# WordPress Pricing 2026: What a Business Blog Actually Costs Author: Sai Krishna Author URL: https://superblog.ai/blog/author/sai-krishna/ Published: 2026-08-04 Category: Guides Category URL: https://superblog.ai/blog/category/guides/ Meta Title: WordPress Pricing 2026: Plans and Real Costs | Superblog Meta Description: WordPress pricing in 2026: WordPress.com plans from $0 to $70 a month, plus the real yearly cost of a self-hosted business blog, line by line. Tags: blogging, wordpress, hosting Tag URLs: blogging (https://superblog.ai/blog/tag/blogging/), wordpress (https://superblog.ai/blog/tag/wordpress/), hosting (https://superblog.ai/blog/tag/hosting/) URL: https://superblog.ai/blog/wordpress-pricing/ ![WordPress Pricing 2026](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_ckox4in4f002nl8lhcib41g2u/images/wordpress-pricing-2026-1793937690392-compressed.png) WordPress pricing runs from $0 to $45 a month on WordPress.com billed yearly, or $9 to $70 billed monthly. Self-hosted WordPress.org is free software, but a business blog on it costs about $1,680 to $4,000 a year once you add managed hosting, premium plugins and developer time. A bare-bones self-hosted blog runs about $60 to $132 a year. Every third-party price below was checked on the vendor's own pricing page in November 2026. Anything we could not confirm first-party is not printed. ## WordPress pricing at a glance PlanBilled monthlyBilled yearly (per month)Yearly totalPluginsWordPress.com Free$0$0$0NoWordPress.com Personal$9/mo$4/mo$48YesWordPress.com Premium$18/mo$8/mo$96YesWordPress.com Business$40/mo$25/mo$300YesWordPress.com Commerce$70/mo$45/mo$540YesWordPress.com Enterprise (VIP)Not listedNot listedQuoteNot listedSelf-hosted WordPress.orgSoftware $0, then hosting, plugins and labor~$60 to $4,000+ for a blogYes Notes on the WordPress.com rows: 1. Prices are from [wordpress.com/pricing](https://wordpress.com/pricing/), checked November 2026, in USD and excluding tax. 2. Longer terms cost less: Business drops to $20/mo on a 2-year term and $17.50/mo on a 3-year term. Plans auto-renew, and WordPress.com shows the renewal price at checkout. 3. The free custom domain applies to yearly and multi-year plans only, and only for the first year. Monthly plans do not include one. ## Is WordPress free? The WordPress software is free. You can [download it from WordPress.org](https://wordpress.org/download/) and pay nothing for the code. WordPress.com also has a Free plan. It gives you 1 GB of storage and a `yoursite.wordpress.com` address. According to WordPress.com's own FAQ, it "does not include a custom domain, plugin installation, or ad-free browsing for visitors." That rules it out for a company blog. So the download is free. A working business blog is not. You pay for hosting, a domain, premium plugins and the time to keep them running. For the full side-by-side of the two products, see [WordPress.com vs WordPress.org](/blog/wordpress-com-vs-wordpress-org/). ## WordPress.com plans: what each tier gets you Many older guides say WordPress.com plugins require the Business plan. That is out of date. WordPress.com's support docs now state that "installing plugins is available on all WordPress.com paid plans: Personal, Premium, Business, and Commerce." Here are the limits that matter for a business blog: PlanStorageCustom domainVisitor adsWhat it addsFree1 GBNo (subdomain only)ShownNothing beyond the basicsPersonal6 GBFree for year one (yearly plans)RemovedPlugins, all premium themesPremium13 GBFree for year one (yearly plans)RemovedPremium stats, payment buttons, video uploadsBusiness50 GBFree for year one (yearly plans)RemovedReal-time backups, SFTP/SSH, WP-CLI, GitHub deployments, 24/7 priority supportCommerce50 GBFree for year one (yearly plans)RemovedWooCommerce store tools, selling in 60+ countries Two more numbers are worth knowing. Personal and Premium include automated daily backups, while Business and Commerce get real-time backups. And WordPress.com takes a fee on paid subscriptions and payments you collect: 10% on Free, 8% on Personal, 4% on Premium, 2% on Business and 0% on Commerce, plus Stripe's processing fee. For a company blog that needs a custom domain, plugins and no ads, Personal at $48 a year is the floor. Teams that want developer access and real-time backups land on Business at $300 a year. ## Self-hosted WordPress: the real cost Self-hosting gives you full control, and every piece is a separate bill. These are the line items a business blog usually carries, priced from first-party pages in November 2026. Line itemProductVerified priceNotesShared hostingBluehost Starter$3.99/mo intro36-month term; renews at $9.99/moManaged hostingKinsta Single 20GB$35/mo, or $350/yr billed annuallyFirst month free; 10 GB storage, 1 siteDomainPorkbun .com$11.81/yrSame price on renewalSSLIncluded with your host$0Kinsta lists free SSL on all plansThemeAstra Pro (addon only)$69/yrLifetime option also soldSEOYoast SEO Premium$118.80/yrExcludes VATCachingWP Rocket Single$60/yr list ($5/mo)$36 first year on a promo that ends Nov 28, 2026SecurityWordfence Premium$149/yrCare is $590/yr, Response $1,250/yrBackupsUpdraftPlus Premium Personal$70/yrUp to 2 sitesFormsWPForms Basic$49.50/yr introRenews at $99; Pro is $199.50 intro, $399 fullDeveloper timeCodeable expert$80 to $120/hrPlus Codeable's 17.5% service fee Hosting is the largest software line. Shared hosting looks cheap on the intro rate, but Bluehost's $3.99 requires a three-year term and renews at $9.99. Managed hosting costs more and buys you speed, staging and support. The plugin stack is where the bill grows. Yoast, WP Rocket, Wordfence, UpdraftPlus and WPForms together come to $447.30 in year one and $496.80 once WPForms renews at full price. Each one renews on its own date, and each update can conflict with the others. Our [WordPress maintenance cost breakdown](/blog/wordpress-maintenance-cost/) covers the labor side month by month. A managed platform like Superblog folds hosting, SEO and speed into one $49/month (Pro) price, with no plugin stack to renew. The full comparison is below. ## Three cost scenarios, summed These budgets use the verified prices above. Hours are our assumption, stated so you can swap in your own. Each total shows the math. ### Scenario 1: Bootstrap You run it yourself on shared hosting with a free theme and free plugins. - Bluehost Starter: $47.88 in year one ($3.99 x 12), $119.88 at renewal ($9.99 x 12) - Domain: $11.81 - Theme, plugins, SSL: $0 - Labor: your own time **Total: $59.69 in year one ($47.88 + $11.81), $131.69 at renewal ($119.88 + $11.81).** Call it $60 to $132 a year. ### Scenario 2: Typical business blog Managed hosting, a premium theme, the paid plugin stack and a modest amount of developer time. - Kinsta Single 20GB: $350 (annual) to $420 (monthly, $35 x 12) - Domain: $11.81 - Astra Pro: $69 - Plugin stack: $447.30 (year one) to $496.80 (renewal) - Developer time: 10 to 25 hours a year at $80 to $120/hr, so $800 to $3,000 **Low end: $350 + $11.81 + $69 + $447.30 + $800 = $1,678.11.** **High end: $420 + $11.81 + $69 + $496.80 + $3,000 = $3,997.61.** That is about $1,680 to $4,000 a year. Software is $878 to $998 of it. The rest is labor, and labor grows as you publish more. That is before Codeable's 17.5% fee, which would add $140 to $525. ### Scenario 3: High-traffic blog Bigger hosting, upgraded security and forms, and a developer on monthly hours. - Kinsta Single 125GB to Single 250GB: $1,700 to $2,900 billed annually ($142 to $242/mo) - Domain $11.81, Astra Pro $69, Yoast $118.80, WP Rocket $60, UpdraftPlus $70 - Wordfence Care: $590 - WPForms Pro: $199.50 (year one) to $399 (renewal) - Developer time: 5 to 15 hours a month (60 to 180 a year) at $80 to $120/hr, so $4,800 to $21,600 **Low end: $1,700 + $1,119.11 in software and plugins + $4,800 = $7,619.11.** **High end: $2,900 + $1,318.61 in software and plugins + $21,600 = $25,818.61.** That is about $7,600 to $25,800 a year. At this level WordPress is a staffed operation. To plug in your own hosting tier, plugins and hourly rate, use our [WordPress cost calculator](/tools/wordpress-cost-calculator). ## The pricing complaints Three things push WordPress bills above the number people expect. Each one is visible on the vendors' own pages. 1. **Renewal jumps.** Bluehost's $3.99 hosting renews at $9.99. WPForms states that "all renewals are at full price," which doubles Basic from $49.50 to $99. Astra's bundles renew higher too: Astra Pro + AI is $99 in year one and $149 after. WP Rocket's current offer says the price "is valid for the 1st year." 2. **Plugin stack creep.** A business blog needs SEO, caching, security, backups and forms. On self-hosted WordPress those are five vendors, five licenses and five renewal dates. On WordPress.com, real-time backups and developer access sit on the Business plan, not the cheaper tiers. 3. **Labor.** Someone installs the stack, tests updates and fixes what breaks. Freelance rates vary widely. Codeable lists $80 to $120 an hour for its vetted WordPress experts. Even 10 hours a year at that rate costs more than the entire plugin stack. ## When WordPress makes sense WordPress is the right call for some teams. It fits when: 1. **You need heavy customization.** Custom post types, bespoke functionality or deep integration with your own stack all need WordPress's open codebase and plugin ecosystem. 2. **You run WooCommerce.** If the blog lives inside a WordPress store, keep it there. Splitting it out rarely pays off. 3. **You already have a WordPress developer.** If the maintenance labor is staffed and fluent, the extra cost of the blog is small. 4. **You need the lowest possible cash cost.** WordPress.com Personal at $48 a year, or a shared host, is cheaper than any managed blog platform. You trade your own time for it. For these teams, the upkeep is a deliberate trade for control. The point is to decide with the real number, not "free." ## When to consider an alternative Look elsewhere when the blog is a marketing channel and nobody on the team wants to run WordPress. The signs are plugin updates that sit for weeks, slow pages, and developer hours spent on upkeep instead of growth. Our [WordPress speed guide](/blog/wordpress-speed/) covers the performance side. If that sounds familiar, start with our [WordPress blog alternative](/wordpress-blog-alternative) page, then compare options in our [roundup of WordPress alternatives for a blog](/blog/best-wordpress-alternatives-for-blog/). ## A different approach: Superblog Superblog is a fully managed blogging platform. Hosting, CDN, SSL and the SEO engine are in one price, so there is no plugin stack to buy or update. Here is Scenario 2 set against Superblog: Typical WordPress business blogSuperblog ProSuperblog SuperPrice$1,680 to $4,000/yr$49/month (Pro), or $530/yr billed yearly$99/month (Super), or $1,070/yr billed yearlyHosting, global CDN, SSLBought separatelyIncludedIncludedSEO schemas, sitemaps, IndexNow, llms.txtPlugins plus setupAutomaticAutomaticPlugin updates5 licenses to renew and patchNoneNoneRuns on yoursite.com/blogYesYes, on every paid planYes On yearly billing, Superblog Pro costs $530 against $1,680 to $4,000 for the WordPress setup. That saves $1,150 to $3,470 a year. Most of the gap is the developer time that a managed platform removes. Pro covers up to 1,000 posts and 5 team members, with scheduled posts and analytics. Super adds Zapier, webhooks for leads, custom form fields, spreadsheet import, MCP integration, API access and multilingual SEO. Speed is built in. Pages are pre-built static files on a global CDN, so every page scores 90+ on Lighthouse. Moving off WordPress takes 5 to 10 minutes for most blogs. The import brings your posts, tags and the first category on each post, and your slugs stay the same. Images move to the Superblog CDN on a paid plan. Authors are not migrated, so you reassign bylines after import. The full steps are in our [WordPress migration guide](/blog/migrate-from-wordpress/). There is a 7-day free trial, no credit card required, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. ## Bottom line WordPress.com costs $48 to $540 a year on yearly billing, and Personal is the cheapest plan a business blog can use. Self-hosted WordPress is free to download but costs about $1,680 to $4,000 a year for a typical business blog once hosting, plugins and developer time are counted. If you have the developer and need the control, that money buys real flexibility. If you only need a fast blog that ranks, a flat $49/month (Pro) covers it. ## FAQ ### Is WordPress free? The software is free. A business blog on it is not. ### How much does WordPress cost per month? $4 to $45 a month on WordPress.com (billed yearly). About $140 to $333 a month for a typical self-hosted business blog. ### Can I install plugins on WordPress.com? Yes, on every paid plan. Not on Free. ### How much does WordPress hosting cost? $3.99/month intro on Bluehost (renews at $9.99). $35/month for Kinsta's entry managed plan. ### Which WordPress.com plan does a business blog need? Personal, at $4/month billed yearly. ### Is Superblog cheaper than WordPress? Cheaper than a typical self-hosted business blog: $530 a year on Pro, against about $1,680 to $4,000. WordPress.com Personal costs less in cash. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---