Automattic launches Spacefast to host apps built with AI agents

Overview

Updated 58 minutes ago

On November 9, Automattic launched Spacefast, a new company that lets people publish websites and apps built in ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor and other AI agents. The service supplies hosting, a database, a domain and a private link, running on WordPress.com's infrastructure.

The product fills a gap between generating code and running it. Services such as Lovable and Emergent bundle their own AI with hosting; Spacefast lets users keep the agent they already use and adds deployment, team comments and permissions. Built-in app authentication, transactional email and shared team knowledge were announced for the coming weeks, not available at launch.

Why it matters

If it works, nontechnical teams can publish a working app from a chat window without switching AI tools or managing servers.

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Key Indicators

15B

Monthly page views on WordPress.com infrastructure

The base Spacefast runs on, according to Automattic.

$15

Pro plan price per member per month

Adds team features and early access to new features.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

People Involved

Bİ

Batuhan İçöz

Head of Spacefast, Automattic

Leading Spacefast after its public launch

Organizations Involved

Automattic

Private technology company

Owner of WordPress.com; launched Spacefast

Automattic owns WordPress.com and other web services, and built Spacefast on that infrastructure.

Spacefast

Deployment and hosting platform

Publicly launched November 9, 2026

Automattic's new company for publishing websites and apps built in third-party AI agents.

Timeline

2026 November 2026

3 events Latest: Yesterday

November 2026
Automattic launches Spacefast
Latest Launch

The new company publishes AI-agent-built sites and apps on WordPress.com infrastructure.
Yesterday
September 2026
Automattic soft-launches Spacefast
Product

The company tested the service with outside users before the public launch.
September 2026
2026
Automattic developer builds first Spacefast version
Development

Batuhan İçöz started the project, then called Stattic, during Automattic's Radical Speed Month.
2026

Scenarios

Spacefast ships authentication and email on schedule

Possible Resolves by End of 2026

Discussed by: Automattic's launch announcement and Spacefast product pages

Automattic said built-in app authentication, transactional email and shared team knowledge would arrive in the weeks after launch. Shipping them would make Spacefast a fuller replacement for integrated app builders, which already bundle those pieces. A delay would leave users connecting outside services.

A named enterprise customer consolidates landing pages on Spacefast

Possible Resolves by May 9, 2027

Discussed by: Batuhan İçöz in comments to TechCrunch

İçöz said enterprise marketing teams are creating landing pages on services like Lovable and that IT departments want to consolidate. A named customer using Spacefast for multiple sites would show the product can win that work. Without one, the enterprise pitch remains a plan.

Spacefast stays a niche experiment and folds into WordPress.com

Unlikely Resolves by Nov 9, 2027

Discussed by: TechCrunch, citing İçöz's expectation of user churn

İçöz acknowledged that many people who try AI app builders will lose interest. If paid use stays small, Automattic could absorb Spacefast into WordPress.com rather than run it as a separate company. The launch release already frames WordPress.com infrastructure as the product's base.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2003-2005

WordPress and Automattic (2003-2005)

WordPress began in 2003 as open-source software for publishing blogs. Automattic formed in 2005 to build a hosted service around it, and WordPress.com became one of the web's largest publishing platforms.

Then

Bloggers could publish without running their own servers.

Now

Automattic built infrastructure that now handles more than 15 billion page views a month.

Why this matters now

Spacefast points that same hosting model at apps generated in AI chats.

2007