Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, is making a bold move to win over the next generation of web creators: give them free stuff. The company has launched WordPress.com Education, a free product aimed at teachers and their classrooms. This suite includes a full WordPress.com domain for each student, free domain names on .blog or .art domains, and plugin support. Yes, you heard that right - free domains with a hipster twist.

Teachers can sign up their students for free for the first year, no credit card required, no trial period. Because nothing says "we trust you" like not asking for payment details upfront. This allows educators to use WordPress in courses that teach website building or for group projects that require a digital presence.

Unveiled at WordCamp US on Monday, the Student plan isn't a watered-down version of WordPress.com. It comes with 6 GB of storage, backups, staging sites, and tools like plugins, SFTP/SSH, phpMyAdmin, and Studio Sync. So, it's basically the full monty, minus the cost.

Automattic is known for powering about 43% of all websites on the internet with its open-source WordPress software. But let's face it, kids these days are more likely to create a TikTok than a blog. This is Automattic's way of getting into the classroom and ensuring the next generation of web professionals actually knows what WordPress is.

And since it's free, it can even make inroads in underfunded schools, because nothing says "education equity" like a free website builder.

After the first year, students can continue for $2 per month ($24/year). If they don't, their site remains intact but downgrades to a free WordPress.com site on a free domain. All their hard work - pages, posts, comments, media - stays put, which is more than we can say for some social media platforms that shall remain nameless.

Automattic piloted the program with 5,000 students across 27 countries. Apparently, 88.9% of educators said the program improved students' employability, and 81.5% said it boosted entrepreneurial capacity. Those numbers are almost too good to be true, but hey, we'll take them at face value - it's free, after all.