Automattic, owner of WordPress.com, has launched Spacefast, a platform intended to make it easier to deploy vibe‑coded websites and applications. Spacefast provides backend infrastructure for these projects — including databases, authentication, file uploads, email and analytics — so that vibe‑coded prototypes can become functioning sites, apps or services.
Positioning and competitors
Spacefast will compete with companies such as Lovable and Emergent, which also supply interfaces and rails for vibe‑coded apps. Automattic presents Spacefast as a more open option that gives users flexibility in how they deploy and integrate their projects.
The platform supports connections to a variety of agents and chatbots, including ChatGPT, Claude, Hermes, OpenClaw, Grokbot, Muse, Pi, Cursor, Opencode and Amp. Users can also start by connecting a Git repository to Spacefast.
Development and launch
The product is led by Batuhan Icoz, who began work on it during one of Automattic’s hackathon sprints earlier in the year. Icoz previously worked on the company’s cross‑platform messaging app, Beeper, and said that non‑technical friends often sent him Vercel links of vibe‑coded projects, which inspired him to look for a simpler deployment path.
“I thought there had to be a better way for everyone to set up and deploy their projects. Automattic already has good infrastructure, but we have been traditionally associated with just WordPress. I thought, why do I have to use Cloudflare when we have a CDN just as good? So I started working on what was called Stattic and now Spacefast,” Icoz told TechCrunch.
Automattic soft‑launched Spacefast in September to collect feedback before the wider release.
Use cases and adjacent competition
Automattic has observed varied uses for Spacefast: internal mockups, slideshows, and offer‑related sites among them. But established productivity and design tools such as Figma, Canva and Notion have also introduced products that sit at the intersection of vibe coding, mockups and presentations, creating additional competition.
Icoz argues that Spacefast’s advantage over platforms like Lovable is the user’s freedom to choose their agent and customize workflows, while acknowledging that some users prefer an opinionated, all‑in‑one experience where choices are made for them.
Being part of Automattic also gives Spacefast potential advantages: the company can more easily add features like web analytics, WordPress integration and e‑commerce through WooCommerce, which may help when selling to enterprise customers.
“For enterprises, the problem right now is IT sprawl, as their marketing teams are churning out landing pages on services like Lovable, and they want to consolidate and work with a company that understands the enterprise needs. With our existing products, we have experience serving enterprise customers,” Icoz said.
Retention challenge and wider context
A key challenge for new AI‑era products is retaining users after the initial launch buzz. Icoz expects churn, noting many people might not be interested in building apps at all. He said the product must make building with Spacefast so easy and the results so clearly better that users see value in sticking with it.
The broader web landscape is shifting: some publishers see declining traffic as AI chatbots and automatic summaries change how users find content, which has contributed to slowing ad revenue growth in the industry. Icoz acknowledged that today many people build sites with ChatGPT or Claude rather than deploying to WordPress, and that some sites may not need a traditional content‑management system as the web evolves.
Company turbulence during the launch
Spacefast’s debut comes amid a turbulent period at Automattic. The company experienced internal leadership conflict when its board briefly removed CEO Matt Mullenweg before he returned to control days later; the dissenting board was replaced and an interim CFO departed weeks after appointment. In October, TechCrunch reported that Automattic had begun layoffs across several properties and that additional cuts were expected.
Those developments form the backdrop to Spacefast’s launch, but Automattic appears to be using the product to expand beyond its historical association with WordPress toward broader web infrastructure and hosting services.
