# WordPress.com — Website Builders

WordPress.com by Aut O'Mattic A8C Ireland Ltd. holds a panel rating of 3.5/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 2.5/5), as of 2026-10-29. Provenance: Rest of world; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: Aut O'Mattic A8C Ireland Ltd. (https://wordpress.com)
- Category: [Website Builders](https://whats-best.ai/software/website-builder.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): Rest of world
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/website-builder/wordpress-com
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/website-builder/wordpress-com/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/website-builder/wordpress-com/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-11-04 · evaluated 2026-10-29 · oldest source captured 2026-10-28

**AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology

## At a glance

- Vendor: Aut O'Mattic A8C Ireland Ltd.
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 28 Oct 2026
- Data hosting: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 28 Oct 2026
- Free plan: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 28 Oct 2026
- Starting price: “From €9 €2.75/month on a 3-year Personal plan.” (vendor’s words) [S9]

## The panel's verdict

WordPress.com's bench scores are strongest on hosting and portability, clustering at 8 on a CDN across 28+ data centres, 99.99% uptime since 2005, free Let's Encrypt SSL, unmetered bandwidth and a documented export path, though the standard export leaves theme design and plugins behind. Editor and design and forms and business follow at 7 to 8. The weakest area is sovereignty, clustered at 5: EU customers contract with Aut O'Mattic A8C Ireland Ltd. in Dublin, yet the pages state data sits on US and EU servers and cannot be restricted to a single location, Automattic Inc. remains controller for some processing worldwide, and the subprocessor list names only Stripe and Titan. Judges genuinely split on pricing transparency, from 5 to 8: all four plans carry published euro prices, but the promotional term's duration, the payments feature's percentage fee and the mailbox price are not stated, and the captured pages give different statements on refunds. SEO and marketing runs 5 to 7 and legal compliance 5 to 6, with no public information on sitemaps, structured data or consent logging.

**Speaks for it:**
- Hosting and portability scores cluster at 8, on a CDN across 28+ data centres, 99.99% uptime since 2005, free Let's Encrypt SSL, unmetered bandwidth and real-time backups with one-click restores from the Business plan up
- All four plans carry published euro prices with regular and promotional monthly figures — Personal €9 and €4, Premium €18 and €8, Business €40 and €25, Commerce €70 and €45 per month, billed every 12 months, excl. taxes
- A data processing agreement satisfying standard model clauses is available to all site owners and requestable from account settings
- Content export to standard XML plus a separate media library export is documented step by step, with full backup download on Business and Commerce
- Two editing surfaces, reusable patterns, restorable template revisions and staging from the Business plan support real design control; editor and design scores run 7 to 8

**Held against it:**
- Sovereignty scores cluster at 5, with data on US and EU servers that cannot be restricted to a single location, Automattic Inc. as controller for some processing worldwide, and only Stripe and Titan named in the subprocessor list
- Form submissions are transmitted via email and the forms guide warns they are not a secure method for private data, with integrations limited to Business and Commerce plans
- The payments feature fee is stated only as 'a percentage (which depends on your plan)', the mailbox price is not published, and the shown price is an estimate finalised at checkout by billing country
- The captured pages give different statements on refunds — a 14-day money-back guarantee on marketing pages against terms stating payments are final
- We found no public information on sitemaps, structured data, collaborator roles or multilingual pages; SEO and marketing scores run 5 to 7

**Best for:**
- You want a managed WordPress site you can design and export yourself, with two editing surfaces, hundreds of templates and 60,000+ plugins from any paid plan
- You are starting free — signup needs only an email address and no credit card — or on Personal at €4 per month billed every 12 months
- You sell online on Business or Commerce, which carry 0% transaction fees for WooCommerce payments, with a full WooCommerce store on Commerce
- You need a data processing agreement with standard model clauses for your compliance file, requestable from account settings

**Avoid if:**
- You must keep a site's data in a single region — the pages state that restriction is not possible, and Automattic Inc. remains controller for some processing worldwide
- You would collect private data through forms — the guide warns submissions travel by email and are not a secure method for private data
- You need consent handling that blocks scripts until given — the documented banner notifies visitors about cookies used
- You need the full price before committing — ask the vendor: the public pages we read do not show it

## Scores by judge and criterion

Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price, or the judge found no public information on that criterion.

| Criterion | The Small-Business Owner | The Freelance Web Designer | The Marketing Lead | The Practice Owner | The Data Protection Officer | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Editor, templates & design control | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Hosting, domains & portability | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| SEO, analytics & visibility | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 2.5/5 |
| Forms, bookings & business features | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Imprint, privacy & cookie compliance | 3/5 | 3/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 3/5 | 2.5/5 |
| European sovereignty | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 |
| Pricing transparency | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 2.5/5 |
| **Weighted verdict** | **3.5/5** | **3.5/5** | **3.5/5** | **3/5** | **3.5/5** | **3/5** |

### The judges

- **The Small-Business Owner** (v1.0): Runs a joinery with six staff and builds the company website on a Sunday afternoon. Wants a template that looks like a craftsman and not like a start-up, to be found when someone nearby searches for a carpenter, an enquiry form that lands in the inbox, the imprint and cookie banner handled without a lawyer, and a price that is still clear in the second year.
- **The Freelance Web Designer** (v1.0): Builds about twenty sites a year for doctors, restaurants and consultants, and looks after them afterwards. Wants real control over layout, mobile breakpoints and type, reusable sections across client sites, a client login that cannot break the design, backups that restore in one click, and a way to take the site and its content elsewhere if the client or the tool changes.
- **The Marketing Lead** (v1.0): Owns the website of a forty-person engineering firm and is measured on enquiries, not on page views. Wants landing pages built without waiting for the agency, clean URLs, redirects and structured data, analytics that work without a consent wall in front of every visit, and form entries that reach the CRM instead of a shared mailbox.
- **The Practice Owner** (v1.0): Runs a physiotherapy practice with four therapists and a waiting list. Wants patients to book and cancel appointments online, a contact form that does not send health details around in plain email, a site an older patient can read and use, a cookie banner that holds up if the regulator asks, and the data kept in Europe.
- **The Data Protection Officer** (v1.0): Serves as external data protection officer for thirty small companies and reviews their websites once a year. Wants a consent banner that blocks scripts and embeds until the visitor agrees, fonts and maps that do not leave for the US on page load, a data processing agreement and subprocessor list that can be filed, form entries with a retention period, and hosting that is named rather than implied.
- **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Has seen "your website for 1 euro" renew at thirty, templates that only exist inside the builder, an export that turns out to be the blog posts alone, and a domain that costs a fee to move. Reads "GDPR compliant" next to a cookie banner that loads trackers before anyone clicks, and a subprocessor list that stops at the CDN — and asks what leaving would cost.

## European sovereignty — proven facts

Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting location | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting options | Not determined | — | — |
| Open source | Not determined | — | — |
| Data processing agreement | Not determined | — | — |
| Transfer impact assessment | Not determined | — | — |

## Key facts

Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources).

**Compliance**
- Appeals process: written appeals process available for rights request denials; reviewed by internal expert not involved in original request [S4]
- Ddos waf: yes · yes [S2]
- DPA available: all WordPress.com site owners · yes [S16]
- DPA available: yes · https://my.wordpress.com/me/privacy · yes [S15]
- DPA not for free sites: business to business agreement · no [S16]
- DPA request process: https://my.wordpress.com/me/account · Preferences > Privacy > Data processing addendum > Request a DPA · account settings [S16]
- DPA standard model clauses: DPA satisfies standard model clauses requirement for data transfers to Automattic and its subsidiaries [S16]
- GDPR commitment: yes [S16]
- GDPR commitment: WordPress.com committed to operating in accordance with the GDPR [S15]
- GDPR guides: Your WordPress.com site and the GDPR · User guidelines · US privacy laws and your WordPress.com site · Understand PCI DSS compliance [S16]
- Hosting security: yes · yes · yes · yes · yes [S3]
- Https free: Let’s Encrypt · yes [S5]
- Malware protection: yes · no · yes [S3]
- Malware scanning: yes · yes [S2]
- Minors opt out: does not knowingly sell or share personal information of those under 16 [S4]
- Not legal advice: guide is not legal counsel; qualified attorney recommended [S15]
- Opt out gpc: GPC browser signal respected as opt-out [S4]
- Privacy policy shareable license: Creative Commons ShareAlike · yes [S15]
- Privacy uniform for visitors: no [S16]
- Sensitive data: sensitive personal information collected only where strictly necessary or not for inferring characteristics [S4]
- Sha certified: Secure Hosting Alliance (SHA) [S9]
- Two factor: yes · yes [S2]

**Data**
- Ads program: ads program shares online identifiers, device activity and geolocation data; not personally identifying info like name [S4]
- Analytics opt out: internal analytics opt-out available via user settings [S4]
- Backups restore: yes · yes [S2]
- Comment sharing with site owners: IP address and account email may be shared with site administrators when commenting [S4]
- Dnt not supported: does not respond to do-not-track signals [S4]
- Export contents: actual media files · posts · pages · comments · categories · tags · media links [S10]
- Export duration: usually 1-2 minutes [S10]
- Export excludes design: theme design · customizations · plugins · posts · pages · comments [S10]
- Export format: XML/WXR [S10]
- Export import targets: another WordPress.com site · self-hosted WordPress site · other platforms accepting XML [S10]
- Export large sites: email with .zip containing multiple XML files · 1000 [S10]
- Export path: Tools → Export [S10]
- Export public visibility requirement: site must be public during transfer for images to copy [S10]
- International transfers: international transfers protected by European Commission or UK government approved standard contractual arrangements [S4]
- Job applicant retention: job applicant data kept during application process and for a period thereafter [S4]
- Marketing opt out: marketing communications opt-out available; account updates still sent [S4]
- Media export: yes [S10]
- Retention principle: information stored only as long as there is a reason to keep it [S4]
- Shared with site owner: WordPress.com username · email address · product or donation purchased · amount [S14]
- Subprocessor stripe: Stripe · payment providers · fraud prevention services · cloud storage services · postal and email delivery services · customer chat and email support services · registrars · registries · data escrow services · hosting providers [S4]
- Support request publication: reserves right to publish support requests [S4]
- Trash retention: deleted content stays in Trash for thirty days [S4]
- Web server log retention: web server logs kept approximately 30 days [S4]

**Hosting**
- Data locations: US · EU · no [S15]

**Integrations**
- AI agent mcp: Claude · Cursor · GitHub Copilot · Business [S2]
- Akismet: yes · yes [S13]
- Embed other services: Google Forms · Wufoo · Jotform [S13]
- Form plugins: Contact Form 7 · Gravity Forms · Ninja Forms [S13]
- Google analytics: yes [S2]
- Google sheets: yes [S13]
- Jetpack CRM: yes [S13]
- Mailchimp mailpoet: yes [S13]
- Mcp agents: External AI agents can read and edit the website via MCP tool access [S7]
- Mcp external agents: MCP · yes · create and update pages and posts · ChatGPT · Claude · Cursor · OpenClaw [S8]
- Migration: yes · Wix · Squarespace · GoDaddy · Medium · Blogger · WordPress.org [S3]
- Plugins: 60000 [S2]
- Plugins paid plans: no · yes [S11]
- Privacy resources: https://automattic.com/cookies/ · https://automattic.com/privacy-notice/ [S15]
- Products offered: Websites · Blog · Newsletter · Ecommerce · Managed hosting · Agency hosting · Enterprise hosting · Domains · Site migration · Affiliate program · Professional email [S1]
- Salesforce: yes [S13]
- Subprocessors named: Titan (Flock FZLLC) [S5]

**Legal**
- Aut mattic inc controller worldwide: Automattic Inc. is controller for some processing activities across all Services worldwide [S4]
- Automated screening human review: automated application screening subject to human review at every stage [S4]
- Cc sharealike license: Privacy Policy available under Creative Commons Sharealike license [S4]
- Company: Automattic Inc. [S1]
- Company: Automattic Inc. [S13]
- Controller EU: Aut O’Mattic A8C Ireland Ltd. · Grand Canal Dock, 25 Herbert Pl, Dublin, D02 AY86, Ireland [S4]
- Controller US: Automattic Inc. · 60 29th Street #343, San Francisco, CA 94110 [S4]
- Controller woo EU: WooCommerce Ireland Ltd. · Grand Canal Dock, 25 Herbert Pl, Dublin, D02 AY86, Ireland [S4]
- Controller woo US: WooCommerce, Inc. · 60 29th Street #343, San Francisco, CA 94110 [S4]
- Copyright: Automattic Inc. [S3]
- Copyright entity: Automattic Inc. [S15]
- Copyright holder: Automattic Inc. [S7]
- Designated countries: Australia · Canada · Japan · Mexico · New Zealand · Russia · Europe including UK and ROI [S4]
- Designated countries: Australia · Canada · Japan · Mexico · New Zealand · Russia · all countries located in Europe [S5]
- DPA section: Data Processing Agreement referenced as section 19 in Terms of Service · yes [S5]
- Entity: Automattic Inc. [S16]
- Entity designated countries: Aut O’Mattic A8C Ireland Ltd. [S5]
- Entity outside designated countries: Automattic Inc. [S5]
- EU withdrawal address: Grand Canal Dock, 25 Herbert Pl, Dublin, D02 AY86 Ireland [S5]
- Gpl license: vast majority of work available under the General Public License (GPL) [S4]
- Last updated: Last Updated: October 6, 2026 [S5]
- Minimum contract age: 18 [S5]
- Opt out cookie dependency: opt-out managed via cookies; may need to reselect after cookie deletion or in other browsers [S4]

**Pricing**
- Billing periods: months · yes · 1 · 12 · 24 [S5]
- Business: excl. taxes · billed every 12 months · 40 · 25 [S3]
- Cancellation notice: 1 · 24 [S5]
- Commerce: excl. taxes · billed every 12 months · 70 · 45 [S3]
- Cookie banner automatic free plans: yes · yes [S15]
- Custom domain free year: yes [S2]
- Domain price: .com · .org · .net · annual · EUR · 13 [S1]
- Entry price: Personal · 9 · 2.75 [S9]
- EU withdrawal period: European Users · 14 [S5]
- Fee changes: yes [S5]
- Free plan: yes · yes [S2]
- Free plan available: yes [S3]
- Full backup plans: Business · Commerce [S10]
- Geographic pricing: yes [S5]
- Guarantee: 14 [S9]
- Integrations plan requirement: Form integrations require WordPress.com Business or Commerce plan; free, Personal, and Premium plans must upgrade. [S13]
- Lowest paid entry: 4 · 2.75 [S3]
- Personal: excl. taxes · billed every 12 months · 9 · 4 [S3]
- Plugins paid plans: yes [S1]
- Premium: excl. taxes · billed every 12 months · 18 · 8 [S3]
- Refunds: no [S5]
- Taxes excluded: no [S5]
- Vip enterprise price: annual · USD · 25000 [S1]

**Product**
- Account required: yes [S14]
- Activity log: yes [S9]
- Ad credits: 200 · USD [S9]
- Ads removal: yes · yes [S5]
- Advanced design: yes [S2]
- Affiliate agency: yes · 50 [S9]
- Affiliate revenue share: 50 [S3]
- AI website builder: yes [S1]
- Akismet spam: yes [S2]
- Automatic backups: yes · yes [S10]
- Backups: Business · yes [S9]
- Bandwidth: unmetered [S9]
- Beeped: unified inbox for major messaging networks [S5]
- Blaze: advertising campaigns on WordPress.com, Tumblr, WordAds sites [S5]
- Block editor: yes [S2]
- Block list: yes [S8]
- Block patterns: yes [S2]
- Burst scaling: yes · 100 [S2]
- Burst scaling: yes [S9]
- Business storage: 50 [S3]
- Business videopress: Business · 250 [S9]
- Business vs commerce transaction fees: 0 · 0 [S3]
- Call recordings: communications stored including call recordings where legally permitted [S4]

**Support**
- 24 7 paid plans: 24/7 · paid plans · yes [S10]
- 24 7 paid support: paid plans · yes · 24/7 [S11]
- 24x7 paid plans: 24/7 on paid plans [S13]
- Access deletion help: https://wordpress.com/support/contact/ · support contact form [S15]
- AI assistant: yes · 24/7 on paid plans [S12]
- Channels: Support center · Guides · Courses · Forums · Contact [S1]
- Expert support: unmetered traffic · site recovery · dev tools · expert support · yes [S1]
- Export filtering: dates · authors · categories [S10]
- Forum: forum · yes [S7]
- Forum: yes [S13]
- Forum available: community forum · yes [S8]
- Forum channel: yes [S11]
- Help center eligible plans: Contact support available on eligible plans from the editor Help Center [S7]
- Indexing time: Search engines may take two to six weeks or more to discover a new website [S11]
- Manage payments location: Account > Billing > Memberships & donations · Active upgrades [S14]
- Paid human 24 7: 24/7 · paid plans [S16]
- Paid human support: yes · yes [S7]
- Paid plans 24 7: paid plans · yes [S15]
- Paid plans 24 7 expert: paid plans only · yes · 24/7 expert [S8]
- Refunds by site owner: site owner [S14]
- Search console verification: Site verification with Google Search Console and other search engines is supported [S11]

153 more facts on the canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/website-builder/wordpress-com

## Questions

### Is WordPress.com European?

No. whats-best.ai classifies WordPress.com as Rest of world.

### Where does WordPress.com store data?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 28 Oct 2026.

### Does WordPress.com have a free plan?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 28 Oct 2026.

### What are the best alternatives to WordPress.com?

As of 4 Nov 2026, the panel rates [Duda (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/website-builder/duda), [Wix (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/website-builder/wix) and [Framer (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/website-builder/framer) highest among the other 17 Website Builders products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [Framer](https://whats-best.ai/software/website-builder/framer) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [WordPress.com alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/website-builder/wordpress-com/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- 25 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 6 pricing facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 5 compliance facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 data fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 support fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 4 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown.
- 6 of the readings below were written against an earlier fact sheet — a fact has been corrected, added or pulled since. Until the panel next runs on this product you are reading the older judgement.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor homepage: https://wordpress.com/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S2] Features page: https://wordpress.com/features/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S3] Pricing page: https://wordpress.com/pricing/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S4] Privacy policy: https://automattic.com/privacy/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S5] Terms naming the legal entity: https://wordpress.com/tos/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S6] Security page: https://automattic.com/security/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S7] Editor, templates & design control — found from sitemap: https://wordpress.com/support/site-editor/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S8] Editor, templates & design control — found from sitemap: https://wordpress.com/support/wordpress-editor/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S9] Hosting, domains & portability — found from sitemap: https://wordpress.com/hosting/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S10] Hosting, domains & portability — found from sitemap: https://wordpress.com/support/export/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S11] SEO, analytics & visibility — found from sitemap: https://wordpress.com/support/seo/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S12] SEO, analytics & visibility — found from sitemap: https://wordpress.com/support/smart-redirects/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S13] Forms, bookings & business features — found from sitemap: https://wordpress.com/support/forms/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S14] Forms, bookings & business features — found from sitemap: https://wordpress.com/support/recurring-payments/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S15] Imprint, privacy & cookie compliance — found from sitemap: https://wordpress.com/support/your-site-and-the-gdpr/ (checked 2026-10-28)
- [S16] Imprint, privacy & cookie compliance — found from sitemap: https://wordpress.com/support/data-processing-agreements/ (checked 2026-10-28)

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Cite as: whats-best.ai, "WordPress.com — Website Builders", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-11-04. https://whats-best.ai/software/website-builder/wordpress-com

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/1130?target=page