So far, you have been using WordPress.com to create a website that is hosted for free by the company. They also offer subcriptions you can buy for more features. However, it’s important to know that any website through Wordpress.com uses a modified version of the WordPress content management system (CMS). The original version of the WordPress CMS is free. It can be downloaded from WordPress.org.
Using WordPress.org allows you to customize your site a lot more than WordPress.com does. You are also able to freely use some of the features that WordPress.com charges for as part of their subscription plans.
The flip side of using WordPress.org is that you need to find and pay another company to host your website. While WordPress.com does all of the hosting and background work for you, WordPress.org requires you to find a host. (The next section discusses hosting in more detail.)
If you decide you would rather use a WordPress.org installation, you do not need to start from scratch. You can transfer an existing WordPress.com website by following the steps in this link: