WordPress is recognized as the most widely used CMS in the world. Let's examine its success.

WordPress continues to dominate the CMS landscape, but how widespread is it compared to other systems? What are the most popular page builders and plugins?

In this article, I wanted to collect the most up-to-date statistics on the use of WordPress compared to other CMS (Content Management Systems) such as Shopify, Joomla, Drupal, Wix, Squarespace and Webflow. In addition, I wanted to delve into using page builders in WordPress, focusing on Elementor and adopting the most popular plugins. This information provides a comprehensive and up-to-date helpful overview for those looking for the right solution for their website in the long term. The report is also available in an interactive dashboard on Tableau Public.

CMS Distribution: WordPress

CMS Market Share Among Sites with Active CMS

Percentage distribution of major CMS among websites using a content management system (excluding those without CMS). Source: W3Techs

In 2025 WordPress dominated the active CMS market with a 61.6% share. This figure confirms its predominant role in the sector, especially compared to the second-ranked, Shopify, at 6.7%. Wix (5.1%) and Squarespace (3.2%) follow at a distance, while more established CMS like Joomla (2.1%) and Drupal (1.2%) continue to lose ground.

It's interesting to note the growth of SaaS solutions like Shopify, Webflow, and Squarespace, which are gaining market share by focusing on ease of use and reduced maintenance needs. This trend suggests a growing preference from users and businesses for turnkey solutions at the expense of the flexibility and customization offered by self-hosted CMS like Joomla or Drupal. WordPress maintains its leadership precisely thanks to its balance between simplicity and extensibility.

Global CMS Market Share

Percentage distribution of the most widespread CMS out of the total active websites, including those that do not use any content management system. Source: W3Techs

Considering the entire landscape of websites, including those not using a CMS, WordPress maintains a 43.5% share. This means that almost 1 in 2 sites online uses WordPress, an impressive figure considering that the second most widespread system, Shopify, does not exceed 4.7%. Sites without CMS ('None') still represent 29.4%, although they have shown a constant decrease over the years.

The historical analysis shows a constant growth trend for WordPress, which has more than doubled its global presence since 2013, while rival CMS like Joomla and Drupal have steadily declined. Here, the strengthening of SaaS solutions emerges, particularly Shopify and Wix, which, however, remain very distant in terms of penetration.

This trend signals a cultural shift in the digital world: on one hand, there's a growing demand for platforms that are easy to set up and manage, on the other, it confirms the value of flexible and modular tools like WordPress, which manages to adapt to a variety of scenarios while maintaining a constantly evolving community and ecosystem.

Global Distribution of WordPress Page Builders

Elementor is the most used page builder in WordPress sites, present on about 12% of all websites globally (not just WordPress). Source: W3Techs

Specifically, 27.7% of WordPress sites that use a page builder use Elementor. This means that out of 100 sites built with WordPress, about 28 employ Elementor for page design.

In comparison, WPBakery represents 9.5% among WordPress sites (and 4.1% considering the total of global sites), but it's constantly declining. Builders like Beaver Builder, Oxygen, and Bricks are present in percentages lower than 1%.

The 2021-2025 trend analysis shows the constant growth of Elementor, which surpassed WPBakery in 2022. Thanks also to its free version and ease of use, Elementor has become synonymous with a modern, visual, and flexible page builder.

It's important to highlight the absence of popular page builders like Divi and Thrive Architect. This absence can be mainly attributed to the paid nature of these solutions, which limits their diffusion compared to freemium or free tools. Moreover, some of these builders are chosen for more specific uses, such as creating landing pages, and therefore are less present on a large scale in statistical surveys. In other cases, the technical identification of the builder may not be accurately detectable by tools like W3Techs and BuiltWith.

The intense concentration around Elementor also highlights a market consolidation, where accessibility (including economic), learning curve, and the ecosystem of plugins and extensions play a key role in diffusion.

The Most Used WordPress Plugins Worldwide

Global ranking of the most used plugins in WordPress sites, distributed by number of active installations and country. Source: BuiltWith.

Yoast SEO confirms its position as the most installed plugin, with over 8.7 million activations (10.6%), followed by Elementor, with 8 million (9.7%). Both plugins represent two fundamental pillars for WordPress sites: search engine optimization and visual site-building.
Google's Site Kit, Slider Revolution, WPBakery, and WPForms all share between 2.5% and 3.8%.

It's interesting to note the strong presence of plugins related to SEO (Yoast, RankMath), performance (WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache), and monitoring (MonsterInsights).

The pie chart highlights a fragmented ecosystem. Almost 50% of installations are occupied by 'other' plugins, a symptom of the incredible variety of needs and solutions adopted by WordPress webmasters.

Geographically, the United States dominates with 40.4% of WordPress plugin installations, followed by Germany (6.3%) and the United Kingdom (5.1%). Italy has a reasonable 3.6%, a sign of an active and growing digital market. This type of distribution reflects the concentration of WordPress sites in countries with a strong digital ecosystem.

The geographic maps and pie charts help understand better where the main hubs of WordPress plugin development and usage are.

WordPress in the world: where it's most used

Number of active WordPress sites by country. Percentages indicate the weight relative to the global total. The number of WordPress sites per 1,000 inhabitants is also reported (source: BuiltWith + Worldometers).

The United States ranks with over 3 million active WordPress sites, equal to 10% of the global population. Germany (4.4%) and the United Kingdom (3.1%) follow. Italy is present with 585,780 sites, which is 1.9%.

However, the most interesting data comes from the ratio between WordPress sites and the population. The Netherlands, for example, counts 33.3 sites per 1,000 inhabitants, a very high value indicating intense digitalization. Switzerland (26.8), Australia (17.6), and Germany (15.9) follow. Italy stops at 9.9, still higher than large markets like India (0.4) or Indonesia (0.5).

These numbers help distinguish between absolute quantity and level of penetration. While larger economies have high overall numbers, per capita values allow us to identify countries with greater digital maturity and potential for web-based service development.

Conclusion

WordPress confirms its position as the most used CMS in the world, both in absolute and relative terms. A market transformation accompanies its long-term growth: on one side, open-source CMSs are flexible and highly customizable, and on the other, the advancement of SaaS solutions offers ease of use and less complexity.

Elementor's supremacy in page builders confirms the trend towards intuitive drag-and-drop tools. Similarly, the variety and fragmentation of plugins demonstrate how WordPress remains an open and modular platform, capable of adapting to any need.

Finally, the analysis by country–especially in relation to population–offers interesting insights into evaluating the state of digitalization of national markets.

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