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Started the blog in 2016, was paying for it however did not seem to be getting any value at the time. Now WP has added a bar at the top stating you are on the free version and to upgrade. Is this some sort of shaming technique to be able to get users to use the paid version? Is there any benefit of paying for the base plan?
Everyone here is going to tell you not to use WPcom and self host.
You can get a VPS for around $10 a month. And you’ll be able to do whatever you want to your site.
Edit: $10 a month compared to WPcom’s prices isn’t bad. Weird people get upset for offering this advice.
No, if you want to learn there are better options. Find a host (except Godaddy and Bluehost/EIG) and DIY.
Get yearly shared hosting, most will charge around $30.
Install wordpress via softaculous in Cpanel (it’s simple process)
You are good to go.
There are hundreds of web hosting companies that you can host a wordpress site on. My current host (www.onlyonehost.com) has a package for 1 domain and all the storage and bandwidth you may need for $48 US a year (includes free .be, .com, .co.uk, .es, .eu, .fr, .it, .me.uk, .org.uk, .uk, .us, .fun, .online, .press, .site, .space, .store, .tech, .website domain name)
I would move to self-hosted, or get the business plan. It’s easy to move from .com to self-hosted. Namecheap stellar hosting is cheap as hell and works great. LOok into it!