You can use the homepage kit at WordPress.COM permanently free of charge, but then you have a very limited range of functions. As soon as you pay a little, more functions are unlocked. You can see the costs here:
If, on the other hand, you download the software from WordPress.ORG and upload it to a hosting of your choice, you can use everything without functional restrictions and pay nothing for the software itself for the rest of your life – just for the hosting. But there is also free hosting in which WordPress can run. This is sometimes enough for testing, but not for a live website – you should pay a little for a suitable domain alone.
You can use the homepage kit at WordPress.COM permanently free of charge, but then you have a very limited range of functions. As soon as you pay a little, more functions are unlocked. You can see the costs here:
If, on the other hand, you download the software from WordPress.ORG and upload it to a hosting of your choice, you can use everything without functional restrictions and pay nothing for the software itself for the rest of your life – just for the hosting. But there is also free hosting in which WordPress can run. This is sometimes enough for testing, but not for a live website – you should pay a little for a suitable domain alone.