Is WordPress Being Replaced?

Hi, welcome to No Stress Web Success. I’m Lisa Bowers of Five Penny Web Studio, and today I want to talk about the rumored demise of WordPress.

You may have seen headlines or online conversations suggesting that WordPress is dying, or about to be replaced. So the question becomes: should organizations with WordPress websites be worried? Let’s take a calm look at what the numbers do and don’t tell us.

WordPress’s share of websites has recently declined from its previous high. That is worth acknowledging, but a decline in market share is not the same as the platform disappearing, and it doesn’t automatically mean there are fewer WordPress sites.

Market share figures measure WordPress as a portion of the websites being tracked. They don’t tell us on their own why that portion has changed.

The latest W3Techs figures I found, dated today October 9th, 2026, show WordPress used by 40.1% of all websites. Among websites where W3Techs identified a content management system, WordPress’s CMS market share is 58.6%. The same survey reports Wix at 4.2% of all websites, Squarespace at 2.4%, and Webflow at 0.8%. I’ll link the report in the description.

So yes, WordPress has competition. Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, Shopify, and other platforms are real options, and some are growing. But the current figures still put WordPress well ahead of any of them in overall use.

One detail that often gets lost is that different research organizations use different methods and samples. That can produce different percentages. For example, HTTP Archive’s April 2026 report puts WordPress at 33.21% of measurable web origins, and still identifies it as the most used CMS by a wide margin. So when you hear a market share figure, check who published it, when, and what they counted.

What does this mean if your organization already uses WordPress? It means that you don’t need to make a rush decision based on a dramatic headline. Instead, ask practical questions:

• Does your website meet your needs?
• Is it maintained and secured?
• Can your team update it?
• Does it support your accessibility, budget, and growth plans?

If the answer to those questions is yes, a shifting market share percentage by itself is not a reason to migrate. If the answer is no, it may be time to review your site—but that would be true regardless of the headlines.

Now, WordPress does have its benefits. Some of the strong pros of WordPress, especially the self-hosted WordPress.org software, include:

Flexibility
It can support a simple organization website, a blog, an online store, or more specialized features as your needs grow.

Customizable
Themes shape the design, while plugins can add features such as forums, events, donations, or search tools.

Open source
The software can be used and modified without a platform licensing fee (outside of your hosting, development, and pro themes and plugins).

More control over your site
With self-hosted WordPress, you choose the hosting provider and have considerable control over your website’s files, content, and functionality.

Lots of help and expertise available
WordPress has a large user and developer community, with tutorials, forums, and professionals familiar with the platform.

Built for publishing
You can create and update pages and posts, manage media, schedule content, and assign different roles to team members.

A useful balance to mention: flexibility comes with responsibility. A self-hosted site needs ongoing updates, backups, security, and thoughtful plugin management. WordPress can be a strong fit when an organization wants control and room to grow, and has a plan for managing it.

The short version
WordPress market share has softened, but it remains the most widely used CMS in the data we’ve reviewed. Keep an eye on the trend, but make website decisions based on your organization’s actual needs, not rumors of a platform’s demise.

If you have any specific WordPress questions or how to make your WordPress site accessible, feel free to reach out to us. You can always visit our site at fivepennyweb.com and fill out a contact form. Ask us your questions—we’re always happy to answer them.

Thanks for listening today to No Stress Web Success. I’m Lisa Bowers of Five Penny Web Studio, and if you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review. See you next time.