Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic and WordPress developer, has sharply criticized WP Engine, calling it 'the cancer of WordPress.'


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Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic and creator of WordPress , has criticized WP Engine, a hosting platform that specializes in WordPress, calling it a 'cancer for WordPress.' I deny the criticism.

WP Engine is not WordPress – WordPress News
https://wordpress.org/news/2024/09/wp-engine/

Matt Mullenweg calls WP Engine a 'cancer to WordPress' and urges community to switch providers | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/22/matt-mullenweg-calls-wp-engine-a-cancer-to-wordpress-and-urges-community-to-switch-providers/

WordPress itself is an open source website building platform that powers over 40% of websites, and individuals and businesses can use it to run their own websites. Many businesses have sprung up selling hosting services and technical expertise, including Automattic, a company that Mullenweg started to monetize his own projects. WP Engine is also a managed WordPress hosting service. The company received investment from Automattic in 2011.

However, as soon as he took to the stage at WordCamp US 2024 , a WordPress user event, Mullenweg mentioned Automattic and WP Engine's pledge to provide resources to support the sustainable growth of WordPress, saying, 'Automattic will invest in WordPress weekly. 'Automattic has invested 3,900 hours in WP Engine, while WP Engine has invested only 40 hours,' he said. 'Automattic and WP Engine are roughly the same size, at around $500 million (about 72 billion yen).' 'Despite the fact that WordPress is generating revenues of 100% or more, there is a notable disparity in investments made in it,' he said.


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Claudio Schwarz

Mullenweg said, 'WP Engine is managed by Silver Lake, a private equity fund with $102 billion in assets under management. Silver Lake is a company that ignores the principles of open source and only cares about return on capital. So we want the WordPress community to vote with their wallets. Who will we give our money to? The companies that will grow the ecosystem? Or the companies that will hold onto it until it runs dry? 'Is this a company that's trying to squeeze you out of your money?'

After that, Mullenweg posted an article on the official WordPress blog titled 'WP Engine is not WordPress,' in which he claimed that WP Engine, which has been commercializing the open source WordPress for many years, was only pursuing profits and disabling important WordPress features. WP Engine has been criticized for behaving as if it were an official WordPress service, but what it offers is not the real WordPress, but a 'modified version' that They claim that it has lost its original function and value.



For example, WP Engine disables WordPress' revision system by default to 'improve site speed,' and any revisions that are more than three or older than 60 days are automatically deleted. They claim that the measure is in fact being implemented to reduce data storage costs.

Mullenweg said, 'WordPress is a content management system, and content is sacred. Every change you make to every page, every post, is tracked in a revision system, just like Wikipedia, so even if you make a mistake, you can always go back to the original. And if you ever want to know why something is on a page, you can see the history and exactly what edits caused it. These revisions are stored in our database. This is very 'This is a critical feature, it's core to our user guarantee that their data will be protected, and it's why WordPress is designed to ensure you don't lose anything. But WP Engine is disabling it.'

Mullenweg is concerned that WP Engine's policies could have a negative impact on other hosting companies, calling WP Engine a cancer for WordPress. He also urged users to use other hosting services. We encourage you to consider using the service.


by WordCamp United States

“I repeat, WP Engine is not WordPress. My mother was confused and thought WP Engine was the official WordPress service. Their branding, marketing, advertising, and customer promises are: They're all saying, 'We serve WordPress,' but they're not, and they're profiting off of that confusion,' Mullenweg said.

In response to Mullenweg's criticisms, WP Engine said , 'The attacks against us are unjustified, false and clearly designed to harm our business.' , 'We have demanded that Automattic and Mr. Mullenweg cease and desist from making any false, harmful or defamatory statements about WP Engine,' it said.

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