I’ve been working with WordPress for 8+ years, mostly around plugins, SaaS products, support, and development. For a long time, WordPress felt like a very safe career to build around.

But the last few months have made me think differently.

The small WordPress plugin market feels much harder than it used to. Getting new customers is difficult, competition is everywhere, and many plugin features that once looked like good product opportunities have now become commodities.

At the same time, AI has changed the expectations completely. Customers now expect automation, AI support, AI-powered workflows, and SaaS-style products rather than simply another WordPress plugin.

Interestingly, I’ve spent the last week thinking about this a lot. I’ve been experimenting with AI integrations, customer-support automation, SaaS ideas, and even thinking about what I could build outside the traditional WordPress ecosystem.

I still believe WordPress has a huge future. I’m not saying developers should abandon it.

But I do think experienced WordPress developers need to start thinking beyond WordPress itself.

Maybe the valuable skill isn't just knowing WordPress anymore. It's knowing how to take that experience and build SaaS products, AI tools, integrations, automation, and solutions around real business problems.

For those of you who have been in WordPress for 8+ years:

Are you also thinking about diversifying beyond WordPress, or do you still see enough opportunity in the ecosystem?

Would genuinely like to hear how other long-time WordPress developers are approaching this.