WordPress and Ning are two platforms that enable you to create dynamic websites without writing any code. You can have a website in minutes with features such as easy editor interfaces, extensions, built-in themes, eCommerce functionalities, and many more.
Unlike WordPress, Ning is a CMS that is specialized in building social networking sites. On the other hand, WordPress can help you make any kind of website you want.
In this article, you will get a full overview of these two content management systems, Ning vs WordPress. You’ll also get an idea of how Ning fares against WordPress when it comes to building social networking sites.
Ning vs WordPress: Brief Overview
Ning is a content management system that helps to build social networking sites. It has very limited features compared to WordPress. The good thing is- there is no need to have any coding knowledge to build a site using Ning. You can monetize your content to earn money as well.
WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world by a big margin. It currently powers more than 43% of all the websites in the world, while also having more than 60% share of the total CMS market.
There are thousands of plugins and themes to add different features and looks to WordPress. You can build any kind of website, such as blogs, dynamic business sites, forums, video platforms, portfolios, eCommerce, social networking sites, and many more.
How Many People Use Ning and WordPress?
There is no estimate of how many sites use Ning actively. At this moment, more than 2,000,000+ networks have been built using Ning since its inception. According to W3Tech. It is acquiring less than 0.1% of all the sites worldwide while taking a 0.1% market share of the CMSs.
On the other hand, WordPress is used by more than 350 million websites online. It also has a whopping 60% market share among the CMSs. This makes WordPress the most used CMS platform in the world.
Ning vs WordPress – Detail Comparison
Now let’s compare Ning vs WordPress in terms of features on offer to build a social networking site.
Ease of Use
Ning Ease of Use
Ning is out and out a no-coding platform. Thus building a site using Ning can be very easy, with the help of themes and other features that are already set up by default.
WordPress Ease of Use
WordPress is an easy platform to build a full-fledged site. Since WordPress is intended to build multiple types of sites, you will have to spend more time building a social networking site using it. This is because you need to gather the necessary plugins and select an appropriate theme. Then you can start your journey.
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Design & Customization
Ning Themes
Ning offers 10+ well-designed themes that help to start your journey. You can also customize the themes to give your site a custom look and personalized feel. However, compared to WordPress, their collection is certainly very limited.
WordPress Template
WordPress is loved by developers around the world, and that is why it also has a large collection of independently developed themes in its repository. Apart from the 10,000 themes on its repository, there are also paid WordPress themes that offer even better designs to decorate your social networking sites.
Plugins and Extensions
Ning Plugins
Ning doesn’t offer any plugins or extensions. You will have to work with just the built-in features that they provide, which are quite capable of helping you build a social networking site.
WordPress Plugins
WordPress has more than 58,000 plugins available on its WordPress.org repository. There are a large number of memberships, eCommerce, and relevant plugins to craft a great social networking site as well. If you need even more advanced features, you can also purchase paid plugins, which will let you build even better social networking features than that of Ning.
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Content Management
Content Management in Ning
Ning makes content management very easy, with a dedicated option to add/edit blogs, manage forums, groups, polls, events, audio, video, and photos.
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Content Management in WordPress
The content management of WordPress mainly revolves around its highly praised Gutenberg editor. The editor helps you add/edit posts, widgets, and every possible content on the site.
It is an easy and advanced editor that replaces the previous Classic Editor used by WordPress. You can also install plugins to achieve other features that Ning offers in terms of content management.
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Security
Ning Security
Ning is a closely-bonded platform with no external plugins or themes. This makes it very safe to use and has less chance of your data getting stolen. They also provide SSL right from the box, enabling you to encrypt your site for a secured connection.
WordPress Security
WordPress is a safe platform. You need to keep your site and the plugins updated while using WordPress to make it secure. Older versions of WordPress and plugins tend to be insecure and they are the reason behind most hacked WordPress sites.
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Other Major Differences Between Ning vs WordPress
| Parameter | Ning | WordPress |
| eCommerce | Ning lets you monetize the platform with a subscription or one-time payment. It’s included in the price. | WordPress has several eCommerce plugins, including WooCommerce which helps the site creator to monetize content |
| Help & Support | Ning provides 24/7 support to the user, solving any problem they might have. | WordPress has a lot of open-source forums where users help each other out. WordPress.org plugin support option is here as well. |
| Price | The pro version of Nong starts from $25 a month. | WordPress is free to use, need to just have a domain and hosting plan. If you use premium plugins, that may cost you a very minimum one-time or recurring charge. |
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Ning or WordPress: What’s Your Choice in 2022?
Ning has been in the market for a long time. They have also improved and made the process of building social networking sites easier with their platform, with all the necessary features built into the system.
The cost of using Ning can still push back most users, as similar sites can be built using WordPress for almost free, albeit with a little more effort.
On the other hand, WordPress has crossed numerous boundaries to become the pick of the CMS for most of the users around the world. With a large array of plugins, themes, resources, and support forums it is second to none. With its feature-set, you can effortlessly build a social networking site that is even more powerful than what you can build with Ning.
Overall, Ning is a better choice for building a social networking site when you want all the features pre-built, and you want to start with one click. You also need to have the budget to pay the monthly fee, which starts at $25 but needs you to pay up to $99 when you want to build a serious site.
WordPress is preferable if you have little to no budget, but can spare some time to make the site with appropriate plugins and equip it with more features.
So which one are you going to give a try? Do let us know in the comment section.
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FAQs on Ning vs WordPress
Ning is cheaper than WordPress.
Ning can be used for free, while WordPress requires a paid subscription.
Ning can be used with WordPress, but the functionality is limited.
WordPress is better for social networking sites than Ning. WordPress offers more functionality with unlimited customization opportunities.
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