WordPress VIP is no upstart. Operating since 2006, it now serves both corporations and media outlets—no mean feat—and after digging into the documentation and viewing a demo (where the team graciously fielded all my questions), I offer this assessment and my view of the competition, chiefly Glide Publishing Platform and Arc XP at similar price points.
WP VIP sits at the very top of Automattic’s portfolio: WordPress.com’s blogging service occupies the entry-level, Newspack fills the mid-range for local papers, and WP VIP provides the critical features that justify moving up.
Chief among those features is unfettered access to the core WordPress engineers, ensuring impeccable practices in project management and development.
Second, WP VIP lets each company or newsroom roll out any customisation or extension it likes—but always under the expert guidance of the WordPress team.
Third, a first-class global hosting network underpins the service; Automattic’s reputation for quality infrastructure reaches its zenith here, as we saw in the demo’s comprehensive control panel with everything scanned and monitored.
In such an environment—while nothing is 100 per cent certain—customers are in the safest possible hands: WP VIP is licensed to work with the US Government and meets the stringent security standards that entails.
The firm is American and naturally focused on success at home. That brings advantages, but also means support elsewhere can be patchier; staff in Ireland and a healthy Automattic contingent in Spain can help, though they do not belong strictly to the WP VIP team.
Perhaps this spirit of solidarity springs from the open-source ethos at WordPress’s heart; despite a benevolent-dictator model and its attendant dramas, WordPress has conquered the web so comprehensively that its market share now limits further growth.
It is not this article’s aim to dissect WordPress itself—I have done so elsewhere—but everything said there applies to WP VIP because the core is identical, and the community, plugins and themes turn the project into a true multipurpose Swiss-army knife.
Because WordPress is the market standard, virtually everyone knows how to use it; most reporters and content creators require no training, which is why giants such as CNN, Salesforce, News Corp, the White House, NBC Universal, Capgemini and Bloomberg rely on it.
WP VIP’s core offer bundles hosting and support with content analytics, personalisation and the open-source Elasticsearch engine.
For those wondering, moving from the classic editor to the now-mature block editor poses no problem, WP VIP staff told me, though it is wise to limit blocks and options for branding consistency and to keep journalists focused on information, not tinkering.
What WordPress VIP includes—and what it does not
Crown jewels include Jetpack (Automattic’s multi-tool app), Akismet anti-spam and, above all, Parse.ly, the analytics platform fully baked into the system to show, in real time, how content performs.
Stats appear on the dashboard and on every post, informing decisions such as related-story selection or automatic “Smart links,” which should lift click-through and engagement.
Today Parse.ly is completely integrated, enabling A/B testing as well.
As noted, WP VIP guards security while granting access to the whole plugin ecosystem—and clients can build their own—but niche media needs like intelligent paywalls or print edition configuration rely on third-party integrations, adding cost.
Workflow, roles and permissions are indeed more advanced than in stock WordPress.
The price dilemma
Multiple sources put the entry fee at about $25,000 a year—roughly €2,000 a month—competitive at first glance, though the exact package depends on traffic, storage, number of sites and support level.
The ceiling varies: heavy front-end bespoke work, multisite setups or unique features can drive costs sharply higher, and Automattic often partners with trusted third-party developers for builds and migrations.
That hybrid model is increasingly popular, splitting tasks—and responsibility—between provider and implementation partner.
WordPress VIP in Forrester Wave
WP VIP is absent from Gartner’s Magic Quadrant, but Forrester Wave rates it a “strong performer,” above “contenders” such as Arc XP, though still short of leaders Adobe and Optimizely.
Forrester says WP VIP is “ideal for North American and EMEA enterprises and government agencies needing to publish at scale through an intuitive interface.”
Pros and cons of WordPress VIP
Strengths abound: robustness, scalability, reliability, multi-site from one back-end and the familiar WordPress advantages under Automattic’s top engineers.
Downsides start with price escalation via third-party integrations, rapid growth or extra support, and the need for an in-house dev team—contrast with rivals that remove technical burdens so clients can focus on content or business.
Remember, WP VIP is Automattic’s flagship; simpler, cheaper needs may be better served by other products.
In my view, the best CMSs build every newsroom tool in-house and integrate them perfectly—even if those tools are less powerful—so relying on third parties for essentials like CRM is a mark against WP VIP.
My take on WP VIP
Customer support is paramount for digital papers operating in the here-and-now, so service must be impeccable.
I also note the platform targets both enterprises and newsrooms, whose requirements differ; businesses often value security and usability over the blistering performance news sites need.
For online papers already on self-hosted WordPress and feeling the strain of big audiences—especially around performance critical to Google—WP VIP is an ideal next step once Newspack falls short, whether sticking with the classic editor plus custom fields or, preferably, embracing Gutenberg, though a migration is still required.
In Europe WP VIP faces stiff competition from high-performance CMSs with stellar support; it can run traditionally or headless, as modern times demand.
Price matters, and Google’s unabashed “ChatGPT-isation” is already slashing traffic for many publishers, while paywalls advance slowly and modestly, so the market is tough.
Nonetheless, WP VIP’s myriad advantages warrant serious consideration by organisations with complex, heavily customised and security-sensitive needs.
* Original article written in Spanish, translated with chatGPT and reviewed in English by Jorge Mediavilla.
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