Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups
Register | Login

WordPress.com VS Jekyll

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

Zarla
Zarla: The AI Website Builder for Local Businesses featured
Contents:
  1. » Base Details
  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

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.

Jekyll logo Jekyll

Jekyll is a simple, blog aware, static site generator.
  • WordPress.com Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-03
  • Jekyll Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-17

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.

Jekyll features and specs

  • Speed and Performance
    Jekyll generates static websites, which means they load faster compared to dynamic websites. No database queries are required, reducing server overhead and improving performance.
  • Security
    Static sites have a smaller attack surface compared to dynamic sites because they don't rely on databases or server-side code. This means fewer vectors for potential compromises.
  • Simplicity
    Jekyll setups are relatively straightforward, especially if you are comfortable writing in Markdown and HTML. This can make it easier to manage and maintain your website.
  • Integration with GitHub Pages
    Jekyll is designed to work seamlessly with GitHub Pages, allowing you to host your website for free with automatic deployment directly from your GitHub repository.
  • Customizability
    Jekyll allows for extensive customization through its support for plugins, themes, and templates. This can be helpful to create a unique look and functionality for your website.

Possible disadvantages of Jekyll

  • Learning Curve
    While Jekyll is simpler than some other static site generators, it does require some familiarity with the command line, version control (Git), and YAML configuration.
  • Build Time
    For large websites, the build times can become lengthy, which can slow down the development process, especially if you are making frequent updates.
  • Lack of Real-time Content Updates
    Since Jekyll generates static sites, real-time content updates (e.g., comments, dynamic forms) aren't natively supported and require third-party services or additional tooling.
  • Dependence on Ruby
    Jekyll is built with Ruby, so you will need to have Ruby installed and occasionally deal with Ruby-specific issues. This might be a drawback for developers who are not familiar with the Ruby ecosystem.
  • Limited Built-in Functionality
    While Jekyll is very flexible, it doesn’t have built-in support for many features out of the box, which might require you to manually implement or rely on plugins.

WordPress.com videos

+ Add

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

Jekyll videos

+ Add

Getting Started With Jekyll, The Static Site Generator

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to WordPress.com and Jekyll)

WordPress.com

Jekyll

CMS
71 71%
CMS
29% 29
Website Builder
100 100%
Website Builder
0% 0
Blogging
28 28%
Blogging
72% 72
Website Design
100 100%
Website Design
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using WordPress.com and Jekyll. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

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

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...
Source: blog.radwebhosting.com
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.
Source: www.tooltester.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

Jekyll Reviews

Best Gitbook Alternatives You Need to Try in 2023
Jekyll is a static site generator often used to create blogs and websites, similar to Gitbook in its ability to generate documentation from markdown files. Jekyll is built in Ruby and is known for its flexibility and ease of use. It also has a large community and a wide variety of plugins and themes available. Jekyll's main advantage is that it is highly customizable,...
Source: www.archbee.com
11 Popular Free And Open Source WordPress CMS alternatives in 2021
Unlike some listed alternatives, Jekyll is also a static site generator so it lays in the same category. It uses Ruby and we would say it's simpler, free, and open-source CMS software.
Source: medevel.com
10 static site generators to watch in 2021
Perhaps most conveniently described as Jekyll implemented with JavaScript rather than Ruby, Eleventy has now moved beyond that while retaining a clear and simple on-ramp, and only shipping to the browser what you tell it too. As with Jekyll and Hugo, no JavaScript frameworks are auto-baked in.
Source: www.netlify.com
Hugo vs Jekyll: an Epic Battle of Static Site Generator Themes
Jekyll isn’t strict with its content location. It expects pages in the root of your site, and will build whatever’s there. Here’s how you might organize these pages in your Jekyll site root:
Source: www.freecodecamp.org
9 Reasons I Think Craft is the Best CMS on the Market Today
Craft CMS is simple, minimalistic, agile and has every capability a modern CMS framework needs. Over the past ten years we have worked with every CMS you could think of (Wordpress, Drupal, Rails+ActiveAdmin, Ghost, Weebly, DjangoCMS, Jekyll, Joomla, Tumblr, Squarespace, Expression Engine, Statamic, Blogger)… here are the reasons why we’ve landed firmly with Craft as our №1...
Source: hackernoon.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, WordPress.com should be more popular than Jekyll. It has been mentiond 1019 times since March 2021. 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 (1019)

View more

Jekyll mentions (194)

  • How to create a blog with Quartz, GitHub, and Cloudflare
    If you don't want to use Jekyll as your static site generator for GitHub Pages and you want to have a custom domain for your GitHub Pages. This post is for you! - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Blogging with Obsidian and Jekyll
    Jekyll is a static site generator that transforms Markdown files into a fully functional website. Everything is generated into plain HTML, which makes it simple to deploy on platforms like GitHub Pages. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Create a Blogging Platform With No Backend (Zero Hosting Fee)
    Obviously, there are a dozen choices for generating static websites (efficiently and quickly), from the classic Jekyll to the new Next.js. And you are good to go with any of them as long as your confident with it. I choose 11ty because:. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • It's easy to dev blog
    In your repository settings you need to turn on GitHub Pages to make it pull Jekyll content (that's the magic✨ default GitHub Pages build tool) from your GitHub repository. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • How to build a blog with NodeJS
    If you're looking to start a blog (or if you're thinking of redesigning yours although you haven't posted in 2 years), you'll stumble upon a lot of options and it can be incredibly daunting; and if you stumble with the newest Josh's post about his stack it is easy to feel overwhelmed with the shown stack. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing WordPress.com and Jekyll, 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.

Hugo - Hugo is a general-purpose website framework for generating static web pages.

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

Ghost - Ghost is a fully open source, adaptable platform for building and running a modern online publication. We power blogs, magazines and journalists from Zappos to Sky News.

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.

Hostinger - Everything You Need to Create a Website

Loading...