From time to time we have clients come to us confused at the difference between WordPress.com, and the WordPress.org we work with.

Now, we work with WordPress a lot; we build custom WordPress websites all of the time from the .org side, and get them to do some pretty cool things for our clients. So what is difference between the two?

Let’s start with WordPress.com

WordPress.com is the commercial enterprise owned by Automattic. Automattic was started by the founding web developer of WordPress to package up and resell pre-built WordPress websites. Automatticians (Automattic employees) also actively contribute back to WordPress.org.

In fact, if you are running a basic blog, or a personal website, WordPress.com is perfect! Just sign-up for a free account, pick a theme, and start writing content, it really is super simple!

If WordPress.com is the doll house, WordPress.org is the Lego to build it.

So what is WordPress.org?

WordPress.org is the base of it all. It is like having a key to the factory, an in with the developers, and the ability to do anything you wish with WordPress as a platform. If WordPress.com is the doll house, WordPress.org is the Lego to build it. And oh we love Lego!

[With WordPress.org] You are not locked down to pre-built themes… you can build anything from a beautiful company website to a full blown e-commerce website!

WordPress.org is the place to download WordPress as a software, install it on a web server (a computer that hosts websites), and build anything you wish. You are not locked down to pre-built themes, pages, or looks, and you can build anything from a beautiful company website to a full blown e-commerce website. (take a quick peek at our Portfolio to see what we mean)

And the best part? WordPress.org is HUGE. In fact, WordPress is estimated to be running 1 of every 6 websites on the net, which is nearly 60 million websites! (Credit: Forbes.com)

Either way, we think you, your business, and your customers will love WordPress!