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Moteur and WordPress

WordPress can be headless. Moteur starts that way.

Most agencies know WordPress inside out, and its REST API works. Headless, though, means choosing plugins for languages, forms, GraphQL and webhooks. Moteur has languages, forms and webhooks built in, and keeps content in Git. Checked on WordPress’s pages.

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Side by side

Eighteen points that matter for a client site. WordPress wins some of them. Each WordPress fact links to the page it comes from.

MoteurWordPress
Where the content livesPlain JSON files in the project’s own Git repositoryYour own MySQL or MariaDB database1
In GitYes: each project is its own repository, a commit per saveNo2
Who runs itMoteur Cloud. Or host the open-source engine yourself, without the StudioHost it yourself, or WordPress.com2
Open sourceEngine: MIT. The Studio and Moteur Cloud: not open sourceGPLv2 or later3
Free plan1 person, 1,000 entries, 2,000 API requests a monthSelf-hosted: free, with no limits. You pay for hosting2
First paid planPersonal, $9 a month: 2 people, 10,000 entriesWordPress.com Personal, $4 a month billed yearly2
How it’s pricedA plan per project, with extra people, requests, credits or storage in packsFree software, plus hosting. WordPress.com by site2
Review before publishingDrafts and reviews on every plan. A reviewer or admin approvesDraft and Pending Review in core. An editor approves by publishing4
Working togetherOn Moteur Cloud: see who’s in which field, leave notes on fields, and no save overwrites another’sOne editor at a time (post locking), and notes on blocks. Live co-editing was pulled from 7.05
LanguagesAny number of languages, field by field, on every planThrough a plugin (Polylang or WPML)6
RolesAdmin, developer, writer, reviewer, translator and billing, on every plan. No custom rolesFive fixed roles. Custom roles need code or a plugin7
HistoryEvery save is a Git commit, kept as long as the repositoryUnlimited revisions by default8
ImagesTransforms by URL, eight crop ratios and a focal point you setResponsive sizes and basic cropping. No transforms by URL9
FormsBuilt in, with a spam folderThrough a plugin10
APIREST, with an OpenAPI document per site. No GraphQLREST in core. GraphQL through the WPGraphQL plugin11
WebhooksSigned, and retried for two hours if your server is downThrough a plugin12
AI agents (MCP)Official and hosted: agents draft, and a person approves before anything goes liveOfficial MCP Adapter plugin: writes as the signed-in person, with no review step13
Writing help (AI)Off until an admin turns it on. Credits on every plan, from 10 a monthNo writing help in core. An experimental plugin, with your own AI key14

Sources

  1. wordpress.org/about/requirements
  2. wordpress.com/pricing
  3. wordpress.org/about/license
  4. wordpress.org/documentation/article/post-status
  5. make.wordpress.org/core/2026/05/08/rtc-removed-from-7-0
  6. wordpress.org/plugins/polylang
  7. wordpress.org/documentation/article/roles-and-capabilities
  8. wordpress.org/documentation/article/revisions
  9. wordpress.org/news/2026/08/mary-lou
  10. wordpress.org/plugins
  11. developer.wordpress.org/rest-api
  12. wordpress.org/plugins/wp-webhooks
  13. developer.wordpress.org/news/2026/02/from-abilities-to-ai-agents-introducing-the-wordpress-mcp-adapter
  14. wordpress.org/plugins/ai

Checked 26 October 2026. From WordPress’s own pages. If something there has changed, tell us and we’ll fix it here.

What’s in the box

The plugin tower

Every headless WordPress starts small. Add what a client site needs, one plugin at a time, and watch it grow.

WordPress, headless

  1. LanguagesPolylang or WPML
  2. FormsContact Form 7 or WPForms
  3. WebhooksWP Webhooks
  4. AI agentsMCP Adapter
  5. GraphQLWPGraphQL

Moteur

  • LanguagesBuilt in
  • FormsBuilt in, with a spam folder
  • WebhooksBuilt in, signed
  • AI agentsHosted MCP, with review
  • GraphQLNot offered: REST and OpenAPI

Plugin names from WordPress.org. The last row goes to WordPress: Moteur has no GraphQL.

Which one fits

Who’d you pick?

Seven situations from agency life. Guess, then see where we’d honestly send you. Sometimes it’s a draw.

  1. Théo · Builder

    The site is a WordPress theme, the team knows it by heart, and it works.

    WordPressKeep it. WordPress is free, and it’s very good at being WordPress.

  2. Louise · Admin

    The client wants unlimited people, unlimited everything, on their own server, for nothing.

    WordPressSelf-hosted WordPress is free software with no limits.

  3. Sophie · Writer

    A new front end in Astro, in three languages, with a contact form.

    MoteurLanguages and forms are built in. No plugins to choose, update or pay for.

  4. Céleste · Reviewer

    An agent is allowed to draft, never to publish.

    MoteurIts drafts wait for a person. WordPress’s MCP Adapter writes as the signed-in person.

  5. Marguerite · Writer

    Forty client sites, each with its own pile of plugins to update.

    MoteurNothing to update. Moteur Cloud runs them.

  6. Claude · AI agent

    Every past version of a post, kept for good.

    TieWordPress keeps unlimited revisions by default. Moteur keeps every commit.

  7. Céleste · Reviewer

    Two writers open the same article at 4:55 pm on a Friday.

    MoteurWordPress locks the post. Moteur shows who’s in which field, and both can work.

Our honest count: Moteur 4, WordPress 2, ties 1.

Moving day

Moving from WordPress

No one-click importer yet. Here’s how it’s done today, with the tools that exist, and what’s coming.

  1. Works today

    Pack up WordPress

    WordPress exports posts and pages as a WXR file, from Tools › Export or with WP-CLI.

    wp export --dir=wordpress-export

  2. Works today

    Shape the models

    Write each model as JSON and create it from the command line. Or let an agent do it through MCP. It reads a sample of the export and proposes the models. You look them over in the Studio.

    moteur models create --file models/article.json
moteur models create --file models/author.json

  3. Works today

    Bring the content

    A short script turns the export into one import bundle: models, files and entries. The command line brings it all in, or nothing if one thing fails. Or connect one agent to both MCP servers: it reads from WordPress’s and writes drafts to Moteur’s. Those drafts wait for a person, like any agent’s work.

    # the export reshaped into one bundle: models, files, entries
moteur imports run site.json --dry-run   # check it all, keep nothing
moteur imports run site.json

  4. Works today

    Review, then switch

    Everything arrives as a draft. A reviewer reads, approves, and it goes live. Then point the site at the project’s channel: one REST API, with its own OpenAPI document.

  5. Coming

    An importer for WordPress

    We’re writing an importer that reads a WXR export and does steps 2 and 3 in one go. This page will say when it ships. Until then, the steps above work.

Questions people ask

A reader asksWordPress has an MCP adapter too. What’s different?

MoteurIts official MCP Adapter writes as the signed-in person, with no review step. In Moteur, an agent’s changes wait for a person to approve them.

A reader asksIs WordPress.com the same thing?

MoteurIt’s WordPress, hosted for you. The table quotes its cheapest paid plan. Self-hosted WordPress is free software on a server you run.

A reader asksDoes the theme come along?

MoteurNo. With Moteur, the front end is yours to build, in whatever you like.

Keep reading

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