Except you might be deeply embedded within the WordPress neighborhood, you won’t pay attention to how huge the platform actually is. WordPress has had a dominant market share amongst CMSs for greater than a decade and has been the commonest strategy to construct an internet site since 2021.
On any given day browsing the net, you might be in all probability interacting with extra WordPress web sites than you notice. It’s the go-to platform for bloggers, companies, creators, and main media retailers alike.
That can assist you perceive the scale of WordPress and its contribution to the trendy internet, this text explores the platform’s market share intimately, in addition to its versatility, causes for fulfillment, and what retains it forward of the curve twenty years after it launched.
Fast information
Listed below are a very powerful WordPress stats you must know:
- WordPress is the most well-liked software program for constructing web sites, powering over 43% of the web.
- It instructions a 61.4% market share amongst content material administration system-based web sites (often known as CMSs), greater than all different platforms mixed.
- WordPress’ market share has greater than doubled within the final decade.
- Up to now, WordPress has had 52 main releases and greater than 760 releases in complete.
- There are tens of hundreds of WordPress themes and over 65,000 plugins.
- 1/3 of all on-line retailers run on WordPress-powered WooCommerce.
Over 43% of all web sites use WordPress
As of April 17, 2025, 43.4% of the web sites on the web run on WordPress, in accordance with W3Techs. Meaning virtually each different web site runs on WordPress, and it makes WordPress probably the most extensively used web site builder on this planet.
That is much more spectacular when you think about that the following runner-up, Shopify, has a market share of 4.8%, adopted by Wix (3.7%), Squarespace (2.3%), Joomla (1.5%), and Drupal (0.8%).
At 29.1%, web sites with out a CMS are the one phase that even comes near WordPress’ share.
What’s additionally exceptional is that nearly 20 years in the past, the market share of WordPress was solely 0.8%, in accordance with Constructing Blocks: The Evolution of WordPress.
There could also be greater than half a billion WordPress web sites
Realizing that just about each different web site runs on WordPress is spectacular, however what number of is that in complete? The reply to that isn’t fully simple, because it depends upon your supply and perspective.
For instance, BuiltWith, a preferred monitoring software for the utilization of various web applied sciences, solely considers about 70 million web sites as its related sampling pool as of April 3, 2025. In that case, we’re speaking about roughly 30 million WordPress web sites worldwide.
The aforementioned W3Techs states that their measurements are primarily based on “the related internet,” that means websites with helpful content material and performance. They don’t present a precise quantity, simply that it’s “many hundreds of thousands.”
Alternatively, NetCraft, a digital threat safety firm, publishes a month-to-month report by which it retains monitor of websites accessible on the internet. In accordance with their March 2025 report, there have been near 1.2 billion web sites in complete (1,197,680,522 to be precise).
If we apply WordPress’ market share to that quantity, meaning over 518,000,000 web sites are powered by the platform. Thoughts-blowing, proper?
Since reporting on the precise variety of web sites in existence is unattainable, we will at the very least say that there are at the very least tens of hundreds of thousands, if not a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands, of WordPress web sites in existence.
That’s fairly awe-inspiring without spending a dime, open supply software program.
Common web sites utilizing WordPress
In addition to the uncooked numbers, WordPress is the software program of alternative for a various vary of manufacturers, organizations, celebrities, and really totally different forms of web sites.
The information outlet that offers us the annual “Individual of the Yr” runs its high-traffic on-line presence on WordPress.com VIP.
The world’s main CRM firm makes use of WordPress to energy elements of its internet ecosystem.
One of the prestigious universities on this planet depends on WordPress to publish information and analysis in addition to inform and appeal to college students to their campus.
Swifties can discover tour dates, merch, and information about their favourite pop star due to WordPress.
61.3% of internet sites that use a CMS depend on WordPress
In case you look solely on the web sites that use a content material administration system, WordPress’ market share is even increased, at 61.3%—that means it has extra customers than all different CMS platforms mixed.
WordPress doubled its market share in 10 years
It’s additionally vital to grasp how WordPress arrived on the place it’s in at this time. W3Techs has statistics reaching again to 2014 that permit you to take action.
At simply 21%, WordPress’ market share was solely half of what it’s at this time. As well as, at the moment, hand-coding web sites was nonetheless fashionable—64.8% of websites didn’t use a CMS in any respect. However within the final 20+ years, these numbers have steadily approached one another till they modified positions in 2021.
Throughout that point, the share of CMS-based web sites elevated from 35.2% to 70.8%, and it’s protected to say that WordPress performed a significant function on this transformation.
In that timeframe, the closest rivals, Shopify, Wix, and Squarespace, grew as nicely, although not in the identical means. All of them began at 0.1% market share in 2014 and elevated their numbers to 4.8%, 3.7%, and a pair of.3%, respectively.
Joomla and Drupal, the 2 techniques most much like WordPress (each are additionally open supply and PHP-based), went within the different path. They about halved their market share, going from 3.3% to 1.5% and 1.9% to 0.8%.
WordPress is fashionable world wide
The recognition of WordPress differs each geographically and by language. In accordance with BuiltWith, the nations with probably the most WordPress web sites are:
- United States
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- France
- Brazil
- Netherlands
- Italy
- India
- Spain
- Japan
Whereas these stats are primarily based on complete web sites, it’s usually a unique image by share.
For instance, as talked about within the State of the Phrase 2024, in Japan WordPress powers 58.5% of all web sites and has a CMS market share of 83%, rather more than the common.
Plus, in case you take a look at Google Tendencies information, you may see that curiosity in WordPress is highest in Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Kenya.
That range extends to the various languages WordPress is utilized in.
Initially solely accessible in English, WordPress has since been translated into 208 locales. Actually, there are actually extra non-English WordPress installations than these in English.
There have been 52 main WordPress releases, over 760 general
Since 2003, WordPress has had 52 main releases—the newest being this week! All are named in honor of jazz musicians, beginning with Miles Davis in model 1.0.
Main releases are those that get probably the most consideration as a result of they carry new options and noticeable modifications, such because the block editor in WordPress 5.0. In case you embody releases for safety enhancements and bug fixes, the WordPress software program has had over 760 releases.
Hottest variations of WordPress
Preserving your WordPress web site updated is a crucial safety measure. A take a look at the stats on WordPress.org means that customers are doing a great job at that.
As of April 17, 2025, practically 3.6% of all WordPress web sites are utilizing the newest model, 6.8. Over 66% are utilizing the earlier model 6.7.
The scenario is barely totally different in terms of PHP. Whereas greater than half of internet sites use model 8 or above, there’s nonetheless a great chunk working 7.4 and even beneath that.
Most stunning are the database variations. Whereas MySQL used to reign supreme, it has severe competitors from MariaDB. Utilization of the 2 techniques is just about cut up.
In case your WordPress website is hosted on WordPress.com, you may breathe simple; your WordPress, PHP, and database variations are saved updated for you on all WordPress.com plans.
There are tens of hundreds of WordPress themes
The WordPress.org theme listing accommodates greater than 13,000 themes. ThemeForest, a preferred market for third-party WordPress themes, has one other 12,000. Many extra third-party distributors additionally distribute their very own free and paid themes. And in case you host your web site on WordPress.com, you additionally have entry to extra unique themes.
Due to the spread-out nature of the WordPress ecosystem, it’s exhausting to know precisely what number of themes there are altogether, however that’s the fantastic thing about open supply—anybody, wherever, could make a WordPress theme.
Hottest WordPress themes
Which WordPress themes do customers most prefer to energy their websites with? In accordance with BuiltWith, among the hottest WordPress themes are:
Word that this information solely makes up about 25% of the web sites they’re monitoring—three-quarters are utilizing an assortment of different themes.
The WordPress.org theme listing exhibits an identical pattern; right here, the themes with a couple of million energetic installations are:
Tens of hundreds of WordPress plugins
There are 59,000+ free WordPress plugins within the WordPress.org listing.
As with themes, there are many extra unbiased distributors, making it exhausting to grasp simply what number of WordPress plugins can be found.
On the WordPress.org listing, these are the plugins which might be put in most frequently:
- Elementor: 10+ million installations
- Contact Kind 7: 10+ million installations
- Yoast search engine optimisation: 10+ million installations
- Traditional Editor: 10+ million installations
- WooCommerce: 8+ million installations
- LiteSpeed Cache: 6+ million installations
- Akismet: 6+ million installations
- WPForms: 6+ million installations
- All-in-One WP Migration: 5+ million installations
- Wordfence Safety: 5+ million installations
One-third of all on-line retailers run on WooCommerce
WooCommerce is the most-used WordPress ecommerce plugin; W3Techs exhibits it has been added to one-fifth of all WordPress web sites.
WordPress’ market share makes it probably the most extensively used on-line store resolution general. That is seconded by a Retailer Leads report from March 2025 that tracked 13,594,414 dwell shops. WooCommerce powers a few third of these shops, that means WordPress not solely dominates the content material administration market but additionally ecommerce.
What makes WordPress so profitable?
WordPress didn’t change into the world’s hottest web site platform by chance. Right here’s what makes it a permanent crowd favourite:
- Open supply: Made by a big neighborhood all world wide, WordPress is freely accessible for anybody to make use of for any goal.
- Price effectiveness: Its lack of licensing charges means you solely should pay for internet hosting and a area to have your personal web site on-line. You may customise the positioning your self and use free themes and plugins.
- Consumer friendliness: The WordPress dashboard and editor allow freshmen and consultants alike to make design modifications and create and handle content material.
- Flexibility: You need to use WordPress to construct virtually any sort of web site, like blogs, on-line shops, portfolios, information websites, and boards.
- Possession: You might have full management over your content material, recordsdata, and information, and you’ll take your website to every other host.
- Theme and plugin ecosystem: Tens of hundreds of themes and plugins can be found for each goal, a lot of them without spending a dime.
- Scalability: WordPress is able to supporting the whole lot from small private websites to high-traffic enterprise platforms.
- search engine optimisation friendliness: Clear code, customizable permalinks, and highly effective plugins make it simple to optimize your website for serps.
- Group: There’s a international community of companies, builders, customers, and contributors providing help, creating sources, and getting collectively at WordCamps. With WordPress, you might be by no means alone.
Will WordPress retain its main place?
It took 20+ years to realize the success WordPress has had. Listed below are just a few components that recommend it is going to proceed thriving sooner or later:
- AI utilization: As AI instruments change into extra highly effective and accessible, they change into more and more accessible in WordPress for issues like content material solutions, picture technology, search engine optimisation optimization, and even constructing complete web sites—have you ever tried our free AI web site builder but?
- Efficiency enhancements: WordPress is taking focused steps to enhance web site pace throughout the board, not least with the institution of the Core Efficiency staff. Internet hosting suppliers like WordPress.com additionally provide WordPress-specific pace enhancements out of the field.
- Collaborative options: One anticipated function coming to later WordPress variations is the implementation of real-time collaboration to permit groups to work on internet pages and weblog posts concurrently. Publishing workflows and editorial instruments like commenting are a part of the plan.
- Multilingual help: After real-time collaboration, one of many subsequent deliberate WordPress enhancements is to combine native multi-language help. This may make it simpler to translate your web site and assist it thrive in a world market.
- Headless WordPress: Decoupling content material administration from the entrance finish permits builders to construct consumer interfaces with frameworks like React or Vue—that is known as Headless WordPress. This makes WordPress a powerful alternative for websites like SaaS platforms and cell apps and helps it keep aggressive in an API-first internet ecosystem.
WordPress’ market share isn’t only a quantity—it’s proof of the facility of open supply
WordPress isn’t simply the most well-liked strategy to construct web sites; the software program formed the trendy internet as we all know it.
From humble beginnings as a running a blog software to powering greater than 43% of the web, it’s change into the go-to resolution for creators, builders, and organizations throughout the globe.
The true story isn’t simply what number of web sites WordPress powers—it’s who’s utilizing it, what they’re constructing, and why that quantity retains rising after twenty years. In case you’ve used the web at this time, you’ve in all probability interacted with WordPress, proving that open-source, community-driven software program can’t solely paved the way however set the usual.
Are you trying to be a part of the 43%? Get internet hosting, safety, backups, pace optimization, help, and limitless website guests to your WordPress website at WordPress.com.
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