WP Engine
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Managed hosting services |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founder | Jason Cohen, Ben Metcalfe |
| Headquarters | Austin, Texas , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Heather Brunner (CEO), Jason Cohen (CTO), Lee McClendon (SVP of Global Engineering) |
| Products | Managed WordPress hosting, Atlas headless WordPress platform |
Number of employees | 159 (as of 2024 from related data) |
| Website | wpengine |
WP Engine is an American company providing specialized managed hosting services for WordPress websites. Established in 2010 by entrepreneur Jason Cohen, its headquarters are located in Austin, Texas.
History
WP Engine offers solutions for businesses to create, host, and oversee WordPress sites. The company was co-founded by Jason Cohen alongside Ben Metcalfe; prior to this, Cohen had founded the software company SmartBear Software. In 2013, Heather Brunner joined WP Engine as Chief Operating Officer and was elevated to Chief Executive Officer within the same year, while Cohen transitioned to the role of Chief Technology Officer. In 2017, Lee McClendon, formerly of SolarWinds, was appointed Senior Vice President of Global Engineering.
The firm broadened its international footprint in 2016 by launching offices in Limerick, Ireland. In 2019, WP Engine expanded its Austin operations by relocating to The Domain area. By 2023, the company further increased its presence within Limerick’s city center.
In 2018, Silver Lake made a $250 million investment to acquire a majority stake in WP Engine when the company had approximately 75,000 customers. By 2021, WP Engine reorganized its business into three divisions focusing on enterprise clients, small-to-medium enterprises, and international markets.
In 2022, WP Engine ended support for the .htaccess tool and introduced Atlas—a headless WordPress platform offering developer templates and prototyping capabilities. That same year, the company extended its managed WordPress hosting services to Microsoft Azure.
Among its strategic collaborations is a 2023 partnership with Granite Digital aimed at strengthening its position in the Irish market. Additionally, WP Engine hosts the annual DE{CODE} developer conference to disseminate technical knowledge within the WordPress community.
Awards and Recognition
In 2017, WP Engine became the first WordPress hosting provider certified under Amazon Web Services’ Competency Program. A 2023 study by StatusGator ranked WP Engine as one of the most dependable WordPress hosting services based on uptime statistics. The company consistently appears among the top ten most popular web hosting providers according to various industry sources.
WordPress Dispute and Legal Proceedings
In the week leading up to September 22, 2024, Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress.com, publicly criticized WP Engine at WordCamp US 2024. He accused the company of contributing minimally to WordPress relative to Automattic and highlighted WP Engine’s connections to private equity firms. Mullenweg called for a boycott of WP Engine, generating significant controversy. In response, WP Engine issued a cease and desist letter alleging defamation and extortion claims against Automattic. The letter asserted that Automattic demanded a substantial portion (8%) of WP Engine’s gross revenues as trademark licensing fees related to the "WordPress" brand alongside restrictive contractual terms. Automattic responded with its own cease and desist notice concerning trademark infringements. On October 2, 2024, WP Engine filed a lawsuit against Automattic and Mullenweg alleging extortion and abuse of power; these allegations were denied.
Following this dispute, on September 25, 2024, WordPress.org blocked access for WP Engine and affiliated entities to critical resources after revising its trademark policy advising against confusing uses of "WP," citing WP Engine as an example. After public backlash, access was temporarily reinstated to enable WP Engine to develop independent mirror sites. On October 12, WordPress.org replaced WP Engine’s Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin with a fork named "Secure Custom Fields," citing concerns over public safety.
On October 7, 2024, Mullenweg announced that 159 employees at Automattic—representing 8.4% of staff—accepted severance packages equivalent to $30,000 or six months’ salary with no possibility of rehire. Subsequently, an offer of nine months’ salary was made under strict acceptance deadlines but excluded recipients from participation in the WordPress.org community.
On December 10, 2024, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued a preliminary injunction requiring Automattic and Mullenweg to cease blocking WP Engine’s access to WordPress.org.
In February 2025, a class action lawsuit was initiated by a customer of WP Engine accusing Automattic and Mullenweg of misusing their control over the WordPress ecosystem to interfere with contracts and adversely affect website maintenance and security.
Acquisitions
- Studio Press (Theme Developer), acquired June 2018
- Flywheel (Hosting Provider), acquired June 2019
- Block Lab (Plugin), acquired 2020
- Frost (WordPress Theme), acquired 2021
- Delicious Brains (Plugin Developer), acquired June 2021
- NitroPack (IT Firm), acquired July 2024
External links
- Articles with short description
- Blog hosting services
- Web hosting
- Internet properties established in 2010
- 2010 establishments in Texas
- Software companies established in 2010
- American companies established in 2010
- Companies based in Austin, Texas
- Software companies based in Texas
- WordPress
- Companies of the United States by year of establishment
- 5