Draft:WP Engine

WP Engine is an hosting company that provides hosting services for websites built on the open-source content management system WordPress.[1] It was founded by Jason Cohen in 2010 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.[2][3][4][10]

History
WP Engine was founded by Jason Cohen and Ben Metcalfe in 2010.[2][4][10] Prior to founding WP Engine, Cohen was the founder of the software company SmartBear Software.[2]

In May 2013, WP Engine hired former Bazaarvoice COO Heather Brunner as its COO.[21][22] Brunner was appointed as the company’s CEO in October 2013, with Cohen assuming the position of CTO.[22]

WP Engine expanded into Europe in 2016, establishing offices in Limerick, Ireland.[14][15][17]

WP Engine hired Lee McClendon, formerly of SolarWinds, as its first Senior Vice President of Global Engineering in 2017.[11]

WP Engine acquired Studio Press, the developer of the WordPress program Genesis Framework, in June 2018.[1]

WP Engine acquired the Nebraska-based WordPress hosting company Flywheel for an undisclosed amount in June 2019.[1][5] In the same year, the company expanded its offices into The Domain, a mixed-use development in Austin, Texas.[12]

WP Engine acquired the block editor plugin development team Block Lab in 2020.[23]

In 2021, the company reorganized its business into three service lines: enterprise-size business, small to medium-size business and international business.[3] WP Engine also acquired the WordPress theme Frost from Brian Gardner in 2021.[24]

In June 2022, WP Engine acquired the plugin developer Delicious Brains, which was known for manufacturing the WordPress plugins Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), WP Migrate, Better Search and Replace, WP Offload SES, and WP Offload Media.[7]

In a 2023 study conducted by StatusGator, WP Engine was named one of the most reliable WordPress hosting providers based on downtime data.[8] WP Engine also formed a partnership with digital agency Granite Digital to expand its presence in Ireland in 2023.[19] In addition, WP Engine also expanded its offices into the Limerick city center in 2023.[20]

Annually, WP Engine holds WP Engine DE{CODE}, a developer conference centered around sharing technical knowledge with the WordPress community.[27]

Platform
The WP Engine’s main function is allowing businesses and organizations to build, host, and manage websites powered by WordPress.[3][28]

After its acquisition of Flywheel, WP Engine began implementing Flywheel’s local WordPress development tool Local with the WP Engine platform.[18]

In 2022, WP Engine announced that it was ending support for the website managing tool .htaccess.[6] WP Engine also announced the launch of Atlas, its headless WordPress solution, in the same year.[9] The Atlas platform includes Atlas Blueprints, which provides developers with free website templates designed by professionals, and Atlas Sandbox, which allows users to create prototype headless WordPress projects.[9]

WP Engine also launched its platform on Microsoft Azure in 2022.[16]

History
WP Engine was founded by Jason Cohen and Ben Metcalfe in 2010. Prior to founding WP Engine, Cohen was the founder of the software company SmartBear Software.undefined

In May 2013, WP Engine hired former Bazaarvoice COO Heather Brunner as its COO. Brunner was eventually appointed the company’s CEO in October 2013, with Cohen assuming the position of CTO.

WP Engine expanded into Europe in 2016, establishing offices in Limerick, Ireland.

WP Engine hired Lee McClendon, formerly of SolarWinds, as its first Senior Vice President of Global Engineering in 2017.

WP Engine sold majority of its stakes to Silver Lake for investing $250 million. WP Engine acquired Studio Press, the developer of the WordPress program Genesis Framework, in June 2018.

WP Engine acquired the Nebraska-based WordPress hosting company Flywheel for an undisclosed amount in June 2019. In the same year, the company expanded its offices into The Domain, a mixed-use development in Austin, Texas.

WP Engine acquired the block editor plugin development team Block Lab in 2020.

In 2021, the company reorganized its business into three service lines: enterprise-size business, small to medium-size business and international business. WP Engine also acquired the WordPress theme Frost from Brian Gardner in 2021.

In June 2022, WP Engine acquired the plugin developer Delicious Brains, which was known for manufacturing the WordPress plugins Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), WP Migrate, Better Search and Replace, WP Offload SES, and WP Offload Media.

In a 2023 study conducted by StatusGator, WP Engine was named one of the most reliable WordPress hosting providers based on downtime data. WP Engine also formed a partnership with digital agency Granite Digital to expand its presence in Ireland in 2023. In addition, WP Engine also expanded its offices into the Limerick city centre in 2023.

Annually, WP Engine holds WP Engine DE{CODE}, a developer conference centered around sharing technical knowledge with the WordPress community.

Platform
The WP Engine’s main function is allowing businesses and organizations to build, host, and manage websites powered by WordPress. WP Engine offers free and paid hosting plans.

After its acquisition of Flywheel, WP Engine began implementing Flywheel’s local WordPress development tool Local with the WP Engine platform.

In 2022, WP Engine announced that it was ending support for the website managing tool .htaccess. WP Engine also announced the launch of Atlas, its headless WordPress solution, in the same year. The Atlas platform includes Atlas Blueprints, which provides developers with free website templates designed by professionals, and Atlas Sandbox, which allows users to create prototype headless WordPress projects.

WP Engine also launched its platform on Microsoft Azure in 2022.