WordPress's Telex Reduces Development Costs from Thousands to Pennies with AI 'Vibe-Coding'

San Francisco – WordPress's experimental AI development tool, Telex, has rapidly transitioned from a prototype to real-world application, demonstrating its capability to significantly reduce web development costs and empower non-coders. At the annual "State of the Word" event on Tuesday, WordPress co-founder and Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg showcased several live examples of Telex in action, just months after its September debut. The tool, described as a "vibe-coding" experiment, allows users to generate complex Gutenberg blocks using natural language descriptions, making sophisticated web elements accessible for a fraction of traditional expenses.

Telex is WordPress's proprietary answer to the "vibe-coding" trend, aiming to build software through prompt-based AI interfaces specifically tailored for its platform. It enables developers and even those without coding expertise to create modular components for WordPress websites, such as interactive elements and dynamic content displays. While still labeled as an experiment, its rapid deployment into practical use underscores the accelerating pace of AI integration in web development.

During the demonstration, Mullenweg highlighted various real-world applications built by community creator Nick Hamze. Examples included a price comparison tool, a custom pricing calculator, and functionality to display real-time store hours with map links. Other uses showcased the creation of partner logo carousels, Google Calendar integrations, and uniform post grids, illustrating the tool's versatility in generating rich, interactive web components.

Mullenweg emphasized the dramatic cost reduction Telex offers, stating, "things that you used to have to, like, hire developers, do custom software like this would have cost thousands, tens of thousands of dollars to build, even just years ago. We’re now able to do in a browser for pennies." Hamze, a non-developer, further attested to its transformative power, noting, "I’m not a developer. I can’t write a single line of code, but I can describe what I want to Telex, and it can make it for me. That freedom is intoxicating."

The introduction of Telex is part of WordPress's broader strategic push into AI, which includes architectural developments like the Abilities API and an MCP adapter. These initiatives aim to define WordPress capabilities for AI systems and integrate seamlessly with external AI tools such as Claude and Copilot. Looking ahead, WordPress plans to introduce benchmarks in 2026 to evaluate AI models' effectiveness in performing various platform tasks, signaling a future where AI plays a central role in website management and creation.