Is WordPress still worth it?

That distinction matters.

For self-hosting, DigitalOcean's smallest Droplet costs $4 a month. It's a virtual server with 512 MiB memory, 1 vCPU, 10 GiB SSD and 500 GiB transfer. That's a server price, not a complete WordPress bill with a domain included.

Here's how the options line up. WordPress.com prices below are US$, per month.

WordPress.com Free comes with 1 GB of storage, WordPress.com ads and a wordpress.com address. You can't connect a custom domain or install plugins.

Personal has 6 GB of storage. Premium has 13 GB, while Business and Commerce each have 50 GB. Yearly and multi-year WordPress.com plans include a free domain for the first year; monthly plans don't.

Check the billing term before choosing. The monthly and yearly prices aren't interchangeable.

What you're taking on with upkeep

With self-hosted WordPress, updates, backups and security are your responsibility. The current release is 7.1 (7.1.4), but installing the software isn't the end of looking after it, and the hosting price doesn't change who's responsible for that work.

Want to do that work yourself? That's part of the decision, not a detail to leave until after you've picked a theme.

Learn WordPress at learn.wordpress.org has free courses and workshops. You can use those if you're starting out or want to learn more about maintaining the site you've already got.

And keep the hosted option separate in your comparison. WordPress.com is the hosted version; WordPress.org is the software you host yourself. Calling both of them "WordPress" without making that distinction leaves out a large part of what you're choosing.

When plugins make WordPress worth keeping

Start with what your site needs to do. If there's a plugin you need, that belongs near the top of your decision, ahead of how a new builder's templates look.

WordPress.com Personal and up can install plugins from a library of over 60,000. You don't have to move to Business just to get plugin access. Free doesn't include it.

For an existing site, ask yourself: which plugins would I need to replace if I moved? Keep the answer specific. A site that depends on plugins is a different decision from a small site that doesn't use them.

WordPress also remains widely used. W3Techs reported in November 2026 that it runs 58.1% of sites with a known CMS. That doesn't decide whether you should use it, but WordPress isn't a disappearing option.

When a smaller builder fits

For a small site that doesn't need plugins, Heya is another option. It's the no-code builder publishing this guide, and you sign in with Google to publish.

Heya Free costs $0, with no credit card and no time limit. It includes 3 sites, up to 5 pages per site, all 68 templates and a yourname.heya.bio address with HTTPS. There's a small Made with Heya badge.

Heya Pro Lite is $3 a month. You get 3 sites with up to 20 pages per site, no badge, and links are no longer marked nofollow.

Need your own domain? Heya Pro Standard is $6 a month and includes 5 sites and 1 custom domain per account with HTTPS. You'll need to bring the domain from a registrar (Heya doesn't sell domains).

Heya Pro Plus is $15 a month. It includes 25 sites, up to 10 custom domains and the option to download your site as a ZIP of HTML files.

There are limits to check before moving. Heya allows 40 sections per page, 60 blocks per section and images up to 20 MB. Its SEO settings include a title of up to 120 characters, a description of up to 300 characters, a favicon and a share image.

There's no built-in store, checkout or form builder. You link a button to your checkout or store page, use a Google Form or Tally form, and use the Calendly embed for bookings.

Should you start or stay?

If you're starting, choose around the site you need to publish. WordPress is worth considering for a big blog or a site that needs plugins. For a small site without those needs, compare a builder's page limits and features against what you want to put online.

Already on WordPress? Check your plugins, your hosting and domain costs, and the upkeep you're doing before deciding to move. If you want to stay with WordPress but don't want to self-host, WordPress.com is the hosted option to compare.

If you're considering Heya, check the page allowance, the custom-domain plan and whether linking out for forms or checkout fits your site.

Related guides: Best WordPress plan, Learn WordPress in 3 days, WordPress alternatives and GoDaddy vs WordPress.

More from Heya: All guides, Templates and Pricing.