Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, has launched a service called Spacefast that lets users deploy websites and apps built through vibe coding. Spacefast supplies the underlying infrastructure those projects need, including databases, authentication, file uploads, emails and analytics, so that vibe-coded work can function as a live website, app or service. The product puts Automattic in competition with Lovable and Emergent, which offer both an interface and infrastructure for vibe-coded apps; Automattic describes its approach as more open.
Users can connect Spacefast to agents and chatbots including ChatGPT, Claude, Hermes, OpenClaw, Grokbot, Muse, Pi, Cursor, Opencode and Amp, or link a Git repository to begin. The product is led by Batuhan Icoz, who began it during one of Automattic's hackathon sprints earlier in the year while working on the company's cross-platform messaging app Beeper. Icoz said he frequently received Vercel links from non-technical friends who were exploring vibe coding, and he questioned why he would use Cloudflare when Automattic already had a content delivery network he considered just as good. He started the project under the name Stattic before it became Spacefast.
Icoz shared the early solution with friends and kept adding features, and Automattic ran a soft launch in September to collect feedback ahead of the public debut. Early uses have ranged from internal mockups and slideshows to offer-related websites. Spacefast also faces competition from productivity and design software, as Figma, Canva and Notion have released products that sit at the intersection of vibe coding, mockups and presentations.
Icoz argues that Spacefast's advantage over a product like Lovable is that it lets users pick their own agent and work the way they prefer, though he acknowledged that some users may want everything decided for them. Spacefast can also draw on Automattic's existing assets to add web analytics, WordPress integration and e-commerce features through WooCommerce. For enterprises, Icoz said the current problem is IT sprawl, with marketing teams producing landing pages on services like Lovable and then seeking consolidation with a vendor that understands enterprise needs, an area where Automattic's existing products give it experience.
A challenge for new AI products is keeping users after launch, and Icoz said he expects churn because some people may not be interested in building apps at all. He said the product must make building with Spacefast easy enough, and the results good enough, that it clearly outperforms working without it. Icoz also acknowledged that people now build websites with ChatGPT or Claude rather than deploying on WordPress, and that some sites will not need a content management system at all as the web expands.
The launch comes during a turbulent stretch for Automattic. The company's board forced CEO Matt Mullenweg out in a dispute reminiscent of the OpenAI-Sam Altman episode, but he was back in control within days; the rebel board was eventually replaced, and the interim CFO left within weeks of being appointed. In October, TechCrunch reported that Automattic had begun layoffs across several properties, with more cuts expected.
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