WordPress without WordPress.com?

On By piotrekIn meta, Piotrek

A question, really, more than a post. Is anyone here hosting their blog somewhere else? Somewhere cheaper than $180 that WordPress.com seems to be introducing soon as their cheapest add-free version?

Ideally, somewhere with no block editors?

WordPress.org suggests some hosting options, I wonder, how easy they are for amateurs, and do their migrations tools work…

There are some guides online, but perhaps someone can suggest a tried and trusted one 🙂

I assume WordPress.com users would still be able to comment and get notifications about a WordPress-not-com blog? That’s really the crucial thing, as it’s all about the community.

We still have time, as we renewed our plan in January, so we have 2022 covered, but I want to explore other options in advance. $180 is a bit much, but I also dislike this company more and more, the way they introduce these changes, I feel mistreated as a customer. Read the Bookstooge’s post, they company doesn’t even know the details of some of the new rules (including a 10,000 cap on monthly visits…).

26 thoughts on “WordPress without WordPress.com?”

  2. Well, the most popular hosting sites are: Wix for 16/month and 2gb of storage; Squarespace at 14/month and 5gb; Bluehost at a lower intro price renewing at 11/month and 5gb; or others which I would’ve read about but got too depressed, sorry…

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    1. piotrek

      I’ve checked the providers recommended by WordPress.org and Dream Host seems to be the cheapest, with $5.99/month for the basic WordPress plan (and $2.59 for the first time users, you can pay for a year or three up front and that includes free domain… but I’ll have to read more of the small print in terms & conditions).

      All of them seem to have a migration tool, so it’s theoretically quite easy to move between them once you leave WP.com… choosing the best option whenever your plan expires… a lot of work anyway, I’m sure, I wonder if anyone here has any experience with things like that?

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  3. Do be aware that jetpack is the thing you’ll have to navigate to integrate with existing wp users. And that is the tool that seems to have caused all the problems I’ve had with self-hosted users in the past. Unfortunately, jetpack is also made and maintained by automattic 😦

    As I investigate this year, I’ll keep posting about what I find.

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  4. I started out as a wordpress.com user, but decided already after 1-2 months, that I didn’t like the restrictions connected to the platform. I moved to being self-hosted, using Bluehost and wordpress.org. Now, three years older (and wiser), I am actually considering moving back to WordPress.com again. Unless you are hard pushed for money, the question you need to ask yourself is: Is all the IT issues and hassle and time you have to put into being self-hosted worth the extra flexibility you get? Also, I don’t think it’s that much cheaper being self-hosted, when you take all the costs into consideration. Anyway, if you are serious about it, I am happy to provide more info on the migration process and the interaction in wordpress reader via jetpack for self-hosted bloggers.

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    1. piotrek

      Thanks. I will consider our options, discuss things with Ola, and ask for help if we decide to go that way. As I said in my post, we have time, we recently renewed our plan.
      I hoped for more enthusiastic recommendations, it seems it is a serious task 😉

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  5. I’m using Bluehost and it’s pretty good. I think the price is a little lower than $180. If you go through WordPress.org your blog will still “be” WordPress, with the community aspect, like button and ease of commenting. As for the dread block editor, I use a plug in called “Disable Gutenberg ” that basically blocks it and let’s you continue to use the classic editor. At least for now!

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    1. piotrek

      Dream Host might be a little cheaper, but I don’t know all the details, there might be hidden costs beside the subscription fee… further research needed 🙂

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  6. I have debated many times whether to move to a self-hosted option but each time decided I didn’t want to have to manage all the IT issues I’ve heard of from other people who have made the switch. The cost advantage also didn’t seem to be that high to be an incentive either.

    Re your question about people being able to follow you. The ability to comment on a blog isn’t ringfenced just to the other users of the same platform – in other words, it isn’t only WordPress users who can comment on your site. Any user of other platforms like Typepad can do so. What you need to check is whether your blog url will change which would mean people who follow you through a blog feed reader like Feedly would need to change their subscription to the new URL – some might not do it so you will probably lose a few followers in the process. Stargazer can tell you what they experienced

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    1. piotrek

      Thanks, that is sth to keep in mind, some loss of followers is probably unavoidable, important thing is to warn any active ones in advance if we have to change the URL…
      There’s clearly a lot to consider before making final decision.

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  7. Thanks to you for highlighting this. I have now switched my plan from the business level to the new pro plan and saved $120 as a result. I wouldn’t have known to do this if you hadn’t written your post. 🙂 😉

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  8. Oh man, really? I have my old blog on WordPress.com and wanted to leave it there for simplicity’s sake. My active blog is self-hosted WordPress.org, hosted by Namecheap (they can do both domain name and hosting) and it’s much cheaper but as others have noted, there is a little more technical setup to do. It’s actually been pretty easy except for renewing the security certificate every year, I hate that. Anyway, I don’t want to pay so much for my archive blog so I will have to decide what to do.

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  9. My photography blog is self hosted. It’s a bit of a trial to set up but once you’re there it’s okay. As for readers/followers following you to n the self hosted you can ask WP to migrate them and integrate you with WP.com.
    It’s all just not as easy.

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  10. If it’s any consolation, I tried a switch because I just got so fed up with WP and I researched and researched and asked other bloggers and finally landed on…weebly, I think (weebly or wix) nad it was more expensive and I had issues with it for a variety of reasons, so I had to come crawling back to WordPress, I figure if I need a more commercial blog (say, I put out a full-length manuscript0 I’d just hire someone to design and manage it, with a blog section so that I can just post up. I used to have 24/7 chat support for my blog as part of my plan I’ve had for years, and then they changed it without even an update or a notification to me, and then they tried to tell me it had been like that all along. That really irked me that they pulled that sneaky little stunt.
    You can still get the classic by entering a / slash and it will bring up the Classic from a list.

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    1. piotrek

      I need encouragement, not consolation 😉 Motivation to stop paying Automattic is high, we’ll see if high enough…

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  14. Pingback: Bloggers See Red Over New WordPress Fees : BookerTalk

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