Downgrade Your Plan

WordPress.com offers a range of website plans to suit different needs and budgets. This guide will show you how to move to a lower plan.

WordPress.com has five plan levels. From highest to lowest, these are Entrepreneur, Creator, Explorer, Starter, and Free.

• If your website has the Explorer or Starter plan, you can downgrade it yourself by following the steps in the Downgrade From a Starter or Explorer Plan section below.
• Sites on an Entrepreneur or Creator plan use more advanced features. To downgrade from one of these plans to Explorer, Starter, or Free, please read the additional considerations in the Downgrade from a Creator or Entrepreneur Plan section below.

By downgrading your site’s plan, your site will lose access to the features of your former plan, but your site’s content will be retained even if you downgrade to the Free plan. Read along to understand how downgrading your plan subscription affects your website’s content and features.

Your site will retain its existing content (pages, posts, and media files) on your site when downgrading your plan subscription (unless that content was created using plugins).

If downgrading your site results in your media exceeding the available storage space on that plan, no media (i.e., images, audio, video) will be deleted. However, you will not be able to upload new media until you free up space or upgrade your site’s plan.

If you have uploaded audio or video to your site and downgrade to a plan that does not support audio or video, your existing files will not be removed. They will remain embedded in any existing pages or posts you have. However, you can upload any new audio/video files only after you upgrade to an eligible plan again.

Downgrading your plan will not remove your website’s domain. However, if you downgrade to the free version, your site will use the .wordpress.com site address as the primary address. A paid plan is required to use your domain as the site’s primary address.

If your site used a theme that was only available on a certain plan, this theme would be removed from the site. Your website content will not be removed, but the site’s design will change to a theme supported by the plan you have downgraded to.

To downgrade your site’s Starter or Explorer plan, you can cancel your plan and purchase a new one with these steps:

1. Visit the Profile page in your account.
2. On the left side, select the Purchases menu option.
3. Click on the plan subscription you wish to downgrade.
4. Under “Subscription Renewal,” click the ‘ON’ link in the “Auto-renew is ON” text to disable auto-renewal.
5. Your plan will remain active until its expiry date, at which point it will be removed. You can also remove the plan instantly without waiting until the end of its term.
6. Once the plan is removed, you can purchase your desired lower-tier plan or continue with the Free plan.

Websites on the Creator and Entrepreneur plan can use plugins, third-party themes, and other advanced features. Downgrading websites on these plugin-enabled plans means:

• Your site will lose any plugins or third-party themes installed and features unavailable on the lower-level plan.
• Your site will retain the content of your pages, posts, and media, but any content added through plugins will be lost.
• Your site will revert to how it looked before you activated the plan’s features.
• The site will be private, so you can check it before making it public on the new plan.

Please contact support so we can help you with the downgrade.