Is Automattic charging other WordPress hosts trademark fees?

That is an allegation, not an established fact. In a February 2026 filing, WP Engine claimed Automattic planned to seek trademark royalties from 10 competitors and stated that Newfold (parent of Bluehost and HostGator) was already paying. These are WP Engine's claims in active litigation; Automattic dismissed the filing as recycled allegations, noting the court had already dismissed many central claims. Nothing here is a court finding.

WP Engine vs Automattic in 2026: The Latest, and What It Means for Your Site

Q: What is the status of the WP Engine vs Automattic lawsuit in 2026?

As of mid-2026 the case is still in active litigation with no settlement announced. Discovery closed around May 14, 2026, and the court was set to hear both sides' motions to dismiss on June 25, 2026. An earlier preliminary injunction restored WP Engine's access to WordPress.org and to Advanced Custom Fields (ACF). The case is ongoing, so treat any single filing as an allegation, not a final ruling.

Q: Should I leave WP Engine because of the lawsuit?

The lawsuit alone isn't a strong reason. WP Engine has operated normally throughout, and the injunction restored the access that triggered the original panic. Leave for concrete reasons (recurring overage, price, wanting out of private-equity ownership), not for the litigation itself, which could resolve in either direction. If you do move, match the destination to your actual reason.

By Daniel Brooks · Updated June 2026 · WordPress developer tracking managed hosting

Affiliate disclosure: some links below are affiliate links. This is built from court filings and public reporting; everything below about the case is attributed, and active-litigation claims are flagged as allegations, not findings.

Most write-ups about the WP Engine vs Automattic fight are frozen in late 2024, when it first blew up. The case has moved a lot since, and if you host with WP Engine (or are weighing a switch), the mid-2026 state of play is what actually matters, not the original drama. This is where it stands as of June 2026, with every claim attributed, plus the one thing that turns it from "WP Engine's problem" into something every WordPress site owner should track.

Short version (as of June 2026): the case is still live, no settlement. Discovery closed around May 14, and the court was set to hear motions to dismiss on June 25, 2026. A February 2026 WP Engine filing alleges Automattic planned trademark royalties from 10 hosts and that Newfold (Bluehost/HostGator) is already paying, Automattic calls these recycled claims the court largely dismissed. These are allegations in active litigation, not rulings. For your site: the lawsuit alone still isn't a reason to leave; concrete reasons are.

Where the case stands (June 2026)

The facts of procedure, which aren't in dispute:

Still in active litigation, no settlement announced. WP Engine has said it's participating in settlement talks in good faith, but nothing is finalized.
Discovery closed around May 14, 2026, with the court hearing certain discovery disputes in late May.
Motions to dismiss from both sides were set to be heard June 25, 2026, a hearing that could narrow what proceeds to trial.
The preliminary injunction holds: an earlier court order restored WP Engine's access to WordPress.org and to Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), the immediate technical risk that started the 2024 panic.

The practical read: WP Engine is operating normally, the access scare is resolved, and the courtroom fight continues on a defined timeline. That's a very different situation from the "is my site about to break" mood of late 2024.

The February 2026 filing: what WP Engine alleges

This is the part to read carefully, because it's all allegation, claims WP Engine made in a third amended complaint (filed February 2026 after gaining access to sealed discovery), which Automattic disputes. None of it is a court finding. Attributed precisely, WP Engine claims:

A plan to charge 10 competitors. WP Engine alleges Automattic "planned to target 10 other competitors with royalty claims" similar to those demanded of WP Engine.
Newfold already paying. The complaint states that Newfold (parent of Bluehost and HostGator) is already paying Automattic for trademark use, with other hosts said to be in conversations.
Pressure on Stripe. WP Engine alleges Matt Mullenweg emailed a Stripe executive to pressure the company to cancel WP Engine's contract after the suit was filed.
An "arbitrary" 8% fee. WP Engine challenges the 8% trademark royalty as set by what it "could afford to pay" rather than an objective basis.

Automattic's response: it dismissed the filing as recycled allegations, noting that "the Court has already dismissed many of its central claims." So you have two opposed accounts, and a court that has trimmed parts of WP Engine's case. The honest posture for a site owner is to treat these as competing claims under test, not settled facts.

The part that affects every WordPress host (if true)

Why this stopped being only WP Engine's problem, with the same caveat that it's an allegation: If WP Engine's claim is accurate that Automattic sought trademark royalties from a list of hosts, and that Newfold is already paying, then the question "could my host be next" becomes legitimate for anyone on a commercial WordPress host, not just WP Engine customers. A trademark-royalty model spreading across the hosting industry would, over time, show up in pricing somewhere.

But weight it correctly: this is WP Engine's characterization in a filing Automattic disputes, and the court has dismissed parts of the broader case. It's a development to watch, not a reason to panic-migrate. If you're on Bluehost, HostGator, or another host and wondering, the responsible move is to follow how the June 25 hearing and any rulings land, not to act on one side's filing.

What it means for your site

If you're on WP Engine: nothing about the lawsuit requires action. Service is normal, access is restored. Leave only for concrete reasons, recurring overage, price, or wanting out of private-equity ownership, covered in the alternatives and when leaving makes sense.
If you're weighing a switch: decide on fundamentals (price, support, ownership, fit), not on a courtroom outcome you can't predict. The case could resolve in either direction.
If you're on another host: the "trademark fees spreading" angle is worth tracking but not acting on yet, it rests on contested allegations. Watch for actual rulings or confirmed agreements before drawing conclusions.
Either way: keep current off-site backups. That's the move that protects you regardless of how any host's corporate drama plays out.

Bottom line (June 2026): the case is live, no settlement, with a June 25 motion-to-dismiss hearing as the next marker. WP Engine's February filing makes serious allegations (royalties targeting 10 hosts, Newfold already paying, pressure on Stripe), all disputed by Automattic and untested in a final ruling. For your site, the litigation still isn't a reason to move; fundamentals are. We'll update this as the case develops. Compare the alternatives →

FAQ

What's the status of the WP Engine vs Automattic lawsuit in 2026?

As of mid-2026, still active, no settlement. Discovery closed around May 14; motions to dismiss were set for June 25, 2026. An earlier injunction restored WP Engine's WordPress.org and ACF access. Treat individual filings as allegations, not rulings.

Is Automattic charging other hosts trademark fees?

That's an allegation, not a fact. WP Engine's February 2026 filing claims Automattic planned royalties from 10 competitors and that Newfold (Bluehost/HostGator) already pays. Automattic dismissed it as recycled claims the court largely dismissed. No court finding confirms it.

Should I leave WP Engine because of the lawsuit?

Not for the lawsuit itself, WP Engine runs normally and the access issue is resolved. Leave for concrete reasons (overage, price, PE ownership). The case could go either way, so don't migrate on litigation you can't predict.

Will this raise my hosting prices?

Unknown, and speculative. If a trademark-royalty model spread across hosts (an unproven allegation here), costs could eventually surface in pricing. But that's contingent on contested claims and future rulings, not anything decided today.