What Etch Studio is
Proprietary locked-in app — not editable outside their tenant. Stay: monthly bill to keep editing. Leave: a ZIP of compiled files only.
Etch Studio →The truth unveil
Early backers funded the canvas.They ship the subscription later.
Uncover the dark truth about the pattern they useDocumented. Not debated.
EtchWP did not become Etch Studio.
Same Svelte canvas. Different backend. Lifetime deals covered the WordPress plugin — not the hosted subscription that now gets the new architecture first based on early backers feedback.
Four facts
Four facts from the public record
Your LTD is not Studio
On August 25, 2026, Geary said on stream that lifetime deals are "etch for WordPress. That's a WordPress plugin" — Studio is a separate checkout.
Is Studio included in the LTD? →Same UI. Different lock-in.
The canvas looks identical. The backend, the bill, and who holds your data do not. That is the whole pivot in one sentence.
EtchWP vs Etch Studio →EtchWP is maintenance mode
Feature work stopped July 8, 2026. New architecture goes to Studio first. Backers got the plugin; the future ships elsewhere.
Is EtchWP still being developed? →Start here
Three pages. No excuses left.
Entitlement, product split, comparison set — answer them in order before you argue in a Circle thread.
Etch Studio: a proprietary locked-in app
Locked in their app. Pay monthly to edit. Leave with a ZIP of compiled files only.
Is Etch Studio included in the Etch lifetime deal?
No — confirmed on stream. LTD covers the WordPress plugin only.
If you don't need WordPress, what is Etch Studio actually selling?
Geary's pitch reframes the product — and the comparison set that follows.
EtchWP vs Etch Studio: what's actually different?
Same Svelte UI; the split is where data lives and who runs the backend.
Full catalog on the articles page.
“We do it together, or we don't do it at all.”
They said it in public. Read it in the hub essay.