Business / news
WordPress.com launches free student plan to attract young web creators
Automattic unveiled WordPress.com Education, a free classroom suite that gives students their own domains, plugin support and professional website-building tools for the first year.
At its annual WordCamp U.S. conference on Monday, Automattic introduced WordPress.com Education, a new offering designed for teachers and their classes. The program provides each student with a full WordPress.com domain, including free .blog or .art domains, along with plugin support.
Teachers can enroll their classes at no cost for the first year, without needing a credit card or starting a trial. The suite is intended for courses that teach website building, as well as group projects that incorporate web design.
The student plan is not a stripped-down version of WordPress.com, the company said. It includes 6 GB of storage, automated backups, staging sites, and support for plugins, SFTP/SSH, phpMyAdmin, and Studio Sync.
The move targets a younger generation that often opts for social media profiles instead of building standalone websites. WordPress software powers roughly 43% of all sites on the internet, but Automattic is looking to make its platform a more appealing choice for students establishing their first web presence.