subject: Automattic Revenue Break-down [print this page] WordPress is not owned by a not-for-profit company and, despite the fact that WordPress software is intrinsically free and open-source, the software does bring in a significant portion of revenue for Automattic (the company that owns WordPress).
Below are the primary ways WordPress brings in a profit for its investors:
WordPress.com Premium Features
Google AdSense advertisements are placed "very rarely" on blogs hosted on WordPress.com. Users can pay a small yearly fee to remove the advertisements. WordPress.com clients can also upgrade to other features like domain mapping, extra storage, custom CSS and unlimited users. All of these are sources of revenue for Automattic.
WordPress.org VIP Support
Although the WordPress community provides free support through forums and tutorials, Automattic offers multiple levels of VIP support that give companies and organizations direct access to WordPress developers, upgrade notices and third-party consultation recommendations. The VIP support packages starts at $15,000 per year but the highest level of support, which provides active monitoring of the sites and on-site visits, costs as much as $150,000 per year.
Akismet
The nifty Akismet tool is arguably the most advanced spam protection software on the Internet. Developed by WordPress Founder Matt Mullenweg and a number of other developers from Automattic, the tool filters user-submitted content for spam by comparing patterns to a database. Although standard use is free, Automattic makes money by selling Akismet licenses for corporations and large websites.
What Makes WordPress so Successful?
The success of WordPress, like in most open-source projects, can most likely be contributed to its enormous community and the group of people that spend time coding plugins and themes while expecting nothing in return. Automattic has also done a good job facilitating the project and providing the core development.
