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Hello all,
Pretty new to WP, hopefully I can find help here.
I read everywhere that Astra is a free theme, yet I can't install it unless I upgrade to a business plan… I have a personal plan at the moment. I tried installing it via the homepage and the zip file, same results on both.
I also have this message under "Plug-ins" that says I need to upggrade to business plan in order to install any plug-in. And I mean any, there are zero plug-in I can install with my personal plan it seems.
I've seen videos of people installing Astra and plug-ins with a free plan, I really don't understand why I have access to absolutely nothing!
Hope this was not covered before (I did not find anything), and that you guys can help me!
Thanks in advance!
Hello,
You’ve signed up for a [WordPress.com](http://WordPress.com) plan, which is not the correct plan. Please cancel this account and sign up at a webhost like WPEngine, Cloudways, or SiteGround and from there you can use WordPress how you deem fit, including installing plugins and themes!
You got duped by WordPress.com
Cancel your account and get some proper wordpress hosting
Sounds like you’re using WordPress.com. That is different to WordPress.org (which is the actual open source CMS that is used on basically every other web host). See the pinned post on this subreddit.
My advice, move away from [WordPress.com](http://WordPress.com) to basically any other web host (most will support a one-click installer for WordPress to get it up and running very quickly).
If you don’t wish to move to a new host, then your only option is to upgrade to a paid plan that allows plugins/themes to be installed unfortunately.
Note: plugins and themes can be installed for free on WordPress, but it’s [WordPress.com](http://WordPress.com) that’s removed this feature from their free plans in order to get you to upgrade to a paid plan.
You are using the a confusing and limited version from WordPress.com which is very different than wordpress.org. The core business of the .com company is to confuse people looking for wordpress.org..
Sign up for a transparent WordPress hosting where you get the real WordPress. Maybe WP Engine, Kinsta, etc.
Matt says people get confused with WP Engine as original WordPress, but it’s his company who’s doing the same.
You need to upgrade to the a higher tier to access Astra and other plugins
Thank you all for your help and everything! Really appreciated!
I subscribed to Ionos, had no issue “linking” my original domain to my new host (and getting another free for a year domain in the process), and just installed WP on my new hosting account. Not finished yet but pretty happy with the outcome so far.
Thanks a lot everyone!