When exploring the world of website creation and management, one platform continually stands out from the rest—WordPress. For over a decade, WordPress has been the backbone of a massive portion of the internet, powering everything from small business sites and blogs to major news outlets and global corporations. This raises a fundamental question for entrepreneurs, developers, and marketers alike: How many websites on the internet use WordPress?
This article dives into WordPress’s market share, its dominance across industries, reasons for its popularity, and how it compares to alternative platforms. If you’re wondering whether WordPress is the right choice for your own project, understanding its reach and relevance is an excellent place to start.
The Scale of WordPress on the Web
As of mid-2025, WordPress powers approximately 43% of all websites on the internet. This statistic is regularly updated by sources like W3Techs, which track content management systems (CMS) usage across the web.
To put that into context: there are over 1.1 billion websites online, according to estimates by Internet Live Stats. That means over 470 million websites currently rely on WordPress in some form.
This includes:
- Personal blogs
- Local business websites
- Corporate intranets
- Membership platforms
- eCommerce stores using WooCommerce
- Educational websites and LMS portals
- Government and nonprofit sites
From Fortune 500 companies to niche content creators, the platform is omnipresent.
At Best Website Builder Group, we’ve built and managed hundreds of WordPress sites tailored to specific business needs, and we see firsthand how the platform scales across industries and complexity levels.
WordPress Market Share Among CMS Platforms
While the raw number of websites is impressive, WordPress’s dominance becomes even clearer when we isolate content management systems.
Among all websites using a CMS, WordPress claims over 60% of the market share. That places it far ahead of its competitors:
- Shopify: ~5%
- Wix: ~2.5%
- Squarespace: ~2.1%
- Joomla: ~1.5%
- Drupal: ~1.3%
- Webflow: <1%
This shows that for every 10 websites using a CMS, six are built with WordPress. Its open-source nature, flexibility, plugin ecosystem, and developer community contribute to its overwhelming popularity.
Why So Many Websites Use WordPress
Several key factors explain why WordPress has achieved such enormous reach:
Open-Source Flexibility
WordPress is free and open source. This means developers can inspect, modify, and enhance the core software as needed. Unlike closed platforms, WordPress gives users complete control over their websites.
Expansive Plugin Ecosystem
With over 60,000 plugins in the official repository, nearly any functionality can be added to a WordPress site—from booking engines to SEO tools, forums, membership portals, and advanced analytics.
Easy Theming and Design Control
Themes allow users to rapidly change the look and feel of a website without altering core functionality. Page builders like Elementor, Divi, and WPBakery further democratize the design process, allowing non-developers to customize professional layouts.
Massive Developer Community
Tens of thousands of developers contribute to WordPress, write custom plugins, and support enterprise builds. This ensures longevity, rapid innovation, and security fixes.
Scalability and Ownership
Unlike SaaS builders like Wix or Shopify, WordPress allows you to own your site and data. It can scale from a basic blog to a massive media platform or WooCommerce store with thousands of SKUs.
Who Is Using WordPress?
The list of major brands using WordPress is both diverse and impressive:
Additionally, millions of small business owners, freelancers, photographers, attorneys, and real estate agents rely on WordPress for a professional web presence.
At Best Website Builder Group, we serve this broad market by offering custom-designed WordPress sites that combine high-end design with optimal speed and search visibility.
Global Reach of WordPress
WordPress is translated into over 200 languages, making it accessible to a truly global user base. Countries with strong WordPress adoption include the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, India, Brazil, and Indonesia.
It’s also a frequent choice for multilingual websites, thanks to plugins like WPML and Polylang, and supports localization standards out-of-the-box.
WordPress for eCommerce: WooCommerce’s Impact
Part of WordPress’s growth can be credited to WooCommerce, the plugin that transforms any site into a full-fledged online store.
As of 2025:
- WooCommerce powers over 28% of all online stores
- It’s responsible for more eCommerce sites than Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce combined
- The plugin itself has over 5 million active installs
This makes WordPress not just a publishing platform—but a major force in digital commerce.
The Future of WordPress
WordPress continues to evolve. Key trends shaping its future include:
- Full Site Editing (FSE) using block-based design
- Headless WordPress implementations using REST API and frameworks like Next.js
- AI integrations for content writing and UX optimization
- Greater performance enhancements driven by Google Core Web Vitals
These innovations ensure that WordPress remains competitive not only in traditional website builds but also in the emerging landscape of composable and headless architectures.
Is WordPress Right for You?
Given its widespread adoption, robust community, and flexibility, WordPress is a reliable choice for most website types—especially if you plan to:
- Scale your site over time
- Customize functionality
- Own your content and hosting
- Integrate with a wide range of tools and platforms
If you’re building a site for your business, blog, or eCommerce store, WordPress offers unmatched versatility—whether you’re doing it yourself or working with professionals like the Best Website Builder Group.
Conclusion
So, how many websites on the internet use WordPress? The answer is clear: WordPress powers nearly half of the web, and dominates over 60% of the CMS market. Its strength lies in its open-source foundation, flexibility, and massive community support.
Whether you’re launching your first site or planning a redesign of a complex web platform, WordPress remains a top-tier choice for functionality, ownership, and scale.
And if you’re ready to make the most of it, the Best Website Builder Group is ready to help you harness WordPress to its full potential.
