WordPress.com’s Automattic Acquires Grammar Tool Harper

Automattic, the owner of WordPress.com, has acquired Harper, a grammar-checking tool, to enhance its content creation capabilities

Automattic, the owner of WordPress.com, has expanded its portfolio of online content creation tools and services by acquiring Harper, a competitor of Grammarly.

Harper’s tool, which is open source and designed to maintain privacy by processing its checks locally on your device, is intended for developers despite its competition with the ubiquitous grammar checker used by many online writers.

The service, named after novelist Harper Lee, is currently accessible as a language server through WebAssembly.

However, Automattic has announced that its capabilities will be integrated across the web hosting platform WordPress.com, e-commerce platform WooCommerce, WordPress plug-in Jetpack, and other platforms following the acquisition.

Automattic also asserts that Harper provides grammar and language suggestions in under 20 milliseconds, less than 1% of the time required by “a certain popular online grammar tool,” as noted in an announcement. This comparison is likely to be made with Grammarly.

The terms of the agreement were not disclosed; however, Harper’s proprietor will be joining Automattic’s team to assist in the integration of the service across Automattic’s products.

Automattic’s legal dispute with WordPress hosting provider WP Engine has caused significant turmoil within the WordPress community, during which time the acquisition occurred.

Automattic’s CEO, Matt Mullenweg, has accused the provider of profiting from the open-source WordPress project without contributing an adequate quantity of code or working hours.

He also claims that the use of the “WP” brand by WP Engine is confusing to consumers and is requesting that the company pay a portion of its revenue to license the WordPress trademark.

In October, 159 Automattic employees departed the company due to the schism. Subsequently, the company proposed alternative severance package plans to any other employees who desired to resign.