Some people say WordPress is “just a blogging tool” or “cheap software for small businesses.” But here’s a fact: 43.5% of all websites on the internet run on WordPress. Are all these website owners making a mistake? Let’s look at the numbers.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

According to W3Techs, WordPress powers 43.5% of all websites worldwide. That’s not 43% of blogs. That’s 43% of everything on the internet.

Let that sink in. Nearly half of the web uses the same platform.

“WordPress has grown from a simple blogging tool to the world’s most popular content management system.”

— WordPress.com Official Blog

What About the CMS Market?

When we look at websites that use a content management system (CMS), WordPress dominates even more. It holds 64.3% of the entire CMS market. The second place? Shopify with just 6.7%. Then Wix with 5.2%.

WordPress has more market share than all other CMS platforms combined.

The “Cheap Software” Myth

Here’s a common misconception: WordPress is free, so it must be cheap and low-quality.

Yes, WordPress core is open-source and free. But so is Linux. And Linux runs most of the internet’s servers, including Google, Amazon, and Facebook.

Free doesn’t mean cheap. Free means freedom.

• Freedom to customize everything
• Freedom to choose your hosting
• Freedom to own your data
• Freedom from vendor lock-in

Enterprise WordPress projects can cost $100,000 or more. The platform is free. The expertise, customization, and infrastructure are not.

Top Websites Trust WordPress

According to BuiltWith data:

• 29.65% of the top 100,000 websites use WordPress
• 25.33% of the top 10,000 websites use WordPress
• 21.75% of the top 1 million websites use WordPress

These are not hobby blogs. These are high-traffic, enterprise-level websites. They have budgets. They have technical teams. They chose WordPress.

“42% of large enterprises with 100+ employees use WordPress for their websites or blogs.”

— GrowthScribe WordPress Statistics

But What About the Critics?

Some analysts argue that the “43%” number is inflated. They say many WordPress installations are abandoned or unused. According to Afteractive’s analysis, the real number might be closer to 5-7% of “active” websites.

Fair point. But even if we accept this lower number, WordPress is still the most popular CMS by a huge margin. No other platform comes close.

And here’s what critics miss: Those “abandoned” sites exist because WordPress has a low barrier to entry. People can experiment. They can learn. They can fail safely.

That’s a feature, not a bug.

Enterprise WordPress vs Hobby WordPress

There’s a big difference between a personal blog and an enterprise WordPress site. Let’s be clear about this.

When people criticize WordPress, they often compare hobby sites to enterprise custom solutions. That’s not a fair comparison.

Enterprise WordPress is a different animal. It powers some of the world’s biggest websites. We’ll look at those examples in the next article.

The Real Question

So, is 43% of the internet wrong?

Are Disney, Sony, Microsoft, BBC, and NASA all making a mistake?

Are they too cheap to build custom software?

Or maybe — just maybe — they know something that the “WordPress is cheap” critics don’t understand.

WordPress is not cheap. It’s smart.

Key Takeaways

1. WordPress powers 43.5% of all websites and 64.3% of the CMS market
2. Nearly 30% of the top 100,000 websites use WordPress
3. 42% of large enterprises use WordPress
4. “Free” means freedom, not low quality
5. Enterprise WordPress is very different from hobby WordPress

Next in this series: “Disney, Sony, NASA… Are They Broke?” — A look at the world’s biggest brands that trust WordPress.

Sources

• W3Techs – WordPress Usage Statistics
• WordPress.com – Market Share Report
• WPBeginner – CMS Market Share Report
• GrowthScribe – WordPress Statistics 2025
• BuiltWith – Technology Usage Statistics
• Afteractive – WordPress Real Market Share Analysis