WordPress is the world’s most popular website builder. According to reports, over 43% of all websites use WordPress, and hundreds of new sites are built every single day using the platform. But how do you actually get started? 🤔
In this guide, we’ll show you how to download and install WordPress, step by step.
What is WordPress and why is it free?
Before you learn how to download WordPress, it helps to understand what it is.
WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that lets users create and manage websites easily. It provides a simple interface and thousands of customizable themes and plugins. Anyone can build a great website without coding experience.
👉 There are two WordPress platforms: WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
- WordPress.com is a fully hosted platform, meaning that your website is hosted on WordPress.com’s servers.
- WordPress.org, on the other hand, is a self-hosted platform, which means you need to find your own web hosting provider and install the WordPress software on that hosting account.
WordPress.org is an open-source community project. Developers around the world work on it constantly. Anyone can contribute code, fix bugs, or suggest new features. The result is a flexible platform with more tools and plugins than any other CMS.
WordPress is free to download. However, running a website still has some costs. You need to buy a domain name (your web address) and hosting (where your site lives online).
The good news is that most hosting providers will install WordPress for you automatically. You will not need to do any setup yourself.
Still, you can always install WordPress manually if you want more control. This can be useful for developers or users who want to run WordPress on their own server or computer.
How to download WordPress for free
Get started by heading to WordPress.org’s download page. This page gives you two options. You can download WordPress and install it yourself, or set it up with a hosting provider. We’ll explain the difference between the two in the next section.
1. The first step is to hit the blue Download WordPress button on the left hand of the screen. This will create a zipped folder with everything you need. The button will tell you exactly what version of WordPress you’re getting – it’s always the most recent version of WordPress.
2. Click on the zipped folder to unzip your files. This will automatically create a ‘wordpress’ folder on your computer.
That’s it! 🤩 You now know how to download WordPress for free.
Next, you’ll need to install it on your hosting account or local server.
How to install WordPress
There are several ways to install WordPress once you have downloaded it. You can learn more about it in our comprehensive step-by-step guide. Here are the most common methods:
- Install WordPress through your hosting provider
- Install WordPress using cPanel
- Install WordPress manually via FTP
- Install WordPress on your local computer
We’ll explain what each one means below.
1. Install WordPress through your hosting provider
This is the easiest option if you want your site to go live quickly.
Most hosting companies now offer one-click WordPress installation during setup. After you sign up for a hosting plan, open your control panel (such as cPanel, Plesk, or your host’s custom dashboard). You should see a WordPress installation option.
Click the installer and follow the prompts. The setup tool creates your database, uploads files, and configures WordPress automatically.
Once it finishes, you can log in to your new WordPress site and start customizing it.
Some managed WordPress hosts will even install it for you during signup. Others might use built-in AI assistants that help you choose themes or recommended plugins.
2. How to download WordPress using cPanel
Many hosts use cPanel to help you manage your website. Inside cPanel, you can use an auto-installer such as Softaculous to install WordPress.
Log in to your cPanel account. Find the auto-installer tool and select WordPress.
The installer will handle everything for you, including creating a database and configuring settings.
When the installation finishes, you can open your WordPress dashboard and begin building your site.
3. Manual installation via FTP
You can also install WordPress manually if you prefer full control.
To do this, you need the FTP connection details from your hosting provider and access to your database manager.
Here’s how:
- Create a new database for WordPress in your hosting control panel.
- Upload the WordPress files to your server via FTP.
- Run the installation script in your browser.
After setup, you’ll have complete control over your WordPress files and database.
This is useful if you want a custom setup or prefer handling everything yourself.
If you are comfortable with command-line tools, you can also use WP-CLI, the WordPress command-line installer. It’s faster and used by developers for automation.
4. Install WordPress on your local computer
You can also install WordPress locally for testing and design. This option is ideal for experimenting before making your site public.
To set up WordPress locally, you need a local server environment such as Local, MAMP, WAMP, or XAMPP. These tools include the software WordPress needs (PHP, MySQL, and Apache).
👉 Read our guide on how to install WordPress on XAMPP for detailed steps on how to get started.
After installing the local environment, place the WordPress files in the correct folder, create a database, and follow the on-screen setup steps.
Modern tools like Local and DevKinsta make this process beginner-friendly.
When you’re ready, you can easily move your local site to a live server.
Important notes before you install WordPress
- Always download WordPress from the official site: wordpress.org. This ensures you get the latest, most secure version.
- Check that your hosting supports PHP 8.1 or higher and MySQL 5.7+ (or MariaDB).
- Choose a reliable host. A good provider will handle updates and backups automatically.
- Managed WordPress hosting can save time if you prefer not to deal with installations or maintenance.
How to download WordPress and create a site
Downloading and installing WordPress is the first step toward building your website.
Once it’s set up, you can log in, pick a theme, and start customizing your pages.
If you choose a good hosting provider, the process is quick and simple. After that, WordPress gives you full control over how your site looks and works.
👉 Once you’ve downloaded and installed WordPress, you can use our easy-to-follow guidelines to make a website.
Hopefully after reading this you now know how to download WordPress, but if you still have some questions, please drop a comment below. We’ll do our best to help.
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