• WordPress.com is an all-in-one “build-your-own-website” platform. It’s free to get started with, and you don’t need any external hosting or external domain name.
  All you have to do is go to WordPress.com, sign up for an account, and you’ll be able to start building your site or blog right away.
• WordPress.org is an open-source website software – an operating system for your website or blog. This software doesn’t cost you anything by itself, but you need to have a hosting account (a web server) in order to use it, which often comes with a price tag.

During the week preceding September 22, 2024, Matt Mullenweg—founder of WordPress.com—began speaking negatively about rival WP Engine. Mullenweg gave a speech at WordCamp US 2024 that argued that WP Engine had made meager contributions to WordPress compared to Automattic, criticized WP Engine's significant ties to private equity, and called for a boycott, sparking internet controversy.[30] In response, WP Engine issued a cease and desist against what it characterized as defamation and extortion, attributing his attacks to WP Engine's refusal to pay Automattic "a significant percentage of its gross revenues – tens of millions of dollars in fact – on an ongoing basis" for what it claimed were necessary trademark licensing fees (later clarified as 8% of all revenue, payable in gross or in salaries for its own employees working under Automattic's direction, combined with a clause that would have prohibited forking[31]) for the "WordPress" name.[32] Automattic responded by sending its own cease and desist the next day, citing the trademark issue.[33] On October 2, 2024, WP Engine sued Automattic and Mullenweg for extortion and abuse of power, which the defendants denied.[31]

As a result of the dispute, WordPress.org blocked WP Engine and affiliates from accessing its servers—which include security updates, the plugin and theme repository, and more—on September 25, 2024. This was a day after its trademark policy was updated[34] to advise against usage of "WP" "in a way that confuses people", listing WP Engine as an example.[35] Following backlash, access to WordPress.org was temporarily restored until October 1 to allow WP Engine to build its own mirror sites two days later,[36][37] which the company did.[35] On the 12th, WordPress.org replaced the listing of WP Engine's Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin on the WordPress.org plugin directory with their own version called "Secure Custom Fields" citing a guideline that empowers the foundation to "make changes to a plugin, without developer consent, in the interest of public safety".[38] While Automattic claimed this was a fork, it used the same product slug and update mechanism, essentially forcing the millions of users of ACF (maintained by WP Engine) to automatically switch to SCF (maintained by Automattic) on their next update, with no warning this would happen. This has been compared to a supply chain attack[39] , and was the basis in WPE's lawsuit for claims that included violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).