Automattic, the owner of WordPress.com, has recently acquired Harper, a grammar checker tool that competes with Grammarly. Harper’s unique selling point is its focus on developers and open source, as well as its commitment to privacy by processing checks locally on users’ devices. The service, named after novelist Harper Lee, is currently available as a language server through WebAssembly.
After the acquisition, Automattic plans to integrate Harper’s capabilities across its various platforms, including WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Jetpack, and others. One of the key advantages of Harper is its ability to provide grammar and language suggestions in under 20 milliseconds, which is significantly faster than some other popular tools like Grammarly.
While the financial details of the deal were not disclosed, it is known that Harper’s founder will be joining Automattic’s team to facilitate the integration of the service. This acquisition comes at a time of turmoil in the WordPress community, as Automattic is engaged in a legal battle with WordPress hosting provider WP Engine. The dispute revolves around allegations that WP Engine is profiting from the open-source WordPress project without contributing enough back to the community.
As a result of this conflict, 159 Automattic employees left the company in October, prompting Automattic to offer severance packages to other employees who wished to depart. The acquisition of Harper may signal Automattic’s commitment to enhancing its content creation tools and services, despite the challenges it is facing within the WordPress community.
Overall, the acquisition of Harper by Automattic represents a strategic move to expand its portfolio and improve its offerings in the online content creation space. By integrating Harper’s unique features and capabilities into its existing platforms, Automattic aims to provide users with a more comprehensive and efficient writing experience. This acquisition also highlights the competitive nature of the grammar checker market and the importance of privacy and speed in such tools.
