Citing strains from an ongoing legal battle with hosting provider WP Engine, Automattic founder and WordPress.org owner Matt Mullenweg has announced a suspension of several free services on WordPress.org.
The affected services include new account registrations, plugin and theme submissions, reviews, and photo directory uploads.
“In order to give myself and the many tired volunteers around WordPress.org a break for the holidays, we’re going to be pausing a few of the free services currently offered,” Mullenweg wrote on the official WordPress blog.
He also mentioned that he is “legally compelled to provide free labor and services to WP Engine thanks to the success of their expensive lawyers.”
This service freeze is likely to cause frustration within the WordPress community. Developers and users rely on these services for various WordPress-related activities. The suspension will likely disrupt workflows and potentially delay projects.
Mullenweg’s announcement also alludes to the personal toll of the legal battle, stating that much of his time is consumed by defending against WP Engine’s legal actions, which also target him as the owner of WordPress.org.
WP Engine Conflict Escalates
The current service disruptions are a direct consequence of the escalating conflict between Automattic and WP Engine. The relationship, strained for years, took a sharp turn for the worse in September 2024.
At the WordCamp conference, Mullenweg publicly criticized WP Engine, labeling the company a “cancer” within the community and urged users to support hosting providers that actively contribute to WordPress development.
The conflict intensified in October when Automattic forked the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin, a WordPress plugin that allows developers to add custom fields to the WordPress edit screens, providing more flexibility for content management. It essentially enables the creation of more complex and dynamic website layouts.
WP Engine, which acquired ACF in 2019, saw the plugin as a valuable part of its developer toolkit. Automattic’s creation of a competing version, called Secure Custom Fields, stripped away commercial features and was justified as a security measure. WP Engine strongly condemned this move, calling it a “hostile takeover.”
The fork created confusion among developers, with some unknowingly migrating to Automattic’s version.
Legal Maneuvers: Revenue Demands and Court Intervention
The dispute quickly moved to the legal arena. WP Engine sued Automattic, alleging anticompetitive behavior and abuse of power. Court documents revealed that Automattic had demanded that WP Engine either pay an 8% revenue share or provide equivalent staffing contributions to regain full access to WordPress.org resources.
These demands, along with IP blocking—a method used to block access to a website from specific IP addresses—and other plugin restrictions, formed the crux of WP Engine’s legal claims. In an apparent act of retaliation, Automattic also set up a website to track WP Engine customer migrations.
In a December ruling, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against Automattic, ordering a reversal of several actions taken against WP Engine. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín criticized Automattic’s actions, stating they “disrupted WP Engine’s operations and appeared to marginalize the company within the WordPress ecosystem.”
The court mandated that Automattic restore WP Engine’s access to WordPress.org resources, reverse the ACF plugin fork, and remove the website tracking customer migrations.
Governance Debates and Community Concerns
The legal battle has ignited broader discussions about power dynamics and governance within the WordPress community. Critics argue that Automattic’s control over WordPress.org creates a conflict of interest, potentially stifling competition.
The forking of the ACF plugin—where a developer takes a copy of source code and starts independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software—is seen as a precedent that could discourage third-party developers.
“Mullenweg’s actions are extraordinarily concerning and pose the grave risk of upending and irreparably harming the entire WordPress ecosystem,” WP Engine stated in response to Automattic’s actions, framing the conflict as a test of WordPress’s commitment to open-source principles.
The court recognized the broader implications, with Judge Martínez-Olguín noting, “By unilaterally altering ACF’s functionality and creating parallel versions, Automattic has introduced uncertainty within the developer community.”
While Automattic maintains its actions are aimed at ensuring the platform’s security, the legal dispute has intensified scrutiny of its dual role as a commercial entity and steward of open-source WordPress. The situation has fueled calls for reforms to WordPress.org’s governance, with some advocating for more independent oversight.
