In a blog post on Matt’s site he makes the following claims agains WP Engine:
- Insufficient Ecosystem Contribution: Matt accuses WP Engine of not contributing enough to the WordPress ecosystem. He compares WP Engine’s contributions to Automattic’s using the “Five for the Future” pledge as a metric. According to Matt, Automattic contributes 3,786 hours per week, while WP Engine only contributes 47 hours, despite both companies having similar revenue (around half a billion dollars).
- Profit-Driven Exploitation: Matt characterizes WP Engine as a “parasitic entity” that feeds off the WordPress ecosystem without giving back adequately. He implies that WP Engine is treating open source “simply as a resource to extract from its natural surroundings, like oil from the ground.”
- Lack of Open Source Values: Matt suggests that WP Engine, controlled by private equity firm Silver Lake, doesn’t truly care about open source ideals. He states, “Silver Lake doesn’t give a dang about your Open Source ideals. It just wants a return on capital.”
- Ecosystem Harm: Matt implies that WP Engine’s approach is harmful to the WordPress ecosystem, suggesting they’re “going to frack every bit of value out of it until it withers.”
- Call for Community Action: Matt urges the WordPress community to “vote with your wallet” by choosing hosting providers and services that contribute more to the ecosystem, effectively calling for a boycott of WP Engine.
In short, Matt frames the company as a profit-driven entity that benefits from, but doesn’t sufficiently support, the WordPress ecosystem.