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Nginx vs WordPress.com

Based on 1143 and 15 real audits

View Nginx details | View WordPress.com details
MetricNginxWordPress.comWinner
Performance5359WordPress.com
Accessibility8690WordPress.com
Best Practices8896WordPress.com
SEO9196WordPress.com
Security6970WordPress.com
TTFB545ms393msWordPress.com
Composite7578WordPress.com
Performance
Nginx
53
WordPress.com
59
Accessibility
Nginx
86
WordPress.com
90
Security
Nginx
69
WordPress.com
70
SEO
Nginx
91
WordPress.com
96
Composite
Nginx
75
WordPress.com
78

WordPress.com outperforms Nginx in 7 of 7 categories, with a stronger composite score (78 vs 75). Nginx leads in no categories.

When to choose Nginx

Nginx doesn't clearly lead WordPress.com in any category on the sampled sites — pick it based on developer experience, ecosystem, or existing team skills rather than the audit scores.

When to choose WordPress.com

Choose WordPress.com when your primary concern is server response time and best practices. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.

How this comparison was built

Scores are medians across 1143 audited Nginx sites and 15 audited WordPress.com sites in the BeaverCheck database. Every audit runs the same 100+ checks — Lighthouse performance, security headers, accessibility, SEO, server response time — against a real URL. No vendor input, no sponsorship, no affiliate links. Read the full methodology →

FAQ

Which is faster, Nginx or WordPress.com?
Based on real BeaverCheck audits, WordPress.com sites score higher on Lighthouse performance (59 vs 53 on average).
Which has better security, Nginx or WordPress.com?
WordPress.com sites score higher on security analysis (70 vs 69 on average).
Which has better accessibility, Nginx or WordPress.com?
Accessibility scores measured by Lighthouse WCAG 2.1 checks favor WordPress.com (90 vs 86). Both technologies can be made fully accessible with care — the difference reflects common patterns in the sampled sites, not inherent platform limits.
Which is better for SEO, Nginx or WordPress.com?
WordPress.com sites score higher on Lighthouse SEO signals (96 vs 91 on average), which cover meta tags, crawlability, mobile friendliness, and structured data. Content strategy and backlinks still matter more than platform choice for ranking.
Which has faster server response (TTFB), Nginx or WordPress.com?
WordPress.com sites show lower Time to First Byte (393 ms vs 545 ms on average). TTFB depends heavily on hosting and CDN setup rather than the technology itself, but the sampled sites suggest a meaningful difference in common deployment patterns.
Should I choose Nginx or WordPress.com for my website?
Both platforms have trade-offs. WordPress.com scores higher on overall composite score while Nginx may excel in metrics you care about most. Run a free BeaverCheck audit on a real site using each to compare the metrics relevant to your use case.
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