WordPress.com is offering a new AI site builder

WordPress.com has launched a new AI-powered site builder in early access that can construct your WordPress webpage, including fully written text, layout, generated images, and more. WordPress.com says the AI website builder can make “beautiful, functional websites in minutes.” However, it can’t yet do the heavy lifting of creating an ecommerce site or one with “complex integrations,” but the company says to stay tuned for such features. You’ll need a WordPress.com account to start the free trial for the WordPress AI Site Builder, and while you won’t need a credit card on file to have fun with the tool, you will need to get a WordPress.com hosting plan to actually make the site usable, which starts at $18 per month (less if you pay for a whole year or more). [Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO2YaugiEns] The builder works by inputting prompts into a chatbot, so you can tell it that you need a personal or business site, describe how you want the header to look, what kind of colors you like, etc. WordPress.com says being as specific as possible in your first prompt will get you better results, but the chatbot can ask you for information like your business name and location. It then makes you a site complete with AI-generated headers, images, and text. You can then continue prompting the chatbot to tweak anything from colors, styles, photos, and information that you want included. [Image: https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-09-at-12.35.28%E2%80%AFPM.png?quality=90&strip=all] [Image: https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-09-at-12.36.36%E2%80%AFPM.png?quality=90&strip=all] I tried it out and made my own fake retro videogame store website. I got a super basic but serviceable site laid out in sections like Discover, Events, and Visit Us. It populated a collection of random AI-generated gameroom images, including one with a girl leaning on a CRT displaying an unknown Tetris-like puzzle game. It also presented a “Sega Saturday Showdown” event that you can RSVP for (coupled with an entirely unrelated image of a woman holding a box of Christmas cookies). Once the site is built, you can transfer it to WordPress.com’s hosting service, where you can continue working on it manually or return to the AI builder. The tool only works for new WordPress instances and can’t yet be used for pre-existing sites. The new tool comes as WordPress.com owner Automattic just moved to shed 16 percent of its workforce last week. Automattic also faces a lawsuit brought on by hosting company WP Engine, which offers several tools, including templates, to help you build and manage a site.