Introducing Payments for the Free Plan and Up – WordPress.com News

Until now, writers and creators who wanted to start earning on their WordPress.com site needed to upgrade to one of our paid plans. Those days are officially behind us. 

Now, whether you’re on the Free plan or one of the paid tiers, you can start collecting payments and earning from your work from day one. That makes a site on the Free plan a fully-fledged, zero-risk platform for every creator looking to share and earn from their work. 

Starting from scratch, not starting from zero

At WordPress.com we reckon that anyone should be able to spin up a site and start creating. We wanted to take that even further by making it possible for anyone to start earning from the work they put into the world, too.

This isn’t just about making money—it’s about empowering you to take creative risks and push boundaries instead of fretting about what it’ll cost. Spoiler: it won’t cost you anything.

A few free flavors of paid

So you’ll now find that there are few ways to earn a little (or a lot) from the work you publish on WordPress.com, whatever plan you’re on.

• Gated, exclusive content? Check. 
• Paid subscriptions at a price you decide? Check. 
• Selling one-off items like photos, songs, or ebooks? Check. 
• Giving your audience a quick way to tip you or donate to your cause? Double check.
• And more.

They’re all available on the Free plan. And every other plan, too. The only limit is that you’ll need to be in a country where Stripe payments are currently supported.

Free as in freedom

The beauty of starting with our Free plan? You’re not locked in. It’s like a creative sandbox, and you’re free to play. For as long as you like. The Free plan isn’t just a trial—it’s forever. So take your time, build your audience, and when you’re ready to expand your horizons, we’ll be right here.

As you grow, you might want a little more. More customization options, more plugins, a custom domain, or maybe even dipping your toes into the ocean of ecommerce with the powerful WooCommerce platform. When you’re ready for that extra power, we’ve got you covered with a range of affordable plans. It’s always up to you.

Making it possible

To make this as accessible to as many people as possible we’ve set up a sliding scale of transaction fees that goes from 10% on the Free plan down to zero on our Commerce plan. That means you can grow at your own pace, striking the right balance for you as your project or audience grows.

It’s a bit like choosing the right gear for a bike ride—you can start in a lower gear, then shift up as you build momentum. 

Here’s how that looks:

*Depending on your region, you’ll also pay a standard Stripe fee for each payment made to your Stripe account. You can read a little more about that, here. 

For the creators, the coders, the artists, and makers

At WordPress.com, we believe that anyone should be able to create, share, and profit from their passions, vision, and work, whatever budget they’re playing with. It’s not just about making a living—it’s about taking risks, trying things out, and making a difference. And when you build on WordPress.com you’re building on a platform that’s been here for 17 years and counting, sending out 20 million+ emails a day and serving lightning-fast sites across the planet.

Whether you’re an author, an influencer, an artist, or a photographer, the power to get paid for the work you made is here, and here for good. We’d love to hear what you’re working on.