Who owns WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is owned by Automattic (the United States), which has owned the brand since 19 May 2015.[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Automattic — about us, Automattic Inc. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Automattic Inc. reported
- Owned since
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, San Francisco, California
- Origin
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- Founded
- 2011
- Category
- Internet & digital › Digital services › Website & store builders
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About WooCommerce
WooCommerce turns a WordPress site into a shop and is one of the most used ecommerce platforms in the world by number of sites, since it is free to install. Automattic acquired it in 2015. Because it runs on a site the merchant controls rather than on hosted infrastructure, it appeals to shops that want no platform sitting between them and their customers.
Ownership timeline of WooCommerce
- 2015 – present Automattic [1] reported
Where WooCommerce sits in Automattic
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Automattic ownership tree →
See the full Automattic brand portfolio (4) →
Other brands owned by Automattic
Automattic controls 4 brands on Brandtree, 4 of them in internet & digital.
Also in internet & digital
- Gravatar (2004)
- Tumblr (2007)
- WordPress.com (2005)
Other brands in website & store builders, and who owns them
The 20 brands in website & store builders on Brandtree belong to 6 owners. The largest is IONOS, with 9; Automattic has 3.
About the owner: Automattic
Automattic is a privately held company headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, founded in 2005. Brandtree records 4 brands under its control.
Automattic is the company behind WordPress.com, founded in 2005 by one of the creators of the WordPress software. It is privately held and fully distributed with no central office, and its relationship with the separate non-profit WordPress Foundation became the subject of open litigation in 2024.
🇿🇦 WooCommerce and other South African brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 175 brands that began in South Africa. 12 of them (7%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, WooCommerce among them.
- Checkers Sixty60 — Shoprite Group 🇿🇦
- Showmax — Canal+ 🇫🇷
- @home — TFG 🇿🇦
- Ackermans — Pepkor 🇿🇦
- Afrocentric — Sanlam 🇿🇦
- Airlink — Airlink 🇿🇦
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of WooCommerce?
The parent company of WooCommerce is Automattic, a privately held company headquartered in the United States.
Is WooCommerce South African or American?
WooCommerce originated in South Africa in 2011, but it is owned today by Automattic, which is headquartered in the United States. So WooCommerce is a South African-origin brand under American ownership.
Since when has Automattic owned WooCommerce?
Automattic has owned WooCommerce since 19 May 2015.
Is WooCommerce still owned by Automattic?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, WooCommerce is still owned by Automattic. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Automattic — about us — Automattic Inc., Official document; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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