70+ WordPress Statistics About (Usage, Growth, Plugins, Themes, Costs, Versions,…)

Some of the best things in life are free.

And WordPress.org as a CMS is perhaps as good as it gets.

Besides being free, it is extremely simple to use and has a huge library of themes and plugins.

Thanks to WordPress, creating a great website — regardless of the level of technical knowledge you have — is easy and simple.

At Hosting Tribunal, we’ve compiled a detailed list of the latest WordPress statistics to help you find out more about this amazing tool and build your online presence.

While some of these stats highlight its popularity and advantages, others show how to use it more effectively.

Which means there’s plenty for everyone! Shall we start?

Fascinating WordPress Statistics

• WordPress powers 34% of the internet in 2019, a 4% rise from the previous year.
• Nearly 64 million websites use WordPress.org, according to conservative estimates.
• 37.5 million websites are hosted on WordPress.com.
• 60.7% of all websites using a known content management system (CMS) in 2019 use WordPress.
• WordPress.com gets 144 million unique monthly visits, which makes it the 5th most-viewed platform in the US after Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Twitter.
• Many popular websites, like TechCrunch, The New Yorker, People, Variety, and TED, use WordPress.
• WordPress.org offers over 50,000 plugins and over 3,500 GPL-licensed themes.
• WordPress is available in 57 languages.

How Big Is WordPress?

1. WordPress powers 34% of the internet in 2019, a jump of 4% from the previous year

(Source: W3Techs)

How Many Sites Use WordPress

2. Nearly 64 million websites use WordPress.org, according to conservative estimates.

(Source: Internet Live Stats)

3. 37.5 million websites are hosted on WordPress.com.

(Source: Who Is Hosting This)

4. WordPress 5.2 — the latest version of WordPress — was released on May 7, 2019. In just 2 weeks, it has been downloaded 7 million times already.

(Source: WordPress)

WordPress is HUGE.

Heck, it powers a little over one-third of the Web!

What’s more, the latest WordPress statistics show the tool’s popularity is growing consistently.

So what makes WordPress so popular?

For starters, it’s free and easy to install and use.

Then, there are millions of plugins and thousands of themes — many of them free — that allow one to easily create a visually-attractive, intuitive, and responsive website.

And on top of all this, WordPress is SEO-friendly.

It’s no surprise it is the best CMS out there.

WordPress Is Global

5. The WordPress.org software is available in 57 languages.

(Source: WordPress)

6. WordPress held 128 WordCamps in 48 countries in 2017.

(Source: WPEngine)

7. WordPress had 4,379 meetups in 73 countries in 2017 — an increase of 43% from the previous year.

(Source: WordCamp)

8. 71% of blogs hosted on WordPress.com are written in English. The 2nd most popular language is Spanish, which accounts for 4.7% of all hosted blogs.

(Source: WordPress)

Recent WordPress stats show it is truly a global company. The software is available in nearly 60 languages.

Who knows?

Perhaps someday it will be available in virtually every language.

WordPress Is the Best CMS

9. 60.7% of all websites using a known content management system (CMS) in 2019 use WordPress.

(Source: W3Techs)

WordPress Usage Statistics 2019

10. Joomla — the 2nd most popular CMS — powers 5.7% of all sites using CMS.

(Source: W3Techs)

11. WordPress’s overall market share in 2019 is up by 5.6% on a year-on-year basis. In contrast, Joomla’s market share has shrunk by 3.2%.

(Source: Kinsta)

12. 22% of the Top 1 million sites use WooCommerce. The corresponding figure for Shopify is 18%.

(Source: Kinsta)

These stats clearly settle the question “how popular is WordPress?” once and for all.

WordPress is 10 times more popular than Joomla, its main competitor.

What’s more, WordPress — which started as a blogging tool — is now the most dominant player in the e-commerce niche as well.

WordPress Growth Trends

13. WordPress.com gets 144 million unique monthly visits, which makes it the 5th most-viewed platform in the US after Google, Facebook,  Amazon, and Twitter.

(Source: Automattic)

14. WordPress.com users produce 70 million new posts and 77 million comments each month.

(Source: WordPress)

15. 409 million people view more than 20 billion pages on WordPress.com sites each month.

(Source: WordPress)

16. WordPress’s market share has grown by a whopping 38% in the last 5 years. In May 2019, nearly 34% of websites use WordPress, compared to 21% in 2014.

(Source: Kinsta)

Recent WordPress usage stats show it is the most-used content management system.

Also, WordPress.com — the blogging platform based on modified WordPress — is one of the most-visited platforms.

And the best part is:

The WordPress Juggernaut is showing no signs of slowing down even after all this time.

Automattic – the Company Behind WordPress

17. WordPress.com has almost the same number of monthly unique viewers as Twitter, but it employs 4 times fewer people. WordPress has 906 employees, while Twitter has 3920.

(Source: Automattic)

18. WordPress has had 4,969 code commits by 70 developers.

(Source: Who Is Hosting This)

19. WordPress had denied 66% of DMCA takedown notices as of July 2018.

(Source: Automattic)

20. WordPress had denied 61% of government requests as of July 2018.

(Source: Automattic)

While WordPress is all for transparency, it resists revealing information where it thinks the blogger’s right to voice her opinions is at stake.

Popular Websites that Use WordPress

21. Many popular websites, including TechCrunch, The New Yorker, People, Variety, and TED, use WordPress.

(Source: WPbeginner)

22. 34% of the world’s most popular websites run on WordPress.

(Source: WinningWP)

23. 32.5% of the Top 1 million sites use WordPress.

(Source: built with)

24. Many big government and educational institution websites also use WordPress, such as America.gov, the Library of Congress, Boston University, the University of Berlin, and Cornell University.

(Source: HoneyTech)

WordPress usage statistics show it is the CRM of choice for one-third of the world’s most popular websites. Arguably, this is because WordPress is the most user-friendly, customizable, and SEO-friendly CRM.

E-commerce Is Big on WordPress.org

WooCommerce is the leader in WordPress e-commerce.

25. WooCommerce powers over 28% of all online stores, with more than 69 million downloads so far.

(Source: WooCommerce)

26. WooCommerce is used by 14.6% of all WordPress websites.

(Source: W3Techs)

27. WooCommerce powers 22% of the Top 1 million websites using e-commerce technologies.

(Source: Barn2Media)

28. WooCommerce is used by an incredible 93.7% of all WordPress e-commerce websites.

(Source: Barn2Media)

WordPress started out as a blogging platform, but today, it is much more than that.

WordPress stats for 2019 show WooCommerce rules the e-commerce space.

So why is WooCommerce so popular?

One, it is the natural choice for WordPress users who want to set up an online store.

Two, it offers great services and powerful features, and it’s easy to manage.

Three, it’s absolutely free.

WordPress Plugins

29. Akismet is the most downloaded plugin ever with 138 million downloads. JetPack is second with 124 million downloads.

(Source: WordPress)

How Many WordPress Plugins are There

30. WordPress.org offers over 50,000 plugins. There are also many plugins available for purchase from third-party vendors. One of the largest premium plugin repositories is CodeCanyon with 28, 941 code scripts and plugins.

(Source: WordPress)

31. Jetpack is the most popular WordPress plugin among online marketers. It offers a range of advanced features, like site statistics and analytics, automated social media posting, automatic backups, and malware scanning.

(Source: HubSpot)

The WordPress core offers a solid foundation for your site. However, in most cases, it alone isn’t sufficient to run a powerful, advanced, and user-friendly site.

To do all that, you need plugins, which are available in great numbers.

Now, you might be wondering:

How many WordPress plugins are there exactly?

Well, according to the latest count, the WordPress repository has 55,075 plugins.

And if these aren’t enough, you can find several thousand more at various third-party plugin repositories. Not bad, eh?

WordPress Themes Make Website Design Easy

A WordPress theme determines a site’s look and feel, so choose carefully.

You might be wondering:

How Many WordPress Themes Are There

32. WordPress.org offers 3,500+free GPL-licensed themes.

(Source: WordPress)

33. The average price of a premium WordPress theme is usually between $30 – $100.

(Source: PremiumWP)

34. Genesis Framework, Divi, and Avada are the three most-used premium themes. Genesis is used by 7% of all websites using WordPress themes. The corresponding figures for Divi and Avada are 6% and 4%, respectively. While Genesis and Avada both cost around $60, Divi comes bundled with 86 other themes and 6 other plugins at the price of $89 per year.

(Source: Built With)

35. Twenty Nineteen, Twenty Seventeen, and OceanWP are the three most popular free WordPress themes. WordPress.org developed Twenty Nineteen and Twenty Seventeen, both of which have over 1 million downloads. The Nicolas Lecocq-created OceanWP has been downloaded 400,000+ times.

(Source: WordPress)

36. Themeforest is the largest commercial theme repository with 11,000+ WordPress themes. The three all-time most popular themes on ThemeForest are Avada, X | The Theme, and Enfold.

(Source: Themeforest)

Luckily, themes — both premium and paid ones — are both numerous and readily available, as evident from the above-mentioned WordPress statistics.

Regardless of the type of site you want to build, I’m sure you’ll be able to easily find one that suits both your needs and budget.

WordPress Security Stats

Data breaches are a scourge of the modern internet, and WordPress is not immune.

37. WordPress is the most attacked platform. Out of 34,371 infected websites analyzed in a report, 83% were found to be using WordPress. However, this data doesn’t imply WordPress is any less secure than other CRMs. It is attacked most often because it is the most commonly used platform.

(Source: Sucuri)

38. Akismet blocks 7.5 million pieces of spam every hour. Ranked as one of the most-downloaded WordPress plugins, Akismet helps users tackle spam comments swiftly.

(Source: Akismet)

39. More than 90,000 attacks are made on WordPress sites every minute.

(Source: Wordfence)

40. Brute force attacks are the most common type of attack on WordPress sites, followed by file inclusion exploits and SQL injections.

(Source: iThemes)

41. 18 million WordPress users were compromised in 2011. This is regarded as the worst breach of WordPress security to date.

(Source: Skilled)

42. WordPress plugins account for 52% of WordPress security vulnerabilities, while core WordPress and themes are responsible for 37% and 11% of security issues, respectively. A weak password, on the other hand, causes 8% of website hacks.

(Source: iThemes)

43. The top three WordPress plugins involved in website hacks are TinThumb, Revslider, and Gravity Forms.

(Source: Sucuri)

44. Sucuri, Wordfence, iThemes Security, and All in One WP Security are some of the most popular WordPress security plugins.

(Source: WPbeginner)

These WordPress security statistics show why website security should be every website owner’s number one priority.

If you make even half a slip, your site can easily be compromised, along with your reputation.

Here’s what you need to do:

Make sure you install only premium plugins, update WordPress regularly, have a strong login password, and use a robust security plugin.

WordPress Is SEO-Friendly

45. WordPress takes care of 80-90% of SEO mechanics.

(Source: Project Studio)

46. More than 36% of all WordPress sites are served over HTTPS, which is a secure version of the standard HTTP.

(Source: WPengine)

47. Yoast SEO (5 million+ active installations) and All in One SEO (over 2 million+ active installations) are two of the most popular SEO plugins for WordPress.

(Source: WordPress)

48. 14.7% of the Top 100 websites run on WordPress.

(Source: Who Is Hosting This)

One question that every online marketer wants to ask is:

Is WordPress good for SEO?

The answer is YES.

As a CMS, WordPress provides a solid SEO foundation. And then you have tools like Yoast SEO that take care of many SEO tasks.

Given all this, it’s no surprise recent WordPress stats and facts show many top-ranking sites use it.

WordPress Versions

49. 35 major versions of WordPress have been released since its launch in 2003. “Jaco,” released on May 7, 2019, is the latest version as of the time of writing.

(Source: Code In WP)

50. Major versions of WordPress are released every 150 days on average.

(Source: Code In WP)

51. Version 5 powers 51% of all WordPress sites, while Version 4 is on nearly 46%.

(Source: W3Techs)

52. Plugins were introduced in the WordPress version 1.2 aka “Mingus.”

(Source: WordPress)

53. Themes were introduced in WordPress version 1.5, aka “Strayhorn.”

(Source: WordPress)

WordPress is free. It is developed by a community of developers, who — as these WordPress stats show — continuously strive to improve the platform by releasing new updates at regular intervals.

Each new release fixes known bugs, adds new features, enhances existing features, and improves performance.

So the bottom line is:

You should always run the latest WordPress version.

If you don’t update your site, you don’t just miss out on new improvements. You may also compromise your site’s security.

Average WordPress Costs

54. You can find a good hosting plan for your WordPress site for just $60 a year. That said, if your site consistently gets high volumes of traffic, you might need a slightly more expensive hosting solution.

(Source: WinningWP)

55. You can buy a domain name with .com extension for a year for $10. The exact price, however, depends on your choice of domain extension and domain registrar.

(Source: WinningWP)

56. WordPress.com offers free hosting. However, the tradeoff is that your domain name will include “Wordpress.com” by default. If you don’t want that, you’ll have to purchase a paid plan and register a domain name. A Premium plan — best suited for freelancers — cost $96 a year. On the other hand, a Business plan — created for small businesses — costs $300 a year. Domain registration costs $10 on average.

(Source: WordPress.com)

One question that every new WordPress user wants to ask is:

How much does a WordPress site cost?

Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to it. The exact cost depends on many things, such as your choice of hosting, plugins, and themes, among other things.

All else being equal, typically a self-hosted site comes out a bit cheaper.

WordPress Developers

57. The average WordPress developer in the US earns $51,000 a year.

(Source: PayScale)

58. Hourly rates for freelance WordPress developers vary from one platform to another. On Upwork.com, the hourly rate is in the range of $20-$60, while Codeable guarantees a minimum payout of $60 per hour.

(Source: Elegant Themes)

59. On Freelancer.com, 621,247 WordPress projects have been posted to date as of May 2019.

(Source: Freelancer.com)

The average user can set up, use, and maintain a WordPress site herself. That said, there are many ways in which a good WordPress developer can prove immensely useful.

Given this and the fact that 33% of all websites use WordPress, it’s not surprising WordPress developers are in high demand — something which the data from Freelancer.com proves as well. Every year, the website features thousands of WordPress-related job ads.

As far as salary is concerned, WordPress developers make more than the median wage in the US, which is $47,060.

WordPress Code

60. WordPress 4.1 has 394,423 lines of code, 96,924 of which are comments.

(Source: Code In WP)

61. Each WordPress installation consists of 11 default tables in the database. Each table contains data for different features, sections, and functionality.

(Source: WPBeginner)

62. WordPress has had 4,969 commits by 70+ contributors. The WordPress core has more than 430,000 lines of code.

(Source: Who Is Hosting This)

WordPress is among the largest open-source projects in the world. Over 70 developers have contributed to the WordPress core, which is built with PHP and uses MySQL database.

WordPress.com Is Big, too!

63. WordPress.com users produce 70 million new posts and 77 million comments each month.

(Source: WordPress)

64. More than 409 million people view over 20 billion pages on WordPress.com sites each month.

(Source: WordPress)

65. WordPress.com hosts blogs written in over 120 languages. The top 5 languages are English (71%), Spanish (4.7%), Indonesian (2.7%), Portuguese (2.3%), and French (1.5%).

(Source: WordPress)

Launched in 2005, WordPress.com is a blogging platform built on the free WordPress.org software.

As the latest WordPress statistics for 2019 show, more than 409 million people view over 20 billion pages on WordPress.com sites in any given month.

In short, WordPress is hugely popular.

Other Interesting Facts about WordPress.org

66. WordPress is platform-agnostic. One of the main reasons behind its wide acceptance is that it has native applications for all major platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and Blackberry.

(Source: Wikipedia)

67. You can install WordPress in less than 3 minutes. Easy, quick installation is another reason why so many people choose it over other CRMs.

(Source: WordPress)

68. There are 2 million+ topics on WordPress.org. If you ever need help with WordPress, there’s a good chance you’ll find it in the support forum.

(Source: WordPress)

69. WordPress is the fastest growing web publishing software. Research shows WordPress-related keywords rank higher among search engine queries than Drupal, Sharepoint, Blogger, and other competitors.

(Source: Google)

70. “WordPress” as a keyword alone receives 2.2 million global searches every month. Overall, WordPress-related terms (like “WordPress plugins” and “WordPress templates”) receive somewhere between 10-100 million times every month.

(Source: KWFinder)

71. All WordPress versions are named after famous jazz musicians, with version 1.0 aptly named after Miles Davis, arguably one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

(Source: WInningWP)

WordPress is easy to install and has native applications for all major platforms. What’s more, technical help — if and when you need it — is within quick reach.

Wrapping Up

WordPress is the most popular content management systems in the world — and understandably so.

As it is open-source software, it is available for free.

Also, installing and using WordPress is easy and simple.

Plus, there are thousands of plugins and themes available — many for free — that help you turn a simple website into a great one.

And what’s more, WordPress is SEO-friendly, too.

So here’s the bottom-line:

If you’re looking for a CMS for your new site, you might want to try WordPress.

After all, as the latest WordPress statistics show, 34% of all websites use it.

Surely you can’t go wrong with something that so many people trust — right?

What do you think about these WordPress statistics?