Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

WordPress.com VS Gridsome

Compare WordPress.com VS Gridsome and see what are their differences

WordPress.com logo WordPress.com

Create a free website or build a blog with ease on WordPress.com. Dozens of free, customizable, mobile-ready designs and themes. Free hosting and support.

Gridsome logo Gridsome

Gridsome is a free & open source Vue.js-powered framework for building websites & apps that are fast by default 🚀.
  • WordPress.com Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-03
  • Gridsome Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-15

WordPress.com features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    WordPress.com provides a user-friendly interface that is easy for beginners to navigate. It offers pre-installed themes and plugins, making it simple to get started with a minimal learning curve.
  • Maintenance-Free
    The platform handles all the technicalities such as updates, backups, and security, allowing users to focus solely on creating content.
  • Cost-Effective
    There are free plans available, and even the paid plans are relatively affordable. It eliminates the need for a separate hosting service, reducing overall costs.
  • Built-In Community
    WordPress.com hosts a large community of users, providing opportunities for networking and increased visibility through its social features.
  • Scalability
    Various premium plans allow you to scale up as your website grows. You can start with a free plan and upgrade to more advanced features as needed.

Possible disadvantages of WordPress.com

  • Limited Customization
    You have less control over your website's design and functionality compared to self-hosted WordPress. Custom themes and plugins are often restricted or not allowed.
  • Monetization Restrictions
    Free and lower-tier plans have limitations on monetization options. For instance, you can't use third-party ad networks unless you upgrade to a higher-tier plan.
  • Less Flexibility
    The platform is less flexible compared to self-hosted solutions. Certain advanced features and customizations are not available or are limited.
  • Data Portability
    Migrating your site from WordPress.com to another platform can be complicated and may require technical assistance, posing a challenge if you decide to move.
  • Price for Advanced Features
    While the basic plans are affordable, the cost can add up if you choose to add advanced features and services. Some premium options can be relatively expensive.

Gridsome features and specs

  • Performance
    Gridsome generates static sites that are highly optimized and fast. Since the sites are pre-rendered and served as static files, they load quickly, which is beneficial for user experience and SEO.
  • Scalability
    Static sites generated by Gridsome can easily scale to handle high traffic loads without the need for complex server-side infrastructure, making it ideal for websites with fluctuating traffic.
  • GraphQL Integration
    Gridsome uses GraphQL to query data from various sources, providing a unified and efficient way to fetch and manage data, and allowing developers to request only the data they need.
  • Vue.js Ecosystem
    As a framework built on top of Vue.js, Gridsome allows developers to leverage the powerful features and community support of Vue, including components, libraries, and tools.
  • SEO Friendly
    Gridsome supports pre-rendering and dynamic routing, which help in creating SEO-optimized websites that are easy for search engines to index.

Possible disadvantages of Gridsome

  • Build Time
    For large sites with extensive content, the build times can be significant, potentially impacting deployment speed and productivity when making frequent changes.
  • Limited Interactivity
    Since Gridsome generates static pages, implementing highly dynamic or real-time features requires additional client-side development, potentially increasing complexity.
  • Plugin Ecosystem
    Compared to more mature static site generators or full-fledged frameworks, Gridsome's plugin ecosystem is relatively smaller, which might limit out-of-the-box functionalities.
  • Learning Curve
    Developers new to Vue.js or GraphQL might face a steeper learning curve when initially adopting Gridsome, requiring time to become productive.
  • Community Size
    Gridsome's community is smaller compared to other popular frameworks, which might impact the availability of resources, support, and third-party contributions.

Analysis of WordPress.com

Overall verdict

  • WordPress.com is generally considered a good platform, especially for bloggers, small businesses, and users who prefer a managed website solution. It strikes a balance between ease of use and powerful features, though it may not offer the same level of flexibility and control as self-hosted WordPress.org for developers and larger businesses.

Why this product is good

  • WordPress.com is a popular choice because it is user-friendly, offers robust customization options, and requires minimal technical skills to set up and maintain. It provides a range of plans, from free to premium, catering to various needs. The platform also handles hosting, security, and updates, which can be advantageous for users seeking convenience.

Recommended for

  • Bloggers
  • Small business owners
  • Individuals who need a simple personal website
  • Users who prefer a managed hosting environment
  • People with minimal technical expertise

Analysis of Gridsome

Overall verdict

  • Gridsome is a strong choice for developers familiar with Vue.js who want to build static sites with enhanced performance and flexibility. Its modern development experience and robust feature set position it as a viable alternative to traditional CMS or server-side rendered options, particularly for projects prioritizing speed and security.

Why this product is good

  • Gridsome is a popular static site generator that leverages the power of Vue.js to build fast, secure, and scalable websites. It offers a smooth integration with various CMSs and APIs, providing flexibility in how content is sourced and displayed. Developers appreciate its GraphQL layer, which allows for querying content in an intuitive and efficient way. Gridsome's focus on performance through code-splitting, lazy loading, and prefetching makes it an attractive choice for building high-performing sites.

Recommended for

  • Developers familiar with Vue.js
  • Projects requiring fast and optimized static sites
  • Websites sourcing content from various APIs or CMSs
  • SEO-focused projects thanks to its pre-rendering capabilities
  • Developers seeking a modern development workflow with features like hot-reloading and GraphQL

WordPress.com videos

WordPress.COM Review: Is it really easier than WordPress.ORG?

More videos:

  • Review - Wordpress.com Review: Good For Users Familiar with Wordpress
  • Review - WORDPRESS.COM REVIEW 2020: THE BEST WEBSITE BUILDER?! | PROS AND CONS | TECH TIME #110
  • Review - WordPress.org VS WordPress.com: The Confusing Differences Explained!
  • Review - Should You Use WordPress.com? | WordPress.com Honest Review

Gridsome videos

What is Gridsome Static Site Generation

More videos:

  • Review - Nuxt.js vs VuePress: Battle For The Best Blog App // Nuxt vs Gridsome
  • Tutorial - How to build a movie review website with GRIDSOME and STATICMAN

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to WordPress.com and Gridsome)
CMS
98 98%
2% 2
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Website Builder
100 100%
0% 0
Blogging
85 85%
15% 15

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare WordPress.com and Gridsome

WordPress.com Reviews

WordPress vs. Proprietary Site Builders: What to Know Before Starting a Website Development Project
WordPress: WordPress.org (not to be confused with WordPress.com) is an open-source content management system (CMS). When you build a website on WordPress, you own the code, the design, and the data. This means you can fully customize your site, transfer it to any hosting provider, and have complete control over all aspects of the website. The site can be hosted on any...
Comparing 9 WordPress alternatives & competitors in 2024
WordPress.com claims affordability as one of their best benefits. Their pricing plans are similar to other website platforms like Wix, but many of the plugins and assets that add crucial features like product listings and SEO tools come at a steep cost. Even if you only add one or two plugins, like WooCommerce or Yoast, you’ll spend more on add-ons than on the website...
Source: webflow.com
19 Best WordPress Alternatives in 2025
While WordPress is undeniably popular, it might not be the perfect fit for everyone. Here are the key differences between WordPress.com (hosted platform) and WordPress.org (self-hosted software) to help you understand more about WordPress and why you should look for an alternative website builder:
Source: www.pixpa.com
The 17 Best Wix Alternatives (2024) Who Else Can You Build Your Website With?
WordPress is the undisputed king of CMS or Content Management Systems. From blogs to online stores, there isn’t much you can’t do with this powerful website building solution. Keep in mind that WordPress comes in two versions: WordPress.org and WordPress.com.
8+ Best Cheap Domain Name Providers in 2024 [Compared]
WordPress.com has grown to become one of the leading domain registration companies in the industry in the past few years. While they strive to keep their prices competitive, they also maintain a high level of service quality and customer support.
Source: themehunk.com

Gridsome Reviews

Top 10 Next.js Alternatives You Can Try
To build your web pages with ultra-performance, Gridsome offers you instant hot-reloading for any code change. This framework allows you to get asset optimization and progressive images that you can use with perfect page speed scores. Notably, this Next.js alternative can manage thousands to millions of hits without slowing your workflow.
20 Next.js Alternatives Worth Considering
Gridsome is to Vue.js what Gatsby is to React. A static site generation darling, it merges Vue with GraphQL and a suite of top-notch developer delights. It’s striking the perfect chord for devs digging data-driven JAMstack websites that are built to impress.
10 static site generators to watch in 2021
Gridsome is a Vue.js-powered framework for building static generated websites & apps. Leading with the phrase “fast by default”, Gridsome generates an HTML and also a JSON file for every page of your site and then uses progressive enhancement to add some client-side utilities to give you things like link pre-fetching based on the when links come into view, code splitting,...
Source: www.netlify.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, WordPress.com seems to be a lot more popular than Gridsome. While we know about 1020 links to WordPress.com, we've tracked only 22 mentions of Gridsome. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

WordPress.com mentions (1020)

View more

Gridsome mentions (22)

  • How Bun can help to revive a Gridsome project
    This website is built with Gridsome — one of the oldest static site generators, which is practically not maintained anymore. It causes some troubles for working with websites based on it, specifically the necessity to use Node.js v14 which is quite obsolete and poorly supported on all the public deployment platforms, including Netlify. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • My Sixth Year as a Bootstrapped Founder
    Thanks for reading! The web tech stack is actually one of my biggest regrets. It's a static site generator called Gridsome[0] that the maintainers abandoned about three months after I used it to launch the TinyPilot website. At the time I made the TinyPilot site, I was very excited about Vue, so a Vue-based SSG seemed great. Since then, I've come to find SPAs and most frontend frameworks to be way too much... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • How To Choose the Best Static Site Generator and Deploy it to Kinsta for Free
    Nuxt.js and Gridsome are tailor-made for Vue.js developers. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Top ten popular static site generators (SSG) in 2023
    Gridsome — Jamstack SSG tool for Vue developers. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Will anyone hire a 33 yo newbie?
    Node is basically back-end Javascript. While powerful alone, almost exclusively you will use a back-end framework like Next.js or Gatsby when using React, and then maybe Nuxt or Gridsome in Vue. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing WordPress.com and Gridsome, you can also consider the following products

WordPress - WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.

GatsbyJS - Blazing-fast static site generator for React

WiX - Create a free website with Wix.com. Customize with Wix' website builder, no coding skills needed. Choose a design, begin customizing and be online today

Nuxt.js - Nuxt.js presets all the configuration needed to make your development of a Vue.js application enjoyable. It's a perfect static site generator.

SquareSpace - Squarespace is the easiest way for anyone to create an exceptional website. Pages, galleries, blogs, e-commerce, domains, hosting, analytics, 24/7 support - all included.

Doxygen - Generate documentation from source code