Jetpack is a plugin for WordPress.org sites that brings the functionality of WordPress.com to self-hosted sites.

Huh?

A lot of WordPress users don’t know about Jetpack, but it includes a lot of fun and fancy stuff, and it’s free.

What does Jetpack provide? Site stats, for one thing. If Google Analytics is too rich for your blood, Jetpack’s site stats give you a handy overview of how many visitors you have, how they found you, and what they read while they were there.

My personal favorite is Beautiful Math, which allows you to add mathematical formulae easily and attractively. But there are also features like social sharing buttons, a carousel, Publicize and Enhanced Distribution, both of which share content automatically, and Related Posts, all of which might be just what you need.

There are in fact 27 different cool tools included in Jetpack. You could seriously cut down on the number of plugins you use if you use Jetpack instead, and you could reduce compatibility issues as well.

And you’ll connect your site with WordPress.com. There’s a lot of support and connection over there which we self-hosted folks may be missing out on.

If you haven’t tried Jetpack — and let’s be honest, most of us probably haven’t tried all 27 of the features even if we’ve played around with it a little — it’s time to give it a shot.