WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) in the world, allowing users to create and manage websites without deep programming knowledge. As of 2025, WordPress holds about 43% of the market for all websites on the Internet. This impressive figure highlights the dominance of this platform. But what exactly makes WordPress so successful? In this article, we will explore the history of WordPress, its functionality, advantages, reasons for popularity, and much more. We will also analyze why exactly 43% of sites choose this system, compare it with competitors, and look at future trends. The article will be detailed to cover all aspects of the topic.
WordPress started as a simple blogging tool but evolved into a powerful platform for creating any type of site: from personal blogs to large corporate portals, online stores, and even social networks. Its open source code, flexibility, and large developer community make it an ideal choice for millions of users worldwide. According to W3Techs data as of September 2025, WordPress is used on 43.4% of all websites, making it the market leader. This is no coincidence – the platform offers free access, ease of use, and a multitude of extensions.
History of WordPress Development
The history of WordPress begins in 2003 when Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little created it as a fork from the b2/cafelog project. Initially, WordPress was aimed at bloggers seeking a simple way to publish content. The first version, WordPress 0.7, was released on May 27, 2003. Since then, the platform has undergone a long evolution.
In 2004, support for themes and plugins appeared, allowing users to customize their sites. This became a key moment, making WordPress flexible. In 2005, version 1.5 was released with a new theme system, and in 2010 – version 3.0, which added multisite support and custom post types. Over the years, WordPress integrated tools for SEO, security, and performance.
Today, in 2025, WordPress has reached version 6.6 and continues to update several times a year. The company Automattic, founded by Matt Mullenweg, handles commercial aspects like WordPress.com – a hosting platform. WordPress’s open source code (GPLv2 license) allows anyone to modify it, contributing to rapid development. Over 22 years, the platform has gained millions of users, and its market share has grown from a few percent in the 2010s to 43% in 2025.
One of the key success factors is the community. Thousands of developers, designers, and users contribute to the plugin and theme repository. Annual events like WordCamp unite enthusiasts from around the world. This ecosystem makes WordPress not just a tool, but an entire web development culture.
How WordPress Works
WordPress is a CMS based on PHP and MySQL. It is installed on a web server, where users can manage content through the administrative panel (Dashboard). Main components:
- Core: The basic code that provides fundamental functionality, like creating posts, pages, comments.
- Themes: Site design. There are thousands of free and paid themes that allow changing the appearance without coding.
- Plugins: Extensions for adding features. For example, Yoast SEO for optimization, WooCommerce for ecommerce, Elementor for visual editing.
- Gutenberg Blocks: Since version 5.0 (2018), WordPress uses a block editor that allows building pages like a Lego constructor.
To create a site on WordPress, you need to:
- Choose hosting (e.g., Bluehost, SiteGround).
- Install WordPress (often one-click).
- Set up theme and plugins.
- Add content.
WordPress supports multilingualism, mobile adaptability, and integration with social networks. Its API allows developers to create custom apps.
Features and Functionality
WordPress offers a multitude of features that make it versatile:
- Ease of Use: Intuitive interface for beginners. Even without experience, you can create a site in hours.
- SEO-Friendliness: Built-in tools for meta-tags, permalinks. Plugins like Rank Math improve Google ranking.
- Security: Regular updates, plugins like Wordfence for protection against hackers.
- Performance: Caching via plugins (WP Super Cache), image optimization.
- Ecommerce: WooCommerce – a free plugin that turns a site into a store. It holds 28% of the ecommerce CMS market.
- Blogging: Original purpose, with RSS support, comments, categories.
- Corporate Sites: Used by companies like BBC, Sony, Disney.
With over 60,000 plugins in the repository, WordPress can become a forum (bbPress), LMS (LearnDash), or portfolio.
Why WordPress Holds 43% of the Market
The main reason is accessibility. WordPress is free, open, and simple. According to Kinsta, 43.6% of all sites use WordPress. Here are the key factors:
- Free and Open Source: No licensing fees, unlike paid CMS like Adobe Experience Manager.
- Flexibility: Suitable for any sites – from blogs to enterprise-level.
- Community: Millions of users, forums, documentation.
- Ecosystem: Thousands of themes, plugins, optimized hostings.
- Scalability: From small sites to millions of visitors (with CDN like Cloudflare).
- Integrations: With Google Analytics, Mailchimp, Stripe, etc.
- Continuous Development: Updates add new features, like AI integrations in 2025.
Compared to competitors, WordPress has the largest share. Shopify – 6.7%, Joomla – 1.7%, Drupal – 1.3%. Its dominance is explained by the network effect: more users – more resources.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages:
- Cost-Effectiveness: Only hosting (from $3/month).
- Speed of Creation: Ready templates.
- SEO: Easy to optimize.
- Mobility: Responsive themes.
- Support: Large community.
Disadvantages:
- Security: Popularity makes it a target for attacks; requires updates.
- Performance: With many plugins, the site may slow down.
- Learning Curve: For complex customizations, code is needed.
- Plugin Dependency: Conflicts possible.
Despite disadvantages, advantages outweigh, explaining the 43% market.
Comparison with Competitors
- Joomla: More complex, for medium sites. Share – 1.7%.
- Drupal: For enterprise, powerful but hard for beginners. 1.3%.
- Shopify: For ecommerce, but paid. 6.7%.
- Wix/Squarespace: Drag-and-drop, but less flexible, closed.
WordPress wins due to balance of flexibility and simplicity.
Examples of Use
Many famous sites on WP: The New Yorker, Vogue, TechCrunch. In Ukraine – media sites like “Ukrainska Pravda”, businesses.
Future Trends
In 2025, WordPress integrates AI (for content), headless CMS, PWA. Share may grow to 45%.
Conclusion
WordPress is the leader with 43% market due to accessibility, flexibility, and community. It has changed web development, making it accessible to all.