WordPress.com, the free blog hosting service from the creators of open source blogging software WordPress, has announced a new hosting package for high-profile, high-traffic bloggers. WordPress.com VIP Hosting "allows these folks to piggyback on our WordPress.com infrastructure, getting the benefits of what we've built without the limitations of a free WordPress.com account around theme editing and javascript." It provides load-balancing across WordPress.com's many servers, SSL administration, Subversion access for template editing, the ability to use WordPress plugins that don't require database table modifications, and no limitations on JavaScript or advertising. The service allows users to have their own domain names (rather than example.wordpress.com), but requires a "Powered by WordPress.com" logo. Currently WordPress.com is only courting "existing high-profile publishers or startups" that it has "a good deal of confidence in," and the price reflects that: $250 per month with a one-time $500 setup fee.[Via Matt Mullenweg]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-27-2006 @ 2:27AM
Chris O'Rourke said...
So if I have this right, Wordpress is charging a massive amount of money for a limited version of the product? Plugins that don't use database modifications? So a "high-profile" customer can choose to pay a startup fee of $750 or else they can go with any number of sites with affordable bandwidth and the free open-source version of wordpress and mod it to the hearts content while still having all of the other functions advertised?
Any startup that uses this service is going through the same types of financial mismanagement that killed startups 8 years ago.
Why pay more for something that gives you less flexibility for something that can be downloaded freely?
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9-27-2006 @ 4:05AM
Matt said...
The folks who we're targeting with the service are generally spending quite a bit more than 250/mo right now. If anything, we priced it too low.
Once you get 2+ servers for availability, someone to admin them, keeping up with software updates, dealing with crashes at 3 am... 250 starts to look like a bargain. (It is, which is why we're limiting signups.)
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