WP Engine filed an updated complaint in its lawsuit against Automattic and CEO Matt Mullenweg this week, adding WooCommerce and the WordPress Foundation as defendants and revealing previously redacted passages that, according to the filing, include internal discussions at Automattic about targeting “multi-million dollar deals” with competing hosting companies involving trademark licensing and “stealing their sites” if negotiations failed.
The third amended complaint, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court, is largely identical to the second amended complaint filed in October 2025. The main difference is that many passages that were previously blacked out are now public following a court-ordered meet-and-confer process, including material WP Engine calls “extraordinary evidence” from Automattic’s internal documents produced in discovery.
Among the newly unsealed material, the complaint cites internal Automattic documents that categorize hosting companies into three tiers: “friends (like Newfold) who pay us a lot of money,” “would-be friends (like WP Engine) who are mostly good citizens within the WP ecosystem but don’t directly contribute to Automattic,” and “charlatans” who “don’t contribute.”
The filing quotes Automattic employees describing the “charlatans” category — including two hosts whose names remain redacted — as “free game,” adding: “we should steal every single WP site that they host.”
Alleged trademark licensing strategy targeting competitors
WP Engine alleges that in March 2024, Automattic devised a “scheme” to offer “exorbitantly priced ‘partnerships’” that included a trademark licensing component to competitors. The complaint claims Automattic was targeting at least 10 other companies in addition to WP Engine.
The filing also alleges that internal documents produced in discovery show Automattic employees acknowledging that “any Tier 1 host (WPE for example)” would “pushback” on signing a trademark license because “they get the same thing today for free. They’ve never paid for [the WordPress] trademarks and won’t want to pay…”
According to the complaint, employees discussed delaying efforts to target hosts’ customers if negotiations were “promising,” but otherwise stated they should either “close a meaningful partnership” or “start stealing their sites.” One internal message states: “if they don’t take the carrot we’ll give them the stick.”
In July 2024, Automattic CFO Mark Davies allegedly said that “at some point, Automattic will need to take something away from these ‘partners’” if they refused to close a deal.
WP Engine further alleges that Automattic discussed seeking equity stakes in competing hosting companies, “enabling Automattic to diversify its investment portfolio by gaining ownership in a broad range of hosting companies, including competitors,” which the filing says would allow the company to “benefit from the future growth of these companies, potentially leading to increased profitability and market influence.”
Alleged attempt to pressure Stripe to cut ties
The complaint also alleges that Mullenweg sought to “strongarm” payment processor Stripe into cutting business ties with WP Engine.
According to the filing, in mid-October 2024 — days after WP Engine filed its lawsuit — Mullenweg emailed a senior executive at Stripe urging the company to “cancel any contracts or partnerships with WP Engine,” adding, “[i]f you chose not to do so, we should exit our contracts.”
The allegation follows public comments Mullenweg made in September 2024 about WP Engine’s Stripe integration with WooCommerce. On September 26, he posted on X about what he described as “Stripe issues,” and the following day, in a YouTube interview, he claimed WP Engine had siphoned “tens of millions” of dollars from Woo’s revenue-share agreement with Stripe. WP Engine has disputed that claim, stating the commissions were less than $2,000 per month as of September 2024.
Alleged internal admissions of market power
WP Engine argues its antitrust case presents “the rare situation” where direct evidence of anticompetitive conduct exists, rather than relying solely on circumstantial evidence such as market share calculations.
The complaint alleges that internal documents produced in discovery show Automattic employees acknowledging they have the power to “destroy all competition” and would inflict that harm unless market participants capitulated to what WP Engine describes as extortionate demands.
It further claims that Automattic’s “monopoly power is so overwhelming” that while the company publicly encouraged competitors to “contribute to the community,” internal documents reflect a push for them to “contribute to Automattic.”
The filing also cites a proposed “Restriction of choice” plan that would “restrict or block the use of non-rev share plugins,” including potentially “in core,” and characterizes the plan internally as a “threat: pay us/use our extensions or we’re going to do this.”
Complaint cites exchanges with other hosting companies
The complaint includes redacted references to exchanges with other hosting companies that WP Engine claims are paying “exorbitant sums” to use the WordPress trademarks.
In one exchange cited in the complaint, an unnamed company told Mullenweg that “[t]he money we’re sending from the hosting page is going to you directly,” to which he responded that he had “shield[ed]” the company “from directly competitive actions from a number of places[.]”
The filing further alleges that in August 2024, Mullenweg criticized the same company’s contribution level, stating, “I’d need 3 years of that to get a new Earthroamer.” When the company described itself as “the smallest fish” and asked whether it was “the only ones you’re asking to make this change,” Mullenweg allegedly responded, “nope[.]”
On November 26, 2024 — the same day the court held a preliminary injunction hearing — Mullenweg allegedly told the company its proposed monthly payment was not “going to work,” and wished it “[b]est of luck” in resisting Automattic’s higher demands.
The complaint doesn’t specify which “hosting page” the company was referring to. WordPress.org maintains a Hosting page that features three recommended providers: Automattic-owned Pressable, Newfold-owned Bluehost, and Hostinger. The page has long drawn questions within the WordPress community about how companies are selected and whether payments are involved. While the criteria for selection are included on the page, it also states that listings are “completely arbitrary.”
In a separate exchange cited in the filing, another host attempted to set up “a mirror to remove some of the load on wp.org,” but the complaint alleges Mullenweg warned against launching it, telling the company: “Please do not roll that out. If you do you will be in the same camp as WPE.”
Internal concerns about community reaction
The complaint also cites internal communications in which Automattic employees expressed concern about the company’s actions. According to the filing, some employees worried about “how the community will react to” Automattic’s conduct, recognizing it “may really hurt” and characterizing it as “a really big mistake.”
One Automattic employee allegedly observed: “The block we’ve imposed on WPE from .org impact[ed] their ability to keep their plugins up to date. But thousands of our own customers on Pressable and VIP utilise those plugins. So we’ve indirectly made our own customers vulnerable via the block on WPE.”
What’s next
While many previously redacted passages have been unsealed, the third amended complaint still contains redactions, including company names, dollar amounts, and certain internal communications that Automattic argues should remain confidential.
In a statement provided to The Repository, an Automattic spokesperson said: “The Court has already dismissed several of WP Engine’s core claims, and the Third Amended Complaint does nothing to remedy the deficiencies identified in that ruling. We will be filing a renewed motion to dismiss in the coming days challenging the legal sufficiency of the amended complaint. In the meantime, we remain focused on serving our customers and supporting the broader WordPress ecosystem.”
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for June 4, 2026. The case remains set for a jury trial in June 2027.
WP Engine declined to comment.