WordPress was created by developers Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little as a fork of the blogging site b2/cafelog. b2's original developer, Michel Valdrighi, abandoned the project in 2002. Mullenweg, at the time running his own blog on the software Movable Type, made a post about his concerns with b2's lack of support and upgrades, as well as seeing the potential to improve on the existing code. This attracted the attention of Little, who began working with Mullenweg on their new version of the platform, which was officially released as Wordpress in May of 2003.
WordPress.org
WordPress.org provides the source code for WordPress, allowing users to self-host it on their own server. This route requires a site host and external costs to manage the upkeep of the WordPress site. WordPress.org serves as the home page of the WordPress project, containing documentation, news, community links, and forums.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com provides paid hosting for WordPress sites, allowing users to easily set up sites with little to no development knowledge, and providing support, maintenance, and security. The most basic plan is free, with Personal, Premium, Business, and Commerce plans offered at monthly rates of $9, $18, $40, and $70, respectively. The highest plan, Enterprise, starts at $25,000 per year and is used by companies like Samsung, Meta, and Time.
Summary
WordPress began as a fork of blogging site b2/cafelog by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little, improving its features and enhancing its security. Released as open-source software, WordPress is free to download and install from WordPress.org, but managed hosting plans are also available through WordPress.com. Both sites contain extensive documentation, resources, and information on WordPress as a software and as a paid service, and users creating WordPress sites have many options to set up and manage their websites.