'I think EmDash was created to sell more Cloudflare services': WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg gives his verdict on Cloudflare's EmDash

Date:
Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:35:00 +0000

Description:
WordPress co-founder Mullenweg isn't too critical about EmDash or Cloudflare, says he sees it as a commercial opportunity, not a 'spiritual successor'.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Pro Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member features. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are
now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Matt Mullenweg welcomes the competition, innovation and open-source nature of EmDash He sees it as an opportunity for Cloudflare to plug its own services Mullenweg says it's great, but it's not a 'spiritual successor' Automattic and WordPress.com CEO Matt Mullenweg has weighed in on Cloudflare's launch of EmDash , rejecting the company's claim that the new project is WordPress's spiritual successor.

In a blog post , Mullenweg explains why EmDash isn't the website builder's spiritual successor, why EmDash hasn't solved the plug-in problem it criticized WordPress for, and how security issues can be fixed in the future. "Its all built on open source and web standards," he asserts. "You can run it anywhere; theres no lock-in." Article continues below You may like Cloudflare launches EmDash the 'spiritual successor' that wants to take on WordPress WP Engine-Automattic feud resurfaces with new claims of royalty fees and
contract threats WordPress has a new AI assistant to help you build your
dream website Mullenweg rejects EmDash claims Mullenweg explained WordPress can run anywhere, from a Raspberry Pi or a smartphone to a cheap server or across multiple hyperscaler data centers it's all the same code. On the flip side, he sees EmDash as an opportunity to sell Cloudflare services.

Mullenweg uses the post to praise Cloudflare, noting the company's status as
a "top engineering organization" that's pro-open-source.

All in all, he doesn't have a bad word to say about EmDash or Cloudflare in principle, however for interoperability and avoiding vendor lock-in, he notes that EmDash only runs optimally on Cloudflare.

As for the plug-in issue, Mullenweg explained that their unrestricted power
is a feature, not a flaw, but artificial intelligence could significantly improve their security within the next 18 months. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

"I actually think the product is very solid, theres some excellent engineering, migration tools, its very fast, and the Astro integration is nice," he concludes.

So while EmDash isn't the spiritual successor to WordPress in Mullenweg's eyes, he welcomes the competition and supports that it's open-source.
However, if there is to be a spiritual successor, it would be "even more open." Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to
get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/i-think-emdash-was-created-to-sell-more-cloudfla re-services-wordpress-co-founder-matt-mullenweg-gives-his-verdict-on-cloudflar es-emdash


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)