Self-hosted doesn't mean you're doing all the technical work of hosting your website, it just means that you're paying a web host like WP Engine or GoDaddy to host your website with your personalized domain name (like our choosytraveler.com). With Wordpress.com, they host your blog for you, but your domain name will end in "wordpress.com." This is ok for casual blogs, but not suitable for anyone looking to build a business and a brand through their blog or website. Wordpress.com hosted sites also have less design flexibility than self-hosted sites.