What Is Automattic?

Automattic.com — Making the web a better place

Automattic is a technology company founded in 2005 by Matt Mullenweg — the co-creator of WordPress. It is the commercial engine behind the WordPress ecosystem, operating key products and services while being the largest contributor to WordPress open-source development.

Automattic's portfolio includes:

WordPress.com — The hosted WordPress platform where anyone can create a site without managing their own server
WooCommerce — The world's most popular e-commerce platform (33% market share), acquired in 2015
Jetpack — WordPress plugin for backups, security, performance, and growth tools (acquired 2011)
Akismet — Anti-spam service protecting millions of WordPress sites
Tumblr — Blogging and social platform (acquired from Yahoo in 2019)
Gravatar — Globally recognized avatar service used across WordPress and the web
Day One — Journaling app
Pocket Casts — Podcast app

Automattic is not WordPress. WordPress is an open-source project owned by the community and governed by the WordPress Foundation, licensed under the GPL. Automattic is a company that builds commercial products on top of WordPress and employs many of the developers who contribute to WordPress core. The distinction matters: WordPress belongs to everyone, Automattic is a business that supports and profits from the ecosystem.

The company is uniquely structured: 1,900+ employees in 90+ countries with no physical headquarters. Everyone works remotely. This distributed model was pioneering when Automattic started it in 2005 and became the norm for tech companies during COVID.

Automattic in Practice

As a WordPress user, you interact with Automattic's products regularly:

Akismet comes pre-installed with every WordPress installation (the default anti-spam plugin)
WooCommerce powers your online store if you sell anything through WordPress
Jetpack provides backups, downtime monitoring, and CDN services
Gravatar displays your avatar in WordPress comments and across the web

Automattic also sponsors WordCamps, employs the release leads for major WordPress versions, and funds core development work. In 2026, Automattic's engineers are leading the Phase 3 (Collaboration) development for WordPress 7.0.

Why It Matters

Understanding the relationship between Automattic and WordPress helps you navigate the ecosystem. When someone says "WordPress," are they talking about the free software (WordPress.org) or the hosted service (WordPress.com by Automattic)? Knowing the difference — and understanding that Automattic is a company, not the project itself — helps you make informed decisions about which products to use and which services to trust.

Automattic