WordPress is now powering 39.5% of all websites in 2021, up from powering 35% of sites in 2020.Counting only sites that use a content management system (CMS), WordPress has a market share of 64.1%. A significant number of websites (38.3%) use no content management system at all.
This data is provided by W3Techs which tracks usage statistics of web technologies, including content management systems (CMS), operating systems, web hosting providers, top level domains, and more.
WordPress has a commmanding lead as the most popular CMS, with Shopify coming in at a distant second with 3.2% market share.
Although Shopify is designed for ecommerce, it’s not the most popular ecommerce CMS on the market. That title also goes to WordPress.
What do you mean? I thought WordPress was for blogging?
Saying WordPress is a blogging platform means disregarding all the plugins site owners can use to turn their website into almost anything they want it to be.
Take the WooCommerce plugin, for example, which is used by 4.9% of all websites. Given WooCommerce is exclusive to WordPress sites, that makes WordPress the most popular CMS for ecommerce. Not Shopify.
WooCommerce powers over 28.19% of all online stores and is the most popular plugin on the entire internet with 68% usage distribution.
Is WordPress the best CMS?
The answer to that question depends on who you’re asking.
A first-time site owner with limited resources may prefer a CMS like Wix or Squarespace due to their beginner-friendly nature. Although the lack of features may have intermediate users looking elsewhere.
Someone who is more experienced with web technology is sure to appreciate the level of customization offered by WordPress. It’s hard to argue WordPress doesn’t meet the needs of most site owners, in particular those who use their website to run a business.
Not to mention WordPress excels in areas such as user experience, mobile usability, security, speed, and SEO.
See: 10 Reasons Why WordPress Is the Best CMS for SEO
In other words, WordPress is the best CMS for most people, which is why it holds well over half the market share of all content management systems.
See a more complete list of the web’s most popular CMS’s below.
Top 10 Content Management Systems in 2021
Here are the usage statistics of the top 10 content management systems on the web:
WordPress – 39.6%
Shopify – 3.2%
Joomla – 2.2%
Drupal – 1.5%
Wix – 1.5%
Squarespace – 1.5%
Bitrix – 1.0%
Blogger – 1.0%
Magento – 0.7%
OpenCart – 0.6%
Sources: W3Techs, Hosting Tribunal