By Aijaz Alam
What percentage of websites use WordPress?
39.6% of all websites use WordPress, according to W3Techs' crawl of the top 10 million sites on 22 Oct 2026. Among sites where W3Techs can detect a content management system, WordPress has a 58.3% share. The AI app builder Lovable runs 0.3% of all websites, slightly more than Astro or GitHub Pages (0.2% each).
- 39.6%Of all websites use WordPressW3Techs, 22 Oct 2026
- 58.3%WordPress share of sites with a known CMSW3Techs, 22 Oct 2026
- 0.3%Of all websites run on Lovable, an AI app builderW3Techs, 22 Oct 2026
- 69.3%Of sites with a known server-side language use PHPW3Techs, 22 Oct 2026
The numbers
The full breakdown
Top website platforms, share of websites on 30 Oct 2026
| Platform | Share of all websites | Share of sites with a known CMS |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress | 39.5% | 58.2% |
| Shopify | 5.3% | 7.9% |
| Wix | 4.2% | 6.1% |
| Squarespace | 2.4% | 3.6% |
| Joomla | 1.1% | 1.6% |
| Tilda | 0.8% | 1.2% |
| Webflow | 0.8% | 1.2% |
| Duda | 0.7% | 1.1% |
| Drupal | 0.6% | 0.9% |
| GoDaddy Website Builder | 0.6% | 0.9% |
| Lovable | 0.3% | 0.5% |
| Astro | 0.2% | 0.3% |
| GitHub Pages | 0.2% | 0.3% |
| No CMS detected | 32.1% | not applicable |
Read on the W3Techs content management overview on 30 Oct 2026, eight days after the reading used in the answer, so WordPress shows 39.5% and 58.2% here. W3Techs also lists Adobe Systems (0.6%) and Google Systems (0.5%), which are vendor groups rather than single products; they are left out.
Server-side languages, share of sites with a known language, 22 Oct 2026
| Language | Share of sites with a known server-side language |
|---|---|
| PHP | 69.3% |
| JavaScript | 8.1% |
WordPress is written in PHP, so WordPress sites count toward the PHP share. The base is only sites whose server-side language W3Techs knows.
Over time
Share of all websites using each platform, W3Techs, 1 January each year
| Date | WordPress | Shopify | Wix | No CMS detected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan 2015 | 23.3% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 61.7% |
| 1 Jan 2016 | 25.6% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 56.6% |
| 1 Jan 2017 | 27.3% | 0.6% | 0.3% | 53.3% |
| 1 Jan 2018 | 29.2% | 0.9% | 0.4% | 51.3% |
| 1 Jan 2019 | 32.7% | 1.4% | 1.0% | 45.3% |
| 1 Jan 2020 | 35.4% | 1.9% | 1.3% | 43.1% |
| 1 Jan 2021 | 39.5% | 3.2% | 1.5% | 38.3% |
| 1 Jan 2022 | 43.2% | 4.4% | 1.9% | 33.8% |
| 1 Jan 2023 | 43.1% | 3.8% | 2.4% | 32.3% |
| 1 Jan 2024 | 43.1% | 4.1% | 2.6% | 31.4% |
| 1 Jan 2025 | 43.6% | 4.7% | 3.3% | 29.6% |
| 1 Jan 2026 | 43.0% | 5.0% | 4.2% | 28.6% |
| 30 Oct 2026 | 39.5% | 5.3% | 4.2% | 32.1% |
W3Techs yearly trends report, read on 30 Oct 2026. Shares of all websites in the crawl, not of sites with a known CMS. W3Techs does not say why the share with no detectable CMS rose in 2026.
Why sources differ
Same question, different answers
| Number | When | Who measured | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 39.6% | 22 Oct 2026 | W3Techs, usage of content management systems | Base is every website in the crawl, including sites with no CMS |
| 58.3% | 22 Oct 2026 | W3Techs, CMS market share | Base is only sites where a CMS is detected |
| 69.3% | 22 Oct 2026 | W3Techs, server-side languages | Measures PHP, not WordPress; base is sites with a known server-side language |
| 43.0% | 1 Jan 2026 | W3Techs, yearly trends | Same tracker and base at the start of the year; older articles still quote 43% |
Most of the confusion comes from one source with two bases. W3Techs reports WordPress as 39.6% of all websites and 58.3% of websites that use a content management system it can detect. Both are correct; the second is larger because hand-coded sites, custom apps and sites whose platform is hidden drop out of the base. When an article says WordPress has "more than half the market", it is quoting the CMS share, not the share of the web. The PHP figure of 69.3% is a third, separate number: it counts the language behind a site, and many PHP sites do not run WordPress. A tracker that crawls a different list of sites can also land on a different share. Dates matter too: W3Techs had WordPress at 43.0% of all websites on 1 Jan 2026 and 39.5% on 30 Oct 2026, while the share of sites with no detectable CMS rose from 28.6% to 32.1% over the same months. W3Techs updates daily, so always quote the date and the base with the number.
What it means
How to use these numbers
WordPress is still the default way to build a website. Four in ten of all sites run on it, and among sites built on a content management system it has more than half the market. For a small business owner, that means a large pool of themes, plugins, hosts and freelancers, and an easy switch between them if one lets you down. It also means that a site you inherit or buy is more likely than not to be WordPress if it uses a CMS at all. In a 2025 Clutch survey of 406 owners (a vendor survey), 83% of US small businesses had a website, so for most owners the question is which platform, not whether to have one.
The new names are still small. Lovable, an AI app builder used for vibe coding, runs 0.3% of all websites, slightly ahead of Astro and GitHub Pages. That is worth watching, but it is not yet a shift away from WordPress.
For marketers and journalists, always state which base you use. "39.6% of websites" and "58.3% of the CMS market" describe the same data, and mixing them up makes WordPress look either smaller or bigger than it is.
Method and sources
How it was measured
Method
- Publisher
- W3Techs (Q-Success), Web Technology Surveys
- Sample
- Crawl of the top 10 million websites, updated daily
- Definition
- Share of all websites: every site in the crawl is the base. CMS market share: only sites where W3Techs detects a content management system are the base
- Date of figures
- 22 Oct 2026 for the answer, key numbers and first two tables; 30 Oct 2026 for the platform table and the history
- Checked at source
- 23 Oct 2026, w3techs.com content management and programming language overviews; 30 Oct 2026, the content management overview, the Shopify, Wix and Squarespace detail pages and the yearly trends report
- Next release
- W3Techs updates every day; the answer uses the 22 Oct 2026 reading, the platform table and history the 30 Oct 2026 reading
- Last changed
- 30 Oct 2026
- Data files
- CSV · JSON (stable links)
Sources
- Web Technology Surveys, W3Techs (Q-Success) Research
- The State of Small Business Websites in 2025, Clutch Vendor data
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FAQ
More questions people ask
Is WordPress 39.6% or 58.3% of websites?
Both, with different bases. 39.6% is the share of all websites W3Techs tracks. 58.3% is the share of websites that use a content management system W3Techs can detect.
How many websites run on PHP?
69.3% of websites whose server-side language W3Techs knows use PHP (22 Oct 2026). JavaScript is second at 8.1%.
Are AI site builders like Lovable taking share from WordPress?
Not much yet. Lovable runs 0.3% of all websites and 0.4% of sites with a known CMS, against 39.6% and 58.3% for WordPress.
Is WordPress losing market share?
Its share of all websites has slipped in 2026, from 43.0% on 1 Jan 2026 to 39.5% on 30 Oct 2026 in W3Techs' data, after holding near 43% since 2022. Over the same months the share of sites where W3Techs detects no CMS rose from 28.6% to 32.1%, so part of the drop may reflect the sites in the crawl rather than sites leaving WordPress. Shopify (5.3%) and Wix (4.2%) are the next largest platforms.
Every number on this page was checked at its original source (W3Techs (Q-Success), Clutch). Free to cite with a link to this page.