WordPress Co-Founder Labels WP Engine 'Cancer', Feud Escalates to Legal Action
Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress and CEO of Automattic, sparked controversy at WordCamp US 2024 by labeling WP Engine 'a cancer to WordPress'. The dispute, ongoing since, has seen legal action and public spats.
The feud began when Mullenweg accused WP Engine of profiting from WordPress and WooCommerce trademarks without giving back to the ecosystem. He suggested WP Engine should pay 8% of their gross revenue for trademark use.
WP Engine retaliated with a Cease and Desist letter and a lawsuit, making public heated emails where Mullenweg threatened a 'scorched earth nuclear approach'. Automattic employees were instructed to block WP Engine customers from updating their sites and plugins through WordPress's built-in update mechanism. However, WordPress itself remains unaffected, protected under the GNU Public License.
A dedicated website, wpvswpe.report, has been chronicling the drama, offering a detailed timeline of events. Despite the dispute, digital agency KOTA continues to use WordPress for its flexibility and future-proof nature, operating its own in-house hosting platform and partnering with Kinsta for managed hosting, having no ties to WP Engine.
The legal battle is ongoing and could stretch into 2027 or beyond, with no publicly available court orders or rulings released regarding the dispute.
The court recently ruled that WP Engine's access to WordPress.org must be restored, and Automattic must roll back any restrictions imposed on WP Engine customers. Despite the drama, WordPress users and developers remain unaffected, ensuring the software's freedom and open-source nature.
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