
It’s a new year and with it comes a new development in the saga regarding Matt Mullenweg and WP Engine. Recently, Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, announced a massive scaling back of the WordPress hours it contributes to the platform. This decision to match the input other companies put into growing and expanding the ecosystem is the latest in an ongoing scandal-turned-legal battle that has raged since September 2024.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Automattic’s massive 99% reduction in WordPress hours (from 3,988 to 45 weekly) represents a move to match competitor contribution levels rather than maintain previous development standards.
- WP Engine and Automattic’s conflict has escalated into a legal battle directly impacting WordPress’s open-source development.
- The WP Engine dispute has led to internal restructuring at Automattic and has fractured community relationships, raising concerns about WordPress’s governance model.
- While immediate WordPress functionality remains stable, the reduced development resources may result in slower innovation.
- The implications of Automattic’s decisions have raised questions about the long-term sustainability of the platform’s development model.
Table of Contents
The Scale of the Cutback
On January 9th, 2025, Automattic, the company owned by Matt Mullenweg, co-developer of WordPress, announced in a blog post that it would be slashing the hours it spends on WordPress. This is to “match” the time companies like WP Engine spend on the ecosystem. Automattic’s cutback in the hours it puts into the open-source WordPress.org platform borders on mind-boggling in its scope. The company is reducing its weekly development commitment by 99%, from 3,988 hours to approximately 45 hours.

According to the post, this is also due to the time and money they spend taking on WP Engine (funded by private equity firm Silver Lake). In recent comments, Mullenweg emphasized that WP Engine “doesn’t make WordPress. They just resell it,” suggesting that reduced updates would directly impact their business model.
Automattic and Mullenweg argue that the current model, where they contribute a massive amount of development resources to the open-source WordPress.org platform, is not sustainable.
Most notably, they point to the legal battle with WP Engine, claiming the lawsuit diverts time and energy from supporting WordPress. This is in addition to the need to focus on core business activities to generate funds to ensure the long-term health of WordPress as a whole.
Automattic has indicated that its remaining hours will primarily focus on security and critical updates, suggesting a minimal maintenance-focused approach rather than active development saying:
“We’ve made the decision to reallocate resources due to the lawsuits from WP Engine. This legal action diverts significant time and energy that could otherwise be directed toward supporting WordPress’s growth and health. We remain hopeful that WP Engine will reconsider this legal attack, allowing us to refocus our efforts on contributions that benefit the broader WordPress ecosystem.”
The Five for The Future Program
This dramatic reduction also affects its participation in the Five for the Future program, an initiative that encourages companies to contribute 5% of their resources to WordPress.org. This contribution can take many forms, including:
- Financial donations to the WordPress Foundation.
- Developer time spent working on core WordPress code.
- Helping to triage and fix bugs.
- Creating and maintaining plugins and themes.
- Writing documentation and tutorials.
The Five for the Future program is designed so that the WordPress.org project remains healthy and sustainable. By encouraging companies and developers to give back, the intention is to help ensure enough resources are available to create new features, fix bugs, and keep the platform secure.
Automattic also highlighted that some community members consider working on commercial projects like WooCommerce a contribution to WordPress. By focusing on their commercial projects, they say they align their efforts with what some define as contributing to the ecosystem.
As they are one of the largest contributors to the program, this will likely mean fewer resources available to support the WordPress project. This is not only a blow to the Five for the Future program but could lead to a slowdown in development. It remains to be seen what happens to the program in the future.
While it’s clear that many other companies and individuals benefit from using WordPress directly in some way, this decision could encourage them to step up their contributions. However, even if they do, it is unlikely that any of them will be able to replace Automattic’s contributions.
The WP Engine Dispute
The ongoing conflict between Automattic and WP Engine can be considered the cause of this development. This includes Mullenweg’s public statements, most notably referring to WP Engine as a “cancer”, criticizing their contribution levels, and accusing them of making a profit off the WordPress brand.
The dispute entered the legal arena when WP Engine filed a lawsuit against Automattic and Mullenweg in 2024, following his public campaign against the company and the controversial takeover of its ACF plugin.
This led to accusations of WP Engine profiting off the WordPress trademark without contributing to the ecosystem. Long story short: things got ugly, and both parties went the legal route.
WP Engine was recently granted a preliminary injunction by a California District Court. Automattic commented after the ruling that they would be filing counterclaims and a motion to dismiss.
In response to WP Engine’s lawsuit, a judge granted a preliminary injunction against Automattic and Mullenweg. This injunction ordered them to cease certain actions that WP Engine claimed were designed to disrupt its business.
The judge’s decision cited concerns about potential harm to WP Engine’s business and the potential for further disruption if the injunction was not granted. The judge mentioned that Mullenweg’s “conduct is designed to induce breach or disruption”.

Internal Impact And Community Response
The dispute has created ripple effects beyond just these two companies. It has directly affected Automattic employees, triggering massive internal changes. The company offered buyouts to staff who disagreed with its stance against WP Engine, leading to several departures.
Next, was the dissolution of the sustainability team, announced through a Slack message. Mullenweg stated, “creating a team around this was [not] able to further any of its goals“. This has raised concerns about the project’s long-term governance and approach to community engagement.
He went on to say:
“It doesn’t make sense for Automattic to pay people to work on all these things. We are under attack, and we are circling the wagons. Our number one goal is for WP Engine to drop their expensive lawsuits against me and Automattic.”
WP Engine has yet to respond to the above.
Mullenweg emphasized the WordPress hours his team will continue to work on the platform, ensuring that important WordPress security updates and patches are maintained to keep the environment secure.
This has led to upheaval in the community and the public perception of how WordPress leadership is running things.
What People Are Saying
More recently, Mullenweg’s decision to dissolve the WordPress project’s sustainability team has drawn criticism from prominent figures in the tech community.
Some critics have said that Automattic prioritizes profits over WordPress’s open-source nature. They argue that Automattic’s commercial interests are not always aligned with the needs of the WordPress community.
At the same time, many community members feel that Automattic is going against the original principles of WordPress while neglecting the core software. This effectively disenfranchises those who rely on the open-source platform.
They fear this shift will lead to a potential decrease in the quality and innovation that WordPress.org is known for, which could (in theory) ultimately harm the entire ecosystem.
In an open letter, core WordPress contributors expressed concerns about Matt Mullenweg’s recent actions, urging him to consider more community-oriented approaches.
Future Implications Of Fewer Automattic WordPress Hours
Mullenweg maintains that the immediate impact on WordPress users will be minimal. He stated, “WordPress is great software. It doesn’t change anything that WordPress already does”. However, based on what we’ve seen so far, the long-term implications are unclear.
He acknowledges that new development may slow down and that “the scope will be smaller”, but suggests that the extent of the impact will depend on who “shows up and commits code”.
It’s relatively safe to assume Automattic’s massive cut in their hourly commitment to WordPress.org will impact the project. While the people and companies who do contribute are a vital part of WordPress development, it’s unrealistic to expect them to compensate fully for Automattic’s reduced involvement.
The community’s focus may shift, with some dedicating more time and resources to supporting the project in different ways. However, the long-term effects on the platform’s stability and advancement remain to be seen.
In short, the impact of Automattic’s decision will depend on several factors, including the WordPress community’s response, the evolving nature of the legal battle, and the overall health of the WordPress ecosystem.
This situation raises important questions about the sustainability of open-source development models and the delicate balance between commercial interests and community contributions.
As WordPress powers half of the websites on the internet, the ramifications of this decision could extend far beyond Automattic and WP Engine.
The WordPress Hosting community faces a critical juncture. The biggest question is whether it’s comfortable with a leadership structure where a single person has almost all the power or the time has come to move to a more distributed model.
Part 1: WordPress Vs WP Engine: What’s Going On?
Part 2: WordPress vs WP Engine Round 2: The Ruling Against Automattic

FAQs
How will the Automattic WordPress hours cutback affect websites?
According to Mullenweg, existing WordPress functionality won’t be affected by the WordPress hours cutback, though new feature development may slow down.
Is WordPress.org still being maintained?
Yes. Automattic will continue to provide security and critical updates to WordPress.org with the remaining 45 WordPress hours of their weekly contribution.
What is Five for the Future?
Five for the Future is a WordPress.org program encouraging companies to contribute 5% of their resources to WordPress development.
Is Automattic’s WordPress hours reduction permanent?
Not necessarily. Automattic indicates this is tied to the WP Engine lawsuit, suggesting the reduction of their WordPress hours may be reversed if the legal issues are resolved.
What’s the difference between WP Engine and Automattic?
Automattic is the company that develops WordPress.com and contributes to WordPress.org (the open-source project), while WP Engine is a web hosting provider that offers WordPress-related services.
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Rhett isn’t just a writer at Hosted.com – he’s our resident WordPress content guru. With over 6 years of experience as a content writer, with a background in copywriting, journalism, research, and SEO, and a passion for websites.
Rhett authors informative blogs, articles, and Knowledgebase guides that simplify the complexities of WordPress, website builders, domains, and cPanel hosting. Rhett’s clear explanations and practical tips provide valuable resources for anyone wanting to own and build a website. Just don’t ask him about coding before he’s had coffee.