On October 17, a blog post was published on WordPress.org, attributed vaguely to "WordPress.org", titled "WP Engine Promotions."
Given the egregious legal attacks by WP Engine against WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg,
Fact check: WP Engine's lawsuit first names Automattic, and only then Mullenweg. "Mullenweg also controls and serves as the CEO and President of Automattic," says WPE's complaint.
a number of their customers have been looking for alternative hosting, and in return a number of hosts have created specials and promotions for WP Engine customers looking to migrate to a host that has great relations with WordPress.org.
What is "WordPress.org?" Sounds like a community organization. An obvious guess would be the WordPress Foundation, the non-profit, right? Betteridge wins, as usually.
"WordPress.org just belongs to me personally," says Matt Mullenweg, asked by The Verge.
Putting it simple, it's competitors to WPE that Matt Mullenweg personally likes, and who are specifically trying to take over WPE's customers.
Here they are, in alphabetical order.
We’ll update this post if any new offers come online, get in touch and we’ll link it.
- Bluehost will cover migration costs, and buy out your existing contract. They offer 24/7 phone support, you can call them at 844-699-3907. Their wp.cloud-powered Cloud hosting starts at $29.99/mo.
Hold on, WP Cloud? Bluehost Cloud? What's all this? Let me check press releases.
the WP Cloud team is excited to confirm our new partnership with Bluehost, a proven leader in the hosting community.
This collaboration culminates in the form of a new product, Bluehost Cloud, that is redefining WordPress cloud hosting forever.
WP Cloud was built by Automattic, the team behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Jetpack, and other great products, with a singular vision in mind: to build a cloud platform exclusively tailored for WordPress.
Or as co-founder of WordPress and CEO of Automattic, Matt Mullenweg, puts it, […]
Oh. Matt, the CEO of Automattic, has good relations with a hosting product that depends entirely on the infrastructure of Automattic. But that's just the first one from the list, we gotta check the rest.
- Dreamhost is offering free migrations, with plans starting at $16.95/mo.
That's a hosting older than WordPress, running since 1997. Alright, that's one inde- Wait, no! [emboldened by lnl]
Well, thanks to our friends at Automattic — the company behind WordPress.com […] — […] I’m excited to announce that customers on our DreamPress Plus and Advanced plans, along with everyone on our legacy offerings, will now have access to Jetpack Professional (worth $299/year)!
Ugh, another one? Who else is left?
- Pressable will buy out your current WP Engine contract and match their pricing, so if you’re in the middle of a long contract with WP Engine, you don’t need to wait until your renewal time.
- WordPress.com will give you a free year of any plan they offer, and donate 5% of your purchase price to the WordPress Foundation. Their relevant plans start at $25/mo.
- For large-scale enterprise customers, WordPress VIP will cover the cost of migration. Their plans generally start at $2k/mo.
That's it, that's the whole list. All last 3 are literally just different brands of Matt's own company. It's symptomattic.
Don't all the prices above sound ridiculously expensive for a page that is mostly contact info and occassionally publishes posts? Short read: The Static Site Paradox.