WordPress has dominated the content management system (CMS) space since launching in 2003, and while it’s still the leader, the market is shifting in ways worth paying attention to.
As of May 2025, WordPress powers 43.5% of websites surveyed and holds a 61.2% share among sites that use a CMS, according to W3Techs. That’s still a commanding lead, but down nearly four percentage points from its 2022 peak.
For the first time in its 20-year reign, WordPress’s market share has shown a sustained decline, and competitors like Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify are quietly chipping away at its dominance.
At the same time, the share of websites not using any CMS has dropped from 32.3% in 2023 to 28.9% in 2025, showing continued adoption of managed platforms and hosted builders.
In this report, we’ll break down the current CMS landscape, compare major platforms, and explore what these shifts mean for SEO professionals and digital marketers.
How Large Is The CMS Market?
According to W3Techs, 71.1% of websites have a CMS, and Netcraft reports just under 200 million live websites.
From this, we can assume that the current market size for content management systems is approximately 143.5 million websites.
Top 10 CMS By Market Share (Globally), May 2025
| CMS (as of May 2025) | Launched | Type | Market Share | Usage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No CMS | 28.9% | ||||
| 1 | WordPress | 2003 | Open source | 61.2% | 43.5% |
| 2 | Shopify | 2006 | SaaS | 6.7% | 4.7% |
| 3 | Wix | 2006 | SaaS | 5.3% | 3.87% |
| 4 | Squarespace | 2004 | SaaS | 3.3% | 2.3% |
| 5 | Joomla | 2005 | Open source | 2.1% | 1.5% |
| 6 | Drupal | 2001 | Open source | 1.2% | 0.8% |
| 7 | Webflow | 2013 | SaaS | 1.2% | 0.8% |
| 8 | Adobe Systems | 2013 | Open source | 1.1% | 0.8% |
| 9 | Tilda | 2014 | SaaS | 0.9% | 0.7% |
| 10 | Duda | 2008 | SaaS | 0.9% | 0.7% |
Data from W3Techs, May 2025. (WooCommerce and Elementor are not listed in the table above since they’re WordPress plugins and not standalone CMS platforms.)
*Graphs are separated due to the dominance of the WordPress market share.
WordPress
WordPress has held the dominant market share almost since its launch in 2003.
Between 2014 and 2022, its usage across all websites grew by 105.7% – a surge that helped cement its position as the default choice for much of the web.
However, we’re seeing a market share decline by nearly five percentage points in the last three years.
This marks the first sustained dip in its growth trajectory. It’s a trend that could continue as easier-to-use platforms gain ground and some users report frustrations with plugin compatibility, core updates, and security management.
Read more: Should You Still Use WordPress?
Shopify
As the second-most popular CMS today, and a long way behind WordPress, Shopify market share currently stands at 6.7%
It is used by 4.7% of all websites surveyed.
Wix
Wix continues its slow and steady climb, powering 3.8% of all websites.
Its growth could be attributed to the work they do on branding.
Squarespace
Squarespace has shown steady growth over the past decade, with its CMS market share growing from 0.3% in 2014 to 3.3% in 2025, and usage across all websites rising to 2.3%.
Its growth could be attributed to the increasing demand for low-maintenance, design-forward platforms.
Read more: WordPress Vs. Squarespace – Which One Is Better?
Joomla And Drupal
Joomla and Drupal have seen a steady decline in market share, dropping from the top 3 to positions 5 and 6.
This shift likely reflects a broader trend where more user-friendly, SaaS-based platforms are capturing the attention of small businesses and non-technical users.
No CMS
Between 2024 and May 2025, websites operating without a CMS dropped by 8%, continuing a trend away from custom-coded solutions.
During the same period, websites using WordPress grew by just less than 1%.
The decline in “no CMS” websites signals an ongoing trend toward more structured, manageable platforms for site creation.
WordPress Vs. Joomla Vs. Drupal Market Share
Screenshot from W3Techs, May 2025Since 2024, Joomla has decreased its market share by 16%, while Drupal has declined by 25%.
Together, they once held 14.8% of the CMS market share in 2014 – now that figure sits at just 3.3%.
They’ve slipped from the No. 2 and No. 3 spots to No. 5 and No. 6, overtaken by faster-growing platforms like Wix and Squarespace in 2022.
Joomla, in particular, had strong momentum early on – briefly surpassed WordPress in search interest until around 2008, according to Google Trends – but it hasn’t kept pace with modern platform demands.
Screenshot from Google Trends, May 2025Why did these popular content management systems decline so much?
It’s most likely due to the strength of third-party support for WordPress with plugins and themes, making it much more accessible.
The growth of website builders, such as Wix and Squarespace, indicates that small businesses want a more straightforward managed solution, and they have started to nibble on market share from the bottom.
Website Builders Market Share: Wix Vs. Squarespace
Screenshot from W3Techs, May 2025From January to May this year, Wix’s market share grew by 13%, while Squarespace rose by 3.1%.
If we look at the website builders, their growth is a strong indication of where the market might go in the future.
Zooming out, between May 2024 and May 2025, the market share of:
- Shopify grew by 6.3%.
- Wix grew by 35.9%.
- Squarespace grew by 10%.
When we compare the 2.7% market share contraction of WordPress over the last year to the other players, we have to ask, “What’s driving the shift?”
SaaS web builders such as Wix and Squarespace don’t require coding knowledge and offer a hosted website that makes it more accessible for a small business to get a web presence quickly.
No need to arrange a hosting solution, install a website, and set up your own email. A web builder neatly does all this for you.
WordPress is not known as a complicated platform to use, but it does require some coding knowledge and an understanding of how websites are built.
On the other hand, a website builder is a much easier route to market, without the need to understand what is happening in the back end.
Read more: Wix Changed How Websites Are Built And Why You Should Pay Attention
Elementor
Elementor is the most widely used WordPress page builder, installed on 17.3% of all websites with a known CMS and 12.3% of alls sites surveyed (not shown below) – more than Wix and Squarespace combined – though it functions as a plugin within WordPress, not a standalone CMS.
Screenshot from W3Techs, May 2025While not a CMS on its own, it’s a major player in shaping how WordPress is used.
However, because it’s a third-party plugin and not a CMS, it isn’t listed in the top 10 CMS above.
If we compare the volume of traffic to the number of CMS, we can see that WordPress is in the golden section, up and to the right, clearly favored by sites with more traffic.
Based on usage among higher-ranked domains, Joomla fits into a niche of fewer installs but more high-traffic sites, indicating that more professional sites are using it.
Squarespace and Wix are to the left and down, highlighting that they are installed on fewer sites with less traffic. It strongly indicates that they are used more by small websites and small businesses.
Elementor bridges the gap between the two and has the weight of the WordPress market share, but is used by sites with less traffic.
The appetite is growing for drag-and-drop, plug-and-play solutions that make having a web presence accessible for anyone. This is the space to watch.
Ecommerce CMS Market Share: WooCommerce Vs. Shopify
Screenshot from W3Techs, May 2025WooCommerce has a market share of 12.7%, while Shopify has 6.7%.
The ecommerce CMS space echoes a pattern similar to that of website builders.
WooCommerce powers 9% of all existing websites, making it the most widely adopted ecommerce plugin by far.
It doesn’t appear in W3Techs’ top CMS list because it is a WordPress plugin, but it’s a key factor in WordPress’s enduring popularity.
Looking at the distribution, we can see a clear pattern emerge. In comparison to other ecommerce CMS platforms, WooCommerce is dominant.
It has more market share than its competitors combined: Shopify (6.7%) + PrestaShop (0.9%) + OpenCart (0.6%) + Magento (0.5%) = 8.7% market share.
Screenshot from W3Techs, May 2025Smaller sites might favor WooCommerce, but it has the WordPress platform’s weight for market access and, therefore, more installs, much like Elementor.
Shopify surged during the pandemic, with market share growing by 52.9% from 2020 to 2021 and then 26.9% from 2021 to 2022 – far more than any other platform.
It dipped in 2023 and recovered in 2024. By 2025, it held steady at 6.7%.
Why Does CMS Market Share Matter To Someone Working In SEO?
For SEO professionals, keeping a close eye on CMS market share trends is essential because they influence site architecture, plugin availability, and technical SEO flexibility.
As the market fragments, one-size-fits-all optimization strategies no longer cut it.
WordPress continues to lead, but website builders such as Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify gain traction, indicating where market growth lies, especially for small businesses.
If more SMBs are switching to website builders, understanding the limitations and intricacies of these platforms for SEO could be a competitive advantage.
Shopify now runs on 4.7% of all websites surveyed (not just sites with a CMS) – that’s a potential market of 61 million sites.
With their increasing market share, specializing in Shopify SEO could be a strategic move for an SEO professional.
Wix and Squarespace are growing, too. As more small businesses adopt these platforms, getting fluent in their ecosystems could set you apart in a crowded market.
WordPress might be dominant now, but it’s also where the most competition is. Sometimes, aligning with a more niche CMS can be a strategic move for new client opportunities.
More resources:
- Is WordPress The Right Choice For Ecommerce Websites?
- The 10 Best Headless CMS Platforms To Consider
- The Complete Technical SEO Audit Workbook
All data collected from W3Techs, May 2025, unless otherwise indicated.
See the W3techs methodology page for where the data is gathered from.
Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
