Pricing · Website Builders

WordPress.com Pricing Explained

A genuine free tier, four paid plans, and one rule that decides most upgrades: plugins only unlock on Business.

WordPress.com sells a free tier plus four paid plans: Personal, Premium, Business and Commerce. The big dividing line is plugins and custom themes, which only unlock on the Business plan and above. That single fact drives most of the upgrade decisions here. The rates below are the annual prices shown per month; monthly billing costs more. A free custom domain comes with paid plans for the first year, then renews at the standard rate. Knowing where plugins, monetization and a real store sit in the lineup keeps the budget honest before you commit.

Read the full WordPress.com review

        Reviewed by MORTEN ANDERSEN·Updated APRIL 2026·How we vet
      

Plans and prices

Per month, billed annually

Pricing as of June 2026, billed annually and shown per month; monthly billing runs higher. Check the vendor for current pricing. A free tier exists with WordPress.com ads and a wordpress.com subdomain; paid plans include a free custom domain for the first year.

Personal

A simple ad free site with a custom domain.

+Custom domain (1 yr free)

+No WordPress.com ads

+No plugins or custom themes

Premium

$18

Adds design control and basic monetization.

+Premium themes and design tools

+Basic monetization

+Still no third party plugins

★ Our pick

Business

$40

Unlocks plugins and themes; our pick.

+Install any plugin

+Upload custom themes

+SFTP and database access

Commerce

$70

Adds a full WooCommerce store.

+WooCommerce store

+Payments and shipping

+Everything in Business

What moves the real bill

What lifts the real WordPress.com bill

The plan fee is the start, not the finish. These are the costs and limits that most often push WordPress.com users up a tier or out to add ons.

→ Plugins need Business. Installing third party plugins and uploading custom themes only works on the Business plan and above, which is the single biggest reason people upgrade past Personal or Premium.

→ Premium themes. Some themes carry their own one time or recurring cost on top of the plan, separate from the bundled free and premium themes.

→ Domain renewal. The custom domain is free for the first year on paid plans, then renews at the standard domain rate, typically around twenty dollars a year.

→ Commerce for a real store. Running a proper store with WooCommerce requires the Commerce plan; the cheaper plans cannot run the full ecommerce stack.

→ Annual versus monthly. The rates here reflect annual billing shown per month; paying month to month costs more across every tier.

Pricing questions

WordPress.com pricing FAQ

Is there a free WordPress.com plan?

Yes. WordPress.com has a genuine free tier, but it shows WordPress.com ads, puts your site on a wordpress.com subdomain, and blocks plugins, custom themes and monetization. It suits testing rather than a business site.

Which plan do I need to install plugins?

The Business plan. Plugins and custom theme uploads only unlock on Business and Commerce; Personal and Premium cannot install third party plugins, which surprises many new users.

What is the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?

WordPress.com is a hosted service where the plan covers hosting and maintenance. WordPress.org is the free self hosted software, where you arrange your own hosting and manage everything yourself.

Which plan should most small businesses pick?

Business, if you need plugins or a custom theme, which most business sites eventually do. If you only need a simple brochure site, Personal or Premium can be enough and cheaper.

Keep reading

WordPress.com review → WordPress.com alternatives → The website builders ranking → Wix vs WordPress.com →