, in succinct, plain language. But it’s not. At least not that I’ve found.

People often ask me “What kind of blogging software should I use?”

My answer is usually “Wordpress.”

Then they go and do a search for “wordpress.”

A few days later, they come back.

“Which version of Wordpress should I use? Wordpress.com or Wordpress.org?”

“Well,” I say, “it depends.” Then I babble on incoherently for several minutes.

When they get bored, they ask: “But which is the free one?”

Aye, there’s the rub. Read the rest of this entry »