Top WordPress Statistics for 2026: How Many Websites Use WordPress and a Lot More

WordPress is by far the most popular open-source content management system (CMS) the internet has ever known. What is even more impressive about WordPress is how much it has evolved since it was originally released in 2003.

As WordPress continues to grow, so does its user base and functionalities. If you want to boost your online presence, whether you’re a blogger, marketer, or business owner, you need to understand this platform to make the most of it.

So, exactly how many WordPress themes and plugins are on the market?

How many unique visitors and page views does WordPress have?

What are the most critical WooCommerce stats?

In this article, I’m going to present the most noteworthy WordPress statistics and figures for 2026.

Let’s get started.

WordPress Stats for 2026: Key Findings

• WordPress powers more than 43% of all websites in the world.
• Around 474 million websites used WordPress in 2024.
• 65.2% of all websites designed with CMS have adopted the WordPress platform. 
• More than 500 websites are created daily on WordPress.
• 22.6% of WordPress websites are now utilizing Elementor.
• 93.7% of all WordPress online shopping sites use the WooCommerce plugin.
• WordPress runs 70 million ecommerce stores, including 22% of the top 1 million online shops in terms of traffic.
• WooCommerce supports more than 6 million online shops altogether, which is over 28% of all online stores.
• There are over 850 official WooCommerce plugins and 95 themes.
• WordPress web development is increasingly incorporating chatbots to enhance customer service.

What We Know About WordPress So Far

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the latest WordPress statistics, it’s important to take a step back and look at WordPress’ impressive history.

So, how did it all begin?

Like many tech revolutions, WordPress started with a brilliant idea from an ordinary guy looking to solve a personal problem.

In 2002, American college student Matt Mullenweg installed the b2/cafelog blogging platform for his own use. Due to personal reasons, the original creator of b2/cafelog had to stop updating his brainchild, leaving the project and its community without a leader.

In 2003, with Mike Little, Matt created a new version of the b2/cafelog system on SourceForge. 

Fun fact: Christine Tremoulet, a friend of Matt’s, suggested the name “WordPress,” and they decided to use it.

It was clear to Mullenweg and Little that they needed to create a more sophisticated personal publishing mechanism than the b2/cafelog system. This novel idea generated a new, fresh approach to making websites, and WordPress was officially launched on May 27, 2003.

Another interesting fact is that WordPress has been using the same text editor for around 15 years. In 2018, WordPress version 5.0 was released, introducing Gutenberg as the new default WordPress editor. Gutenberg operates in a block-based format, unlike the old one.

Here are the most important awards and accolades WordPress has earned over the years:

• 2008: “Best of open source software awards: Collaboration” winner by InfoWorld.
• 2009: “Overall Best Open Source CMS” winner of the Open Source CMS Awards.
• 2010: recipient of the “Hall of Fame CMS category in the 2010 Open Source” award by Digital Synergy.
• 2011: recipient of InfoWorld’s “Bossie Award” for Best Open Source Software.

WordPress Usage Statistics

Now that we’ve gone through a brief history of how WordPress was born, it’s time to take a look at some more practical statistics.

• WordPress hosts more than 43% of the internet’s websites.
• As of May 2024, more than 474 million websites used the WordPress platform.
• In 2022, 65.2% of all websites with content management systems used WordPress.
• WordPress holds a 62.2% market share. Shopify is the second-most popular CMS but is far behind with only 6.4%.
• Compared to other managed platforms like Shopify, WordPress is used by about 35% of the world’s top 10,000 websites.
• WordPress runs 70 million ecommerce stores, including 22% of the top 1 million online shops in terms of traffic.
• WordPress is by far the fastest-growing CMS, with more than 500 new websites being created every day.
• Every second, 27 blog posts are published on WordPress.
• WordPress has 70 million new posts and 77 million new comments each month.
• WordPress has 409 million unique visitors with more than 20 billion page views each month.
• The latest WordPress 6.7 has been downloaded over 23 million times, and the numbers are growing every second.
• The most popular companies that publish content via WordPress are Sony Music, TechCrunch, TED, CNN, and Spotify.
• A quick glance at the WordPress translation page reveals 208 languages, with 33 having 100% translations.
• 71% of all WordPress content is written in English, with Spanish coming in second place.
• According to Ahrefs, the keyword “WordPress” is globally searched around 2.3 million times monthly.

WordPress Theme Statistics

Part of WordPress’ huge success is due to its highly customizable nature, allowing WordPress users to create functional and attractive websites. You can have complete control of your website’s aesthetic with the help of WordPress blog themes.

The platform is miles ahead of its rivals because of this amazing feature. Offering countless options to exercise your creativity and create the website of your dreams.

If you’re not sure how to choose the best theme for you, check out my article on the best WordPress blog themes.

But before deciding on which WordPress theme to adopt for your website, check out these interesting statistics:

• WordPress offers over 13,000 free themes to its users. With so many options to choose from, you can be sure to find the proper theme to convey your style.
• The average price for a WordPress theme is about $59.
• Responsive themes make up 93% of all sales on Envato Market.
• Astra is the most popular WordPress blog theme, with more than 1 million people trusting it.
• Hello Elementor is the most used WordPress theme for the top 1 million sites, with 15,598 websites using it, or 1.56%. In second place is the Astra Theme, with 11,009 websites relying on it, followed by Divi.
• ThemeForest is the most popular premium WordPress theme marketplace, with more than 10,000 WordPress themes available.

WordPress Community Statistics

Due to its high-quality features, WordPress has managed to gain trust and keep users engaged with constant updates and improvements. 

As a consequence, this CMS has established a strong and dedicated global community of professionals who share the same interest in the platform.

For example, WordPress has an annual community-organized conference called WordCamp. This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about WordPress.

• The total number of WordCamps continues to grow, with more than 1,275 arranged globally across 404 cities, 65 countries, and six continents.
• On August 5, 2006, the first WordCamp was hosted in San Francisco, California. What began with 500 brave participants and only lasted one day has now become a worldwide phenomenon.
• WordPress provides its users with almost 20,000 free photos for their websites.

WordPress Plugin Statistics

To assist users in customizing the WordPress CMS to their particular needs, plugins increase the platform’s core capabilities. There’s an abundance of both free and commercial plugin alternatives.

Plugins are one of the reasons WordPress is so adaptable. Shopping carts, contact forms, speed improvements, SEO analytics, and security are only some of the most used WordPress plugins.

Below are the most crucial WordPress plugin stats every marketer, blogger, and business owner should be aware of before starting their journey with this CMS:

• There are more than 64,000 WordPress plugins in total, both paid and free, with billions of total downloads, and new ones are added daily.
• Yoast SEO is the most popular plugin, with over 10 million active installations and five-star ratings in the WordPress plugin directory.
• 22.6% of WordPress websites use the Elementor Website Builder plugin.
• There are almost 30 billion websites that use WordPress plugins, with the US, Germany, and the UK topping the list.
• The average percentage of users who leave a review for a WordPress plugin is 0.20%.

Here are the most popular WordPress plugins by active installations:

• Yoast SEO: 10+ million 
• Elementor Website Builder: 10+ million 
• Contact Form 7: 10+ million 
• Classic Editor: 10+ million 
• WooCommerce: 8+ million 
• Akismet Anti-spam: 6+ million

Here are additional prominent WordPress plugins, arranged by number of downloads:

• Classic Editor: 69,407,962 downloads
• Duplicate Page: 29,317,147 downloads
• Companion Auto Update: 3,982,755 downloads

WordPress Podcast Stats

With the podcast industry forecasted to exceed $94.88 billion by 2028 and an estimated 504 million podcast listeners worldwide in 2024, there’s never been a better time to start a podcast with WordPress.

Starting a podcast is an incredibly powerful method of driving brand awareness, reaching new audiences, and increasing your traffic. Combining a reliable podcast hosting service with a customizable WordPress podcast plugin will get you started on the right foot.

But before going down that road, you should be aware of some WordPress facts:

• Tusant is the most popular WordPress theme for starting a podcast because it offers audio/video playlists, individual episodes, multiple formats, and extensive customization.
• A user-friendly and adaptable podcast plugin is Seriously Simple Podcasting by Castos. It lets you put an HTML5 player anywhere on your website.
• The best WordPress podcast players are Podcast Player and Podlove Podcast Publisher.

WooCommerce Statistics

WooCommerce is a free open-source plugin that enables users to turn their WordPress website into an online store. It was launched in 2011 and has gained massive popularity since, especially among small and medium-sized businesses.

WooCommerce offers a number of practical elements that any business needs to succeed, like beautiful themes, subscriptions, shipping options, and much more.

The following is a list of prominent WooCommerce statistics:

• WooCommerce is the most popular ecommerce plugin for WordPress, with 23% of all ecommerce websites being powered by it.
• WooCommerce boasts a market share of an impressive 35%.
• The WooCommerce plugin is used by over 6 million websites and has been downloaded over 340 million times, with numbers rising daily.
• WooCommerce supports 69 languages, nearly four times more than Shopify (20.
• Around 93.7% of WordPress ecommerce sites are powered by WooCommerce.
• Approximately 246,800 WooCommerce stores were home and garden stores as of September 2024. The second-most popular category is apparel, with more than 230,000 online stores.
• On WordPress.org alone, there are 10,000 WooCommerce plugins.
• WooCommerce’s GitHub repository has more than 1,000 contributors.
• There are more than 2,100 WooCommerce themes in the WordPress.org Theme Directory.
• The WooCommerce Marketplace offers more than 850 official WooCommerce extensions and 95 themes.

WordPress Security Stats

Although regarded as one of the safest options in terms of CMS, WordPress is still the subject of data breaches, just like any other website.

WordPress websites are the primary target of malware infestations, as these security statistics demonstrate.

• 14% of malicious software alters one of the most widely used WordPress security plugins, WordFence.
• Between May and June 2023, nearly 150,000 WordPress sites were discovered to be infected with malware.
• In 2021, about 4.3% of WordPress websites checked with SiteCheck were hacked, meaning 1 in every 25 WordPress sites was affected.
• Most security vulnerabilities in WordPress come from plugins (93.25%), followed by themes (5.45%), and a small amount from the WordPress core files (1.29%).
• Weak passwords are the cause of 8% of WordPress website hacks.
• In 2024, the top most hacked WordPress plugins were Social Warfare, Blaze Widget, Wrapper Link Element, Contact Form 7 Multi-Step Addon, and Simply Show Hooks. 

WordPress Earnings Statistics

Now that we’ve gone through all of these WordPress stats and figures, I’m sure you’re wondering if there are any ways to earn an income through WordPress.

Let me tell you this. WordPress offers a variety of attractive revenue streams for those who want to supplement their income.

The most common ways to make money with WordPress include earning as a developer/designer, plugin/theme maker/developer, hosting company, or SEO professional (or agency). You could also start a WordPress maintenance service.

Here are some of the most eye-catching WordPress earning statistics:

• 78% of WordPress site owners think monetization is crucial for their site’s survival.
• 75% of monetized websites use advertising as their main source of income.
• 40% of WordPress websites use affiliate marketing.
• In the US, a typical WordPress developer earns about $33 per hour, which is the middle point of their pay range, which fluctuates from $20 to $57.
• Freelance WordPress developers usually charge between $20 and $150 per hour, with prices varying based on their skills, experience, and the project’s difficulty.
• In the US, WordPress developers make about $77,862 a year on average.

WordPress Trends for the Future

What does the future hold for WordPress? Let’s find out.

• Since mobile web traffic surpassed desktop usage a few years ago, and around 80% of smartphone users prefer a dark mode, incorporating a night mode interface into your WordPress site is essential.
• The use of video backgrounds enhances visual appeal and can significantly increase user engagement, making it a popular design choice.
• To meet user preferences, WordPress sites must integrate voice search capabilities.
• In 2026, WordPress artificial intelligence (AI) plugins will keep improving, adding new features to make websites better. Some of the most popular AI plugins are AI Engine, Divi AI, and BetterDocs.
• Chatbot integration is a growing trend in WordPress web development, enabling businesses to enhance customer service and support through AI-driven interactions.

Final Thoughts

Without a doubt, WordPress is one of the most beloved content management systems in the world, and for good reason. Launched more than 15 years ago, WordPress has grown into a massive blogging platform that has won users’ hearts thanks to its features and ease of use.

The main differentiator between WordPress and other blogging platforms is that it empowers users to start their own blogs and even make money blogging.

I hope this rundown of the most fascinating WordPress statistics has given you a fresh perspective on this important CMS.

The WordPress stats and data presented above can help you keep up to date on the CMS’ state at the moment and project how it might develop in the future.