What advantage does hosting your own WP rather than WP.com?

Pro = 1 word: control.
Con = nobody does anything for you, you MUST learn a lot to be able to manage your blog.

Moshu,

Thanks. I told a client that there were advantages to being able to modify the site more if you host it yourself, but I should have checked my facts first. Now I am being asked what those advantages are. Can you say more about control please?

We do want to use its CMS function as well as a blog.

control is a simple concept — wordpress.com blogs have limitations, one example being with ads.. free blogs are not allowed to provide ad content.

Obviously a blog that is “self hosted” can provide ads if they want.

Another example would be plugins and themes, wordpress.com blogs come with a defined set of plugins and themes available. You cannot install more.

a “self hosted” blog allows you to pick and chose your plugins and themes.

control is a very simple concept.

and not surprisingly, this is googlable:

https://faq.wordpress.com/2006/05/07/wordpresscom-vs-wordpressorg/

Themes: you upload your own themes, as opposed to working with what wp.com offers. You can NOT edit themes’ template files.
Plugins – same as above with themes. (i.e on wp.com you can NOT install the plugins you’d like).
You can not have ads on your blog.

But ultimately, it is always about what the client needs.
(maybe they need a knowledgable WP-pro…)

Very helpful thanks. I have what I need.