WordPress is the backbone for millions of websites, catering to everyone from local bands to global brands worth billions. Its success lies not in its user interface or marketing but in its DNA to disrupt the status quo.
And with tools like Divi at the helm, WordPress is no longer just about building blogs — it’s rewiring how we think about building websites. But is this sentiment resonating with the consumers? Let’s discuss where WordPress stands today in the market and what fuels WordPress’s growth.
WordPress’ Growth Story: From Blogging Platform To Web Giant
Remember when blogs were the hot new thing? That’s when WordPress stepped into the spotlight. WordPress didn’t just stick to blogging, though. As more people started using it, the platform grew in exciting ways. Thanks to plugins, users could add new features without touching a line of code. They could also make their sites look exactly how they wanted with themes, opening up endless possibilities for customization.
Fast forward to today, and the numbers are pretty impressive. WordPress now powers nearly 62% of all websites that use a CMS. That’s not just blogs anymore — we’re talking online stores, business websites, portfolios, and anything else you can imagine on the web.
What made WordPress such a hit? It’s simple — the platform grew with its users. While other website builders kept their code under lock and key, WordPress opened its doors to developers. Developers could jump in, add features, and improve the platform. It’s like having millions working together to build the perfect website tool.
Before we dive into the data, let’s establish our source. W3Techs is a highly sought-after and respected information aggregator about web technologies, such as content management systems and server-side programming languages.
Recent data from W3Techs shows that WordPress powers over 43% of all websites on the Internet. That includes all websites, not just those using a content management system.
As mentioned earlier, the numbers get even more impressive when broken down further. WordPress claims a massive 61.7% share of the market among websites that use a content management system.
Consistent Growth, Lasting Impact
2014 WordPress powered just 21% of websites using a CMS worldwide. Now? W3Techs shows WordPress powers 43.6% of all websites as of February 2025. The numbers tell an interesting story. WordPress grew from 43.1% to 43.6% from January 2024 to January 2025 — a smaller jump than we’ve seen before. But don’t mistake steady for stagnant.
This steady growth marks a natural shift in WordPress’s story. What makes this pattern so remarkable? Most tech platforms follow a boom-and-bust cycle, chasing trends and fighting to stay relevant. WordPress bucks this trend. Instead, WordPress shows the stability you’d expect from a platform that runs nearly half the world’s websites.
It has become the backbone of the modern web, growing steadily while others struggle to keep pace.
Niche Platforms Rise, But WordPress Reigns
Let’s see how WordPress compares to its rivals. Fresh numbers from January 2024 to January 2025 show some movement in the market for Content Management Systems.
- Wix made the biggest splash, jumping from 2.6% to 3.3%.
- Shopify kept building its eCommerce empire, growing from 4.1% to 4.7%.
- Webflow nudged up from 0.7% to 0.8%,
- While Squarespace inched forward from 2.1% to 2.2%.
- Meanwhile, Drupal slipped from 1.1% to 0.9%.
What’s behind these shifts? Specialty platforms are finding their groove. Webflow attracts designers who want pixel-perfect control. Shopify draws store owners who need simple setups. Each platform carves out its own corner of the web.
These small shifts in the market tell a bigger story. While niche platforms chip away at specific segments, WordPress keeps its firm grip on the broader market. The gap between WordPress and these platforms speaks volumes about user preference.
Not every website needs a content management system — 29.5% of sites run without one. However, when people choose a CMS, they overwhelmingly choose WordPress. Its steady growth and market leadership show how well it meets the changing needs of website owners worldwide. Hence, the fall of websites with no CMS is inversely proportional to WordPress’s growth.
Decoding Search Data: WordPress’s Unwavering Popularity
Market share graphs don’t paint a complete picture. A great way to understand the market’s “mood” is to analyze what people are searching for. So, we dug into search trends on Google Trends for different website platforms. This gives us a window into what people consider before starting their website journey — not just what they end up using.
As the trend from January 2024 to January 2025 suggests, WordPress remains the most searched Content Management System worldwide.
How is the interest measured? When Google Trends shows a score of 100, that’s peak popularity. A score of 50? That term is half as popular. And 0 means there wasn’t enough search data to count. Now for the real story: WordPress averaged 85 in search interest. Shopify followed at 74, Wix at 43, while Squarespace and Webflow trailed at 14 and 7.
January 2024 started with:
- WordPress: 74
- Shopify: 71
- Wix: 37
- Squarespace: 12
- Webflow: 6
But here’s where it gets interesting. Shopify caught up to WordPress by November 2024 and even nudged ahead by one point in January 2025.
WordPress: Global & Inclusive
Breaking up this trend geographically, Shopify is popular in countries like the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK, New Zealand, Pakistan, And China. WordPress, on the other hand, is very popular in European countries such as Germany, France, and Italy, as well as in Asia and Africa (barring countries like Pakistan, China, and Cameroon.)
This tells a very interesting story. Shopify is primarily popular in countries with high per capita income, whereas WordPress doesn’t necessarily see this trend. Its popularity is evenly spread across the globe, breaking geographic and financial barriers and keeping the internet’s mission alive: democratization.
Some Trivia About WordPress
WordPress started in a college dorm room and now runs nearly half the internet. Here’s the stuff that didn’t make the headlines:
- English powers nearly half (47%) of all WordPress sites worldwide, but Spanish and Japanese users make up another healthy chunk — combining for over 11% of installations. (WordPress Stats)
- MariaDB now leads the pack as the database powering most WordPress websites — a shift from the once-popular MySQL. (WordPress Stats)
- Two-thirds of WordPress site owners keep their installations fresh, running version 6.7 — showing strong trust in the platform’s updates. (WordPress Stats)
- The WordPress plugin repository tells an impressive story: developers have built nearly 60,000 free plugins for WordPress users to tap into. (WordPress Plugin Repository)
- Regarding plugins, WooCommerce’s reach speaks volumes — it runs the show on one out of every five WordPress sites. (W3Techs)
- Theme designers haven’t been slacking either — they’ve contributed over 13,000 free designs to the official directory. (WordPress Theme Repository)
- WordPress keeps crushing growth records. For 12 years straight, it’s outpaced every other CMS, with 2021 seeing almost capturing 4% more market in a year. (W3Techs)
- Each month, “WordPress” pulls in 2.2 million global searches, with Americans accounting for 300,000 of these queries. (SEMRush)
- Advertisers know WordPress users mean serious business — that’s why they’re willing to spend $7.2 per click on average in the US market for the keyword “WordPress”. (Google Ads)
Breaking Down WordPress’s Dominance
Numbers tell one story, but the real magic happens under the hood. WordPress didn’t capture 43% of the web by accident. From cost savings that make CFOs smile to flexibility that developers love, let’s unpack what drives millions to choose WordPress over alternatives.
The Open-Source & Community Advantage
WordPress thrives because of you and a vibrant community of creators. Thousands of developers share, build, and solve problems together. But what does open source mean? It’s simple. You can access the code that powers WordPress, allowing you to study, modify, and improve it. Unlike platforms that keep their code hidden, WordPress gives you complete control.
This openness creates something unique. A bustling community of over 50,000 developers actively contributes to making WordPress better.
Think of it as the world’s biggest potluck. Developers bring their best features to the table. Designers share stunning themes. Users help each other grow through forums, meetups, and WordCamps. Need help with a tricky problem? The WordPress.org forums will likely give you multiple solutions within hours.
Thanks to its open-source nature, WordPress evolves based on your needs, not corporate agendas. You get new features because you want them. Improvements occur because the community, including you, drives them. The result is a platform that truly serves you.
Cost-Effectiveness & ROI Benefits
Starting a website shouldn’t drain your bank account. WordPress itself comes free. You only pay for essentials like hosting and domain names. Quality hosting providers like SiteGround offer WordPress-optimized plans starting at just $2.99 per month, with features like free SSL certificates and daily backups included.
But the real value goes beyond the price tag. WordPress gives you complete ownership of your website. There are no unexpected price hikes, no feature limitations, and no being held hostage to platform changes. Every dollar you invest builds your asset rather than renting space on someone else’s platform.
Most WordPress websites cost between $100 to $500 to launch, depending on your needs. Plus, you can start small and scale up as your business grows. With countless plugins and themes available, you can build a professional website without breaking the bank. Your investment keeps working for you year after year.
Unmatched Plugin & Theme Ecosystem
WordPress plugins and themes are like building blocks for your ideal website. With over 60,000 free plugins and thousands of themes available, you can add almost any feature to your site. Turn a basic website into an online store with WooCommerce, create beautiful forms, or set up a full learning platform.
This extensive ecosystem means you don’t need a generic solution. You can tailor each website to meet specific needs without writing any code. WordPress can handle it all, whether you’re creating a simple blog, a complex ecommerce site, a membership platform, or a learning management system.
The best part is that new plugins and themes are released daily, offering fresh features and designs. Your website can continuously evolve as your needs grow.
Flexibility Across Business Sizes
WordPress works great whether you’re running a small or big business. If you own a local bakery, you can start with a simple website to show your menu and location. As your business grows, you can add features like online ordering, delivery tracking, and customer loyalty programs without changing platforms.
Big companies like The Walt Disney Company, Microsoft, Sony Music, and The New York Times Post trust WordPress to manage millions of visitors. You’ll find it easy to use, while its strong infrastructure supports large businesses. Universities use it for student portals, nonprofits for donations, and artists for portfolios.
WordPress also smoothly handles different types of content. You can manage blog posts, products, events, courses, and custom content types. Your website can grow with your business, meeting new needs without starting over.
Integration & Scalability
WordPress plays nicely with your favorite business tools. Connect your email marketing service, set up payment processors, or sync with your CRM system. Popular services like Mailchimp, PayPal, and HubSpot are smoothly integrated through plugins or direct API connections.
Your website traffic spikes? WordPress handles sudden growth without breaking a sweat. Smart caching, content delivery networks, and optimized databases keep your site running fast under pressure.
Want to expand to multiple languages? Add an online store? Launch a membership site? WordPress grows with you. Each new feature integrates naturally with your existing setup, creating a seamless experience for both you and your visitors.
SEO & Performance Edge
A fast website keeps visitors happy and Google smiling. WordPress sites can achieve excellent performance with the right optimization tools. Quality hosting, like SiteGround, forms the foundation while caching plugins like WP Rocket handles technical tasks like file compression and lazy image loading.
Search engines love well-optimized sites. Tools like Rank Math simplify SEO by guiding you through content optimization and managing technical aspects behind the scenes. No expert knowledge is needed to achieve solid search rankings.
WordPress lets you build your perfect performance stack. Start with the basics and add more advanced optimization as your site grows. The platform’s flexibility means you can fine-tune every performance aspect to match your needs.
How Page Builders Amplify WordPress Success
Page builders put the power of web design in your hands — no coding required. Your design ideas come to life through simple drag-and-drop controls, letting you see changes instantly as you work.
Start with professionally designed templates and elements, then make them your own. Moving sections around or tweaking colors takes seconds instead of hours of wrestling with code.
The days of waiting weeks for developers or spending thousands on basic websites are over. Page builders give you complete control over your site’s look and feel — perfect for photographers showcasing their work or shop owners launching their first online store.
What Makes Divi The Best WordPress Page Builder?
Page builders changed the game for WordPress — and Divi took that change to a whole new level. While WordPress handles your content behind the scenes, Divi turns your browser into a design playground where websites come to life in real time.
Picture this: over 200 design modules are at your fingertips. No more puzzling over code or battling with clunky editors.
You can drag and drop what you want where you want it—whether that’s a fullscreen video header or an interactive pricing table. And when you need a creative jumpstart, Divi’s library of 2,000+ professional layouts has your back, letting you mix and match designs until your site feels just right.
WordPress gives you the engine — Divi hands you the keys and shows you how to drive.
Divi: More Than A Builder, It’s A Platform
But Divi’s magic doesn’t stop at individual pages. The Theme Builder breaks WordPress templates wide open, letting you customize every inch of your site. Want a unique header for your blog posts? A special footer for your shop pages? Done and done. No part of your site stays trapped in template prison — you’re free to design it all.
This is where WordPress and Divi create something special together. While Divi handles your design dreams, WordPress’s massive plugin library lets you add any feature under the sun. Need top-notch SEO tools? Want to build a community site? Just plug them in. Unlike other page builders that fight with plugins, Divi plays nicely with everything WordPress has to offer. It even integrates with 75+ such tools and services right out of the box.
Beyond the builder itself, you’re joining a thriving community of WordPress designers and developers. Over 76,000 Divi users swap tips, share wins, and help each other create better websites inside our Facebook group.
Want to take your site even further? The Divi Marketplace showcases premium designs and extensions crafted by expert developers. These are specialized tools built specifically for small business websites. It’s like having a team of professional designers in your back pocket.
The Power Of Divi AI
When deadlines approach or inspiration runs dry, Divi Quick Sites brings Divi AI’s precision to WordPress design. Unlike basic AI tools that generate generic templates, Divi Quick Sites with AI builds complete websites tailored to your business — from custom layouts to brand-matched content and images. The system understands web design principles and your business goals, delivering purposeful results every time.
Prefer the human touch? Divi Quick Sites’ starter sites showcase expert designs from our professional team, complete with stunning imagery and thoughtfully planned layouts. Simply choose your foundation, plug in your details, and watch as your complete website assembles in under 60 seconds.
Divi’s visual tools make every design element flexible—your first draft is just the beginning. Tweak layouts, adjust colors, or completely reimagine sections until your site perfectly matches your vision.
But Divi AI goes beyond basic design tools. Simple text prompts unlock a full creative suite: write engaging copy that captures your brand voice.
Generate authentic images that match your style or enhance existing photos.
Need a new section for your site? Just describe what you want, and watch as Divi AI builds it while maintaining your site’s visual balance.
This integrated approach eliminates the hassle of jumping between different tools or coordinating with freelancers. One platform handles everything from content creation to design, turning weeks of work into hours.
Divi Pro: Premium Features That Pay For Themselves
Need more power from Divi? The Pro suite bundles serious features, including from Divi AI ($16.08/monthly, when purchased separately):
- Teams ($1.50/person monthly, when purchased separately) let your staff dive into Divi while you keep control. There will be no more messy handoffs between team members—everyone works from the same playbook.
- Cloud ($6 monthly, when purchased separately) is your design vault. You can save layouts and brand elements once and use them everywhere. It beats digging through old files or rebuilding sections from scratch.
- VIP ($6 monthly, when purchased separately) gets you 30-minute support responses 24/7, plus 10% off the Marketplace. Because waiting around for help isn’t an option.
Bundle everything in a Pro membership for $277/year and pocket $388 in savings when compared to purchasing all components seperately. That’s Divi AI, Cloud, VIP, and four team seats all in one. Or go big with Lifetime + Pro: $297 first year, then $212 annually for Pro services. You’ll save $528 while getting permanent access to Divi itself.
Looking Ahead: WordPress Market Trends
The web never stands still, and neither does WordPress. As digital needs evolve and new technologies emerge, the platform adapts and innovates. Let’s peek into the future and explore the trends shaping the next generation of web development.
AI-Powered Website Design
Remember staring at a blank canvas, wondering where to start with your website design? That’s becoming ancient history. WordPress’s AI tools now analyze your competitors, understand what works in your industry, and help you build sites that bring in customers — not just look pretty.
Divi Quick Sites shows why WordPress + Divi remains ahead of the curve. Tell it you’re opening a vintage record store in Brooklyn, and it doesn’t just grab random templates. It creates specific layouts for your vinyl collection, designs a gig calendar that matches your style, and writes descriptions that capture that authentic vinyl enthusiast vibe. Divi AI also helps you write descriptions and enhance the images of your records.
While other platforms force you into rigid AI designs, Divi lets you take the wheel. Keep the AI-generated vintage-inspired color scheme, but swap in your own photos. Use the smart-generated product descriptions, but add your expert vinyl care tips. You do you.
Full Site Editing
WordPress’s Full Site Editor is shaking up how you control every corner of your website. Unlike old-school themes that lock you into rigid layouts, you can now edit headers, footers, and everything in between — right from your browser.
Divi’s Theme Builder takes this freedom even further. Want your photography portfolio to show different headers for weddings versus corporate work? Done. Need special layouts for seasonal products in your online store? Easy. You can even create custom templates for specific blog categories, making your recipes look different from your gardening tips.
The real power comes from mixing these tools. Use WordPress’s built-in editor to add content and quick edits in the backend, then switch to Divi’s visual builder when you need pixel-perfect control. No more fighting with code or hiring developers for simple changes — you’re in charge of every element on your site.
Sustainability And Performance Focus
Green hosting matters. SiteGround gets this by running their entire server network on renewable energy. Your WordPress website stays fast while keeping its carbon footprint small.
WordPress and Divi stretch sustainability far beyond the environment. Your single Divi license lets you build as many websites as you want. Build a portfolio site today, launch your client’s online store tomorrow, and set up a membership platform next week. No counting pages or posts, no premium tier tricks. SiteGround’s hosting plans to scale with you when traffic picks up, from your first blog to your busiest eCommerce store.
Behind Divi’s smooth design tools lies serious performance muscle. The visual builder writes clean code that loads fast. Smart features like the Dynamic Module Framework mean your site only loads what it needs. Built-in Critical CSS gets your content in front of visitors faster.
Add SiteGround’s speed-optimized servers, set up caching with WP Rocket, and optimize images with EWWW — suddenly, your beautiful Divi site flies.
Your visitors won’t just see a great design; they’ll feel the speed.
Mobile-First Approach
Mobile browsing shapes how websites work today. Your visitors expect smooth experiences whether they’re on phones during commutes or desktops at work. Mobile-first design means starting with small screens and scaling up — not the other way around.
WordPress embraces this shift through responsive themes and flexible layouts. Divi takes it further with smart design tools that adapt to every screen size. The visual builder shows real-time previews across devices, so you know exactly how visitors experience your site. Each design element, from galleries to menus, can be adjusted for touch screens and different viewing sizes.
Likewise, not all content translates well into smaller factors, so using Divi, you can create sections of your page for specific device sizes, showing only those and hiding others.
Divi’s premade layouts arrive ready for every device, while its AI tools generate new sections that maintain perfect responsive behavior. Your website stays crisp and readable no matter how your visitors browse.
Join The 43.6% Today
WordPress’s jump from 43.1% to 43.6% in 2024 might seem small, but it represents millions of new websites choosing WordPress over closed platforms. While Shopify and Wix fight for eCommerce and drag-and-drop supremacy, WordPress keeps breaking down barriers between good ideas and great websites.
The numbers don’t lie — WordPress isn’t just surviving the AI revolution and no-code movement; it’s thriving. As more businesses move online, they choose the platform that lets them own their content, control their costs, and grow without limits. And when WordPress is paired with Divi and the following tools, it becomes a surefire way to ensure your business thrives online:
| Tool | Purpose | |
|---|---|---|
| Divi | WordPress website builder | Get |
| Divi AI | AI-powered website & content generation | Get |
| Divi Cloud | Design asset storage and management | Get |
| Divi VIP | Premium support service | Get |
| Divi Pro | All of above combined into a bundle (save up to $528) | Get |
| SiteGround | WordPress-optimized hosting | Get |
| WP Rocket | Caching and performance optimization | Get |
| Rank Math | SEO optimization tool | Get |
| EWWW | Image optimization | Get |
| SEMRush | SEO and marketing analytics | Get |
Divi one-up WordPress’ freedom with drag-and-drop simplicity and ahead-of-the-curve features that your competition might not have considered. The web’s future is open-source, and WordPress + Divi is writing that story.
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