Matt Mullenweg denounces Wix's bizarre marketing campaign against WordPress and says Wix's business model “is getting customers to pay more and more every year”
@photomatt, founding developer of @WordPress https://ma.tt/... #FuckWix (I like the sound of that) Catalin Cimpanu / @campuscodi : Those Wix ads are in poor taste for a company who has failed to deliver. Unless you want to build a 5-page site, Wix is totally useless while WordPress powers 40% of all internet sites and is still going up https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Dark Patterns / @darkpatterns : The Wix “Roach Motel” Wix users are not given the ability to export the websites they create, making it very hard for them to move to another provider. (via @piccalilli_) https://ma.tt/... https://twitter.com/... Richard MacManus / @ricmac : The inability to export your content from Wix is really the killer here. I suppose this falls into the category of ‘all publicity is good publicity’ from Wix's pov...but seriously, what were they thinking. https://twitter.com/... Andy Bell / @piccalilli_ : Absolutely damning from @photomatt https://ma.tt/... I haven't seen the “main” ad: just the creepy headphone stuff... I also didn't realise Wix lock people in with dirty retention tricks either, which is a very bad look. Michelle Frechette / @michelleames : “So if we're comparing website builders to abusive relationships, Wix is one that locks you in the basement and doesn't let you leave.” I love this comparison! https://twitter.com/... Louis Gray / @louisgray : I have always been an advocate for open web platforms, interoperability, and standards. @photomatt's summary of Wix and their competition with the WordPress community is eye opening. Worth a read for any publisher or Web nerd. Wix and Their Dirty Tricks: https://ma.tt/... Mike Masnick / @mmasnick : This is just weird. I've worked with companies who become obsessed with their competitors over serving their own customers and it's never pretty. Apparently Wix is one of those companies. https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
This is round two between Matt Mullenweg and Wix. Back in 2016, he [[a:876874|accused Wix of copying WordPress code into its mobile app while skirting the GPL's attribution and release requirements]] — the same open-source-versus-closed-platform fault line now resurfaces over Wix's ad campaign attacking WordPress.
What sharpens the story is the criticism arriving from outside Automattic: security reporter Catalin Cimpanu calls the ads poor taste and notes WordPress powers 40% of all sites, while the Dark Patterns account flags Wix's 'Roach Motel' problem — users can't export the sites they build. Mullenweg's own framing targets Wix's economics, claiming the model gets customers to pay more each year.
First-order effects
- Wix is now fighting on two fronts at once: its ads drew public rebukes from WordPress community figures, and the export-lock-in allegation hands critics a concrete switching-cost argument to counter its marketing.
Second-order effects
- Wix must defend pricing escalation and non-exportable sites rather than compete on features, ceding the openness narrative to WordPress and any host or builder that offers clean data exit.
Third-order effects
- Seen alongside the later WP Engine clash — where Mullenweg branded WP Engine a 'cancer to WordPress' over commercial confusion — the pattern points at recurring fights over who profits from WordPress and whether GPL-style openness becomes a competitive weapon against closed builders like Wix.
The trend: Website platforms are increasingly contesting lock-in and licensing openness rather than features alone, with exportability emerging as the battleground metric.