WordPress Freedom and Power Struggles in 2025

In September 2024, the WordPress ecosystem was shaken by a moment that exposed both its strength and fragility. At WordCamp US, Matt Mullenweg, the co-creator of WordPress, voiced a blistering criticism of WP Engine, calling the billion-dollar hosting company a “cancer” to WordPress. What followed was more than just a feud between businesses; it was a reminder that the freedom often associated with WordPress comes with heavy contradictions.

To understand how WordPress reached this breaking point, we must retrace its history—from its origins as a fork of a forgotten blogging script to its dominance as a content management system powering over 43% of the web. Along the way, freedom and control repeatedly collided, leaving scars that continue to shape WordPress today.

The Birth of WordPress

In 2003, blogging was still new, chaotic, and experimental. B2-Cafelog had built a modest following, but when its creator disappeared, the project flatlined. That’s when a teenager in Houston, Matt Mullenweg, wondered aloud on his blog: “What if we fork it?” Across the world in the UK, developer Mike Little replied, “If you’re serious about forking B2, count me in.”

Together, they launched WordPress 0.7. The name, suggested by Christine Tremollet, was simple but memorable. It didn’t attract headlines at first, but it lit the fuse for what would become the world’s most dominant content platform.

Themes, Plugins, and the First Surge

By 2004, WordPress introduced plugins—a game-changing feature that allowed anyone to extend the software. In 2005, themes were added, with Kubrick becoming the new face of blogging. Around the same time, Movable Type, then the market leader, made a costly error by introducing licensing fees. Bloggers revolted, and WordPress, free and open under the GPL license, was waiting.

Thousands migrated, not because of advertising or corporate campaigns, but because of something deeper: freedom. This lay the foundation for WordPress’s first surge in adoption.

The Rise of Automattic and Confusion

In 2005, Automattic was founded by Matt. Its product WordPress.com allowed anyone to start a blog instantly. Meanwhile, WordPress.org remained as the self-hosted, free software resource. To this day, confusion between the two remains common—two WordPress platforms sharing one name but serving very different purposes.

This dual identity reflected a larger tension: community-driven freedom versus corporate stewardship.

GPL Battles and Ownership

As WordPress grew, an entire economy of themes and plugins emerged. Some developers challenged whether their work had to fall under the GPL license. Chris Pearson, creator of the Thesis theme, became the most famous holdout. Matt Mullenweg insisted themes were derivatives of WordPress and thus GPL by obligation. The battle grew fierce until Pearson relented in 2010.

That same year, the WordPress Foundation was established, and trademarks were formally transferred from Automattic, though still tightly controlled. This made clear that while the project stood for freedom, it operated within boundaries carefully enforced from above.

WordCamps and Community Limits

WordCamps became the heartbeat of the WordPress culture, spreading worldwide as nonprofit gatherings. Yet they too came with strict conditions: nonprofit status, GPL compliance, and approval from the Foundation. Even at the grassroots, freedom had its boundaries.

Meanwhile, WordPress itself was evolving. By version 3.0, it supported custom post types and multisite features, firmly cementing itself as more than a blogging tool—it had become a full content management system used by universities, media, governments, and enterprises.

The Growing Pains of Scale

Power comes with responsibility, and WordPress’s reliance on plugins and themes also came with risks. In 2014, a vulnerability in the Slider Revolution plugin allowed an opening later linked to the infamous Panama Papers leak. A plugin designed for simple visual enhancement became part of a global scandal.

Freedom without central oversight could be dangerous, and this realization reinforced debates about governance, responsibility, and trust.

The WooCommerce Era

The ecosystem matured further when WooThemes introduced WooCommerce, paving the way for WordPress’s growing role in e-commerce. In 2015, Automattic acquired WooCommerce for a reported $30 million, making WordPress not just a publishing platform but also a key player in global commerce.

This consolidation demonstrated WordPress’s economic potential but also raised questions about how much influence Automattic held over an open-source project.

Governance Battles and Controversies

Throughout the 2010s, WordPress underwent shifts that often polarized its community:

• Automatic Updates (2013): Introduced for security, but some considered them intrusions.
• Customizer Pushback (2014): Developers revolted against mandatory usage by creating plugins like “Customizer Remove All Parts.”
• The Gutenberg Transition (2018): The block-based editor was introduced as “the future” despite community resistance. Many clung to the classic editor or forked the software into ClassicPress.

Even WordCamp organization faced disputes, like when WordCamp Netherlands resisted rules against country-level events, forcing compromises.

News, Rivals, and the Wix Feud

WordPress’s independence was questioned again when its most prominent news outlet, WP Tavern, was quietly acquired by Audrey Capital, Matt’s private investment firm. Rivals took note of this concentrated influence.

Wix further stoked rivalry by integrating GPL WordPress code into closed products. WordPress leadership called them out, sparking public feuds, marketing battles, and mocking ads. Though WordPress’s market share held strong, the underlying tension raised questions about trust and competitiveness.

The Breaking Point: WP Engine Conflict

All of these battles paved the way for the climax in 2024 when Matt Mullenweg labeled WP Engine as a “cancer to WordPress.” Within weeks, Automattic blocked WP Engine’s access to updates from WordPress.org, causing millions of sites to break. Courts intervened, ruling such actions inflicted “irreparable harm.”

By early 2025, Automattic scaled back its own contributions after WP Engine cut theirs. Layoffs followed, and Matt’s statement that “WordPress.org belongs to me” struck a blow to the promise of shared freedom. Though he later admitted the remark was a mistake, the damage was done.

The Paradox of WordPress Freedom

Today, WordPress powers over 43% of the web. From newsrooms to governments, e-commerce stores to universities, its reach is unmatched. And yet at its heart lies a paradox.

WordPress is celebrated as the most open, democratic web platform, but its governance continues to hinge on the decisions of one founder and a single company. Every milestone—from the GPL wars to the Gutenberg clashes—echoes the same lesson: freedom is never absolute. It must be defended and redefined through each challenge.

Conclusion

The history of WordPress is a history of freedom, power, and contradictions. From its humble beginnings as a fork of B2 to its modern dominance, the project has thrived through cycles of reinvention, conflict, and controversy.

The WP Engine showdown of 2024 made it clearer than ever: WordPress freedom and power struggles are inseparable. As the platform matures, the challenge remains whether the open web can endure its future when its foundation still rests on central control. The elegance of WordPress lies not in its promise of perfect freedom, but in the ongoing battle to balance openness with responsibility.