Zao

What Zao does

Zao (legally Zao Web Design, LLC) is a privately-held, founder-led WordPress development agency founded in 2005 by Justin Sainton and headquartered in Newberg, Oregon. The firm operates as a boutique professional services company with a remote team of roughly 5-7 people across the US and Romania, focused exclusively on solving complex WordPress problems for "world-class companies." Core service offerings include custom theme and plugin development, WooCommerce/eCommerce integrations, Gutenberg and Full-Site Editing (FSE) implementation, REST API development, and large-scale enterprise CMS migrations priced between $25,000 and $200,000+ depending on site complexity.

The company's technical differentiator is platform-native depth rather than proprietary product: Zao's team has contributed 157 WordPress core tickets, developed or co-developed 8 plugins, and includes the lead developer of WP eCommerce and the maintainer of CMB2 (Custom Meta Boxes). Plugin downloads exceeded 504,855 in 2016 alone, and open-source contributions span WP eCommerce, CMB2, GatherContent, and BuddyPress integrations. Notable client integrations include a custom WooCommerce MU plugin for Liquid Web's Managed WooCommerce platform and a Travel Portland Gutenberg-driven flagship site. More recently, Zao has signaled expansion beyond pure WordPress into Laravel/React-based custom web applications, custom CRM development, and AI-integrated web apps with RAG pipelines.

Zao monetizes exclusively through quote-based professional services engagements (hourly, project-based, and multi-month enterprise retainers) acquired through direct relationships, referrals, and content-marketing-driven inbound. The company has been bootstrapped since founding with no disclosed funding rounds, no parent company, and no institutional investment. Customer concentration spans enterprise platforms (Disney, GoDaddy, Liquid Web, Pagely), media/publishing (Travel Portland, SAM Magazine, Cancer Tutor), and mid-market brands (Brooklyn Tweed), with several multi-engagement or recurring relationships. The GTM motion is enterprise field sales supported by thought-leadership content (blog, newsletter, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, YouTube), with no self-serve product, marketplace listings, or channel partners.

Name

Zao

Legal name

Zao Web Design, LLC

Website

https://zao.is

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Zao is a bootstrapped, founder-led WordPress development agency founded in 2005, serving enterprise and mid-market clients with complex WordPress, WooCommerce, and Full-Site Editing projects. The 5-7 person remote team monetizes via quote-based professional services and deep open-source contributions to the WordPress ecosystem.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

WordPress Development Services

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHDAEAKAJ

Enterprise Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Platforms

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Enterprise Platforms & Databases/Enterprise Application Development Platforms (Low-Code/No-Code & PaaS)

Keywords

• WordPress development
• Custom plugin development
• WooCommerce solutions
• Enterprise CMS migration
• WordPress consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Mcminnville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. WordPress Development Services: Custom development services for WordPress websites, plugins, WooCommerce stores, and enterprise platforms. Project-based and retainer engagements.
2. Plugin Development: Premium plugin development and contributions. While much work is GPL/open source, they develop custom plugins for clients and maintain open-source projects that drive recognition and leads.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Zao is a WordPress development agency that delivers custom theme development, plugin development, Gutenberg/Full-Site Editing implementation, WooCommerce eCommerce solutions, and large-scale enterprise WordPress migrations. The firm also builds custom web applications using Laravel/React stacks, including AI-powered apps with RAG pipelines and custom CRM systems, for world-class companies with complex WordPress problems.

Product overview

Zao is a WordPress-focused development agency founded in 2005, offering professional services rather than a packaged software product. The company's portfolio centers on WordPress Development Services (custom themes, plugins, Gutenberg/FSE expertise), WordPress Plugin Development (for enterprise brands and WooCommerce), WooCommerce Development (eCommerce solutions), and Enterprise WordPress Migration. Expanding beyond WordPress, they also provide Custom Web Application Development using Laravel/React, Custom CRM Development, and AI Web Application services. Supporting offerings include the Zao Mock API open-source WordPress plugin for API testing, extensive Open Source Contributions to WP eCommerce, CMB2, and GatherContent, plus educational resources like the AI Web Application ROI Calculator. The company has contributed 157 WordPress core tickets and developed or contributed to 8 WordPress plugins.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• WordPress Development Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 157 WordPress Core tickets submitted
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• WP eCommercecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2016Major contributor to WP eCommerce plugin with three minor releases and eight core contributors in 2016. Continued significant development efforts for upcoming 4.0 release. Strengthened partnerships with strategic partners like PayPal, Amazon, and TSYS ProPay.
• GatherContentcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2016Worked with GatherContent to release a major rewrite and many improvements to their WordPress plugin. 16 releases since partnership began. Plugin benefits from active development, bug fixes, and feature updates.
• CMB2 (WebDevStudios)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2016Major contributor to CMB2 (Custom Meta Boxes) plugin. Added REST API support, admin column display, and WYSIWYG functionality in repeatable groups. Justin Sternberg's continued passion project under shared open-source commitment with WebDevStudios.
• Liquid WebcoreTechnology or IntegrationBuilt custom WooCommerce integration for Liquid Web's Managed WooCommerce platform. The MU (must-use) plugin allows customers to limit monthly orders or product catalog size, becoming core platform functionality.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• 10up: Large-scale WordPress agency focused on enterprise clients, complex builds, and contributor-driven engineering. Comparable on enterprise migration and custom development services.
• Human Made: Enterprise WordPress agency offering similar custom development, migrations, and platform work for large brands. Closest direct competitor in premium enterprise WordPress services.
• rtCamp: WordPress agency offering enterprise development, hosting, and migration services. Comparable on technical WordPress/WooCommerce delivery and contributor ethos.
• WebDevStudios: Long-standing WordPress agency and co-maintainer of CMB2 alongside Zao's Justin Sternberg. Directly comparable in custom plugin development, enterprise builds, and contributor-led positioning.

Others

• Awesome Motive: WordPress product company behind WPForms, OptinMonster, and MonsterInsights. Not a direct competitor but occupies the same WordPress ecosystem with a productized model Zao could emulate.

Broad incumbents

• Pagely: Managed WordPress hosting provider that is both a Zao client (Full-Site Editing work) and an adjacent incumbent offering premium WordPress services to enterprise customers.
• Automattic: Owns WordPress.com, WooCommerce, and contributes heavily to WordPress core. Sets the ecosystem direction Zao operates in and competes loosely for high-end WordPress work via WordPress VIP.
• WP Engine: Major managed WordPress platform with agency partner ecosystem. Adjacent incumbent competing for enterprise WordPress budgets across hosting, performance, and digital experience.

Emerging players

• Delicious Brains: WordPress plugin company (WP Offload Media, etc.) with a similar WordPress-specialist ethos, though primarily productized rather than agency-based.
• Codeable: Vetted WordPress freelancer marketplace that competes for the same complex WordPress work Zao targets, though via a distributed freelancer model rather than an in-house agency.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/zaowebdev
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ZaoWebDev
• Facebookfacebook.com/zaoweb
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zao-is

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zao