Open source and "free": the software is free, the domain and hosting are not

“WordPress is free, so why am I paying for a website?” It’s a fair question, and the answer comes down to what “free” covers.

WordPress is open source. Anyone can download, use and change the software without paying a licence fee. People around the world build it together.

But the software is only one part of a website. To put it online, you usually need two more things:

A domain name, the address people type, such as yourname.com.
Hosting, the computer that stores your site and serves it to visitors.

Think of it like a free house plan. The plan costs nothing, but you still need land and an address.

Optional extras can add to the bill too, such as paid themes, plugins and a professional email address.

WordPress.com vs self-hosted: WordPress.com bundles hosting with its plans and offers a free starting tier. With self-hosted WordPress, you choose and pay for your own hosting.