Are you looking into hosting between all the different types of WordPress hosts out there?
Here is a quick table that summarizes the key differences.
Huge note and update September 24, 2024: We are aware there is an ongoing dispute between the parties mentioned on this page. The purpose of this page is not to comment on that general dispute. Our goal is to clarify the differences between these different publicly accessible web services. All of these are paid products or have a paid product component that anyone can purchase at any time without restriction.
Comparison table of WordPress.com vs WP Engine vs Pressable vs Automattic vs WordPress.org
Nothing better than a good old comparison table with quick summaries:
| Service | Quick Summary | Core Features | Doesn't Include | Lower Price Range | Upper Price Range | Parent Company |
| WordPress.com | A hosted WordPress platform for easy website creation and management. | Managed hosting, custom domains, themes, plugins (on higher tiers), built-in SEO tools, automatic updates. | Full server control, unrestricted plugin installation on lower tiers, SFTP access (on lower tiers). | Free (with limitations and ads) | Up to $45/month (billed annually) | Automattic |
| WP Engine | Premium managed WordPress hosting focused on performance and security. | Managed hosting, development tools, staging environments, automatic backups, security features, high performance, 24/7 support. | Email hosting, domain registration, support for non-WordPress sites. | $25/month | Custom pricing for enterprise plans | WP Engine |
| Pressable | Managed WordPress hosting geared towards agencies and developers. | Managed hosting, free SSL certificates, CDN, staging environments, automatic updates, malware scanning. | Email hosting, domain registration. | $19/month | Custom enterprise plans | Automattic |
| Automattic | The company behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Jetpack, and more. | Offers a suite of WordPress-related products and services. | Direct hosting services under the Automattic name. | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| WordPress.org | Home of the open-source WordPress software for self-hosted websites. | Free software, complete control over site and hosting environment, access to all plugins and themes. | Hosting, domain registration, dedicated support beyond community forums. | Free (software) | N/A | WordPress Foundation |
What is the core attribute shared between all of these services?
The core attribute shared by all of these services is the open source WordPress.org framework as the core value driver of all of these services. All of these are paid services except for WordPress.org.
Where are the key differences between the core?
Rolling up under this section is a nuanced grouping of these different categories of services.
For instance, the goal of WP Engine and Pressable are to provide high quality web hosting services for the WordPress open-source framework.
Automattic is a collection of services, and is the parent company of WordPress.com, Pressable and they are the commercial interpretation and implementation of the WordPress foundation. Matt Mulllenweg is the founder of both of these entities, which is important to note.
Also note, WP Engine and Automattic are both the parent company names and are both for-profit companies.
WordPress.org is a non-profit foundation.
This part is very up to debate currently, but both WordPress.com and WP Engine make opinionated alterations to the core default WordPress.org framework. Both of these companies do it in different ways. WordPress.com paywalls otherwise free plugins if you were to host elsewhere, such as WP Engine. WP Engine makes other changes vs WordPress.org on another host, which is banning a certain number of plugins for resource and security reasons, as well as alter revisions by default out of the box.
List of Automattic Subsidiaries and their Acquisition Date
Automattic has a series of subsidiary companies and services that they have either created in-house or acquired. You can see them on their main website:
Watch this space for more updates.
Last Updated on September 24, 2024 by Joe
