Introduction Of WordPress
In a bold and unexpected move, Automattic CEO and WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg has publicly called out WP Engine, a major managed WordPress hosting provider, labeling it a “cancer to WordPress.” During his keynote at WordCamp US 2024 in Portland, Oregon, Mullenweg expressed frustration over WP Engine’s business practices, which he believes are detrimental to the long-term health of the WordPress ecosystem. His remarks have ignited widespread conversation within the WordPress community and raised important questions about the relationship between open-source projects and commercial ventures.
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The Heart of the Criticism: Contributions and Profiteering
Mullenweg’s criticism of WP Engine primarily centers around its lack of contribution to the WordPress project, particularly in comparison to Automattic, the company he founded. WP Engine, which has built its business on WordPress since 2010, has come under fire for what Mullenweg describes as profiteering off the open-source platform while giving back very little. According to Mullenweg, while Automattic contributes around 3,900 hours of resources to support WordPress each week, WP Engine contributes a mere 40 hours, despite both companies being of comparable size, each generating around half a billion dollars in revenue.
This imbalance in contribution, Mullenweg argues, is indicative of WP Engine’s approach to the WordPress community — a company that extracts value from the platform without adequately supporting its future. Mullenweg described this behavior as parasitic, similar to previous criticisms he made about GoDaddy, which he called an “existential threat” to WordPress.
The Private Equity Problem
Mullenweg’s critique wasn’t limited to WP Engine itself. He also took aim at Silver Lake, the private equity firm with $102 billion in assets under management, which acquired a controlling stake in WP Engine in 2018. According to Mullenweg, private equity’s sole focus on maximizing returns conflicts with the open-source values that underpin WordPress.
“Silver Lake doesn’t give a dang about your open-source ideals, it just wants return on capital,” Mullenweg stated during his keynote, urging the WordPress community to “vote with your wallet” by supporting companies that genuinely contribute to the ecosystem. He named several other WordPress hosts, including Hostinger, Bluehost Cloud, and Pressable, as alternatives that he believes are more aligned with WordPress’s open-source ethos.
A Call to Action: ‘Vote with Your Wallet’
Mullenweg made it clear that he wasn’t merely criticizing WP Engine — he was calling for action. He encouraged WordPress users to reconsider their hosting choices, particularly when it comes time to renew their contracts with WP Engine. He emphasized that migrating to a new host is easier than ever and pointed out that switching providers could result in better performance, depending on the host.
“There’s some really hungry other hosts… that would love to get that business,” Mullenweg remarked, urging customers to think about the broader implications of their choices.
WP Engine’s Practices: Profit at the Expense of User Experience?
In a follow-up blog post, Mullenweg went further, branding WP Engine a “cancer” to WordPress. He argued that the company’s branding and marketing tactics confuse consumers into believing that WP Engine is synonymous with It, when in fact, they are separate entities. This confusion, he argued, has allowed WP Engine to profit off of the It name while selling a product that doesn’t fully leverage the core capabilities of the platform.
A key point of contention is WP Engine’s disabling of WordPress’s revision management feature, which Mullenweg claims undermines the very purpose of the platform — to protect and manage users’ content. WP Engine’s policy only allows users to store three content revisions, and those revisions are automatically deleted after 60 days, a limitation Mullenweg says is purely cost-saving. He argued that this practice violates the core promise of It, which is designed to allow users to safely edit and revert their content.
“They disable revisions because it costs them more money to store the history of the changes in the database, and they don’t want to spend that to protect your content,” Mullenweg wrote. “It strikes to the very heart of what It does, and they shatter it.”
A Long-Standing Battle for Open-Source Integrity
Mullenweg’s latest criticisms are part of a broader conversation about how open-source projects like It are commercialized and supported. While It remains a free and open platform, many companies — including Automattic — have built profitable businesses around the project. According to Mullenweg, the challenge is ensuring that these businesses contribute back to the community, rather than simply extracting value from it.
His attack on WP Engine is a reminder of the delicate balance between monetization and open-source values. With It powering more than 40% of the web, its future depends on the community’s contributions and the companies that profit from its widespread use.
The Future of WordPress Hosting
As Mullenweg’s remarks continue to reverberate throughout the It community, many users will likely reassess their hosting options. The criticism of WP Engine, and its perceived prioritization of profit over the well-being of the It ecosystem, raises critical questions for the future of open-source development.
At a time when commercial interests increasingly intersect with community-driven projects, Mullenweg’s call to “vote with your wallet” serves as a powerful reminder of the values that It was built on — and the importance of preserving them for future generations.
In the days and weeks to come, the spotlight will be on WP Engine and how it responds to these criticisms. But the broader conversation that Mullenweg has sparked will continue, as the It community grapples with the tensions between open-source ideals and commercial realities.
