Decision brief

WordPress is still the default CMS, but the signals are softer.

Use WordPress as a strong default when installed reach, ecosystem depth, and open-source control matter. Treat growth and new-site momentum as slower: the report shows fewer new tracker reporters and more visible builder pressure, while ecosystem and package activity remain broad.

Decision readout: still healthy, with slower entry.

WordPress remains dominant on installed-share evidence and has broad ecosystem activity. The work queue is closer to balanced than the backlog size alone suggests. The slower areas are new participant entry, older backlog, and direct evidence for new-site share, search interest, and broad job demand.

Evidence strength

Strong: installed share, ticket flow, PRs, backlog, release/community activity, plugin/theme directory snapshots.

Useful proxy: BuiltWith pipeline, HTTP Archive tracked share, Stack Overflow, Wikimedia, npm package downloads, HN hiring, Jobs board.

Still partial: true multi-year newly created-site cohorts, search-provider exports, broad hiring-platform exports, long support history.

Project data says: mostly keeping up.

Core and Gutenberg flow is close to balanced since 2024, but open backlog age is still high.

Ecosystem data says: still active.

Release credits, Make/Core, events, translations, plugin/theme samples, support queues, and npm packages are now in the SQLite-backed report.

Market data says: dominant, slower.

Installed share is still large, while recent share direction and first-time tracker participation are weaker than earlier periods.

Still widely chosen

41.5%of all sites, W3Techs

CMS share

59.3%of CMS sites, W3Techs

Builder pressure

-10.8 ptsHTTP Archive tracked share since 2020-01

Current pipeline

67.4%tracked BuiltWith 90-day pipeline

Package activity

21.0MQ2 2026 tracked @wordpress npm downloads

Theme directory

834distinct sampled themes in current browse views

New-site Evidence Ladder

Use the first two rows for confidence that WordPress is still widely chosen. Use the last two rows to understand why new-site momentum is labeled as a proxy instead of a complete history.

Installed share 41.5% / 59.3%

Direct all-site and CMS-share evidence.

Current pipeline 67.4%

BuiltWith 90-day newly found-site proxy; 30-day share is 60.4%.

Recurring crawl trend -10.8 pts

HTTP Archive tracked-share movement since 2020-01.

True cohort Not yet

Needs first-seen site cohort or paid BuiltWith historical export.

Attention and Demand Evidence Ladder

Use this to separate public attention, developer help-seeking, and hiring proxies from direct search or labor-market evidence.

Public attention -17.1%

Wikimedia WordPress pageviews versus the latest pre-2024 quarter.

Developer help -96.3%

Stack Overflow WordPress-tag questions versus the latest pre-2024 quarter.

Hiring proxy -77.4%

HN WP/Woo hiring mention rate versus parsed pre-2024 history.

Direct search/jobs Not yet

Needs Google Trends or similar plus a broad hiring-platform export.

Support Evidence Ladder

Use this to distinguish the current support queue shape from the still-missing long-term forum history.

Current queue 1,315

25.9% resolved, 73.2% unresolved in the sampled queue.

Older unresolved 481

Unresolved topics with last activity 91+ days ago.

Plugin support 959

77.7% resolved across tracked major-plugin support threads.

Long history Not yet

Needs a full topic/reply export or recurring all/resolved/unresolved snapshots.

Decision Matrix

Good default when

Reach, ownership, and ecosystem depth matter.

WordPress still has the largest installed CMS footprint and a broad plugin/theme/community surface.

41.5% of all sites, 59.3% of CMS sites

Plan for slower entry when

You depend on fresh public contributors or public help-channel growth.

First-time tracker participation and public help-question volume are lower than earlier periods.

First-time reporter retention: Core 66.2%, Gutenberg 69.5%

Use one more source when

The decision mostly depends on new-site demand, search interest, or hiring demand.

The report has useful public proxies, but the ideal sources are first-seen site cohorts, search-provider exports, and broad hiring-platform exports.

Current BuiltWith 90-day proxy: 67.4% WordPress share

Evidence Map

This separates direct measurements from mixed and proxy-backed answers, so the decision brief is easier to scan without opening every chart.

Still widely chosen?

Yes.

Direct

W3Techs installed share, HTTP Archive, traffic-tier snapshots

41.5% of all sites; 59.3% of CMS sites.

No extra source needed for installed-share direction.

Market position

Adoption growing, flat, or shrinking?

Softer recently.

Mixed

W3Techs yearly trend plus HTTP Archive recurring crawl share

-2.1 all-site points and -2.7 CMS-share points since Jan 2025; HTTP tracked share -10.78 pts since 2020.

A true first-seen site cohort would make new-site momentum clearer.

New-site choice

Are more or fewer people participating?

Fewer new tracker reporters.

Direct

Core Trac, Gutenberg GitHub issues, wordpress-develop PRs

Core first-time reporter retention 66.2%; Gutenberg 69.5% versus 2021-2023.

Outside-ticket channels are shown separately in ecosystem activity.

Contributor depth

Is the project keeping up?

Mostly.

Direct

Quarterly Core and Gutenberg new/closed flow

Closure/new ratios since 2024: Core 103.5%, Gutenberg 98.3%.

Keep watching closure waves against new issue/ticket volume.

Project load

Is the backlog fresh or aging?

Aged.

Direct

Current open Core and Gutenberg backlog age buckets

Open 2+ year share: Core 59.7%, Gutenberg 39.9%.

Current support history still needs a longer forum export.

Project load

Is contribution spread out?

Broad entry, concentrated work.

Direct

Top 10/25/50 contributor shares across tickets, issues, and PRs

Since 2024 top-50 work share: Core 35.9%, Gutenberg 50.8%, PRs 65.0%.

Pair with contributor-depth cohorts before reading concentration alone.

Contributor depth

Are site builders taking more new-site market?

Some share, yes.

Proxy

BuiltWith current pipeline and HTTP Archive tracked share

BuiltWith 90-day proxy: 67.4%; HTTP Archive tracked share: 78.9%.

Needs a first-seen site cohort or paid BuiltWith historical export.

New-site choice

What do demand signals say?

Visible, but slower.

Proxy

Wikimedia, Stack Overflow, HN hiring, WordPress Jobs board

Wikimedia -17.1%, Stack Overflow -96.3%, HN hiring -77.4%.

Needs search-provider and broad hiring-platform exports.

Search interest

Decision Questions

Still widely chosen?

Yes.

Installed-share evidence has WordPress at 41.5% of all sites and 59.3% of CMS sites.

W3Techs + HTTP Archive

Adoption direction?

Flat-to-down recently.

W3Techs all-site share is down 2.1 points and CMS share is down 2.7 points since Jan 2025.

W3Techs yearly trend

Participation?

Fewer new reporters.

Core first-time reporter retention is 66.2% of the 2021-2023 average; Gutenberg is 69.5%. PR creation and npm package activity are still visible.

Core Trac + Gutenberg + PRs

Keeping up?

Mostly.

Since 2024, closure/new ratios are Core 103.5% and Gutenberg 98.3%.

Quarterly ticket flow

Backlog age?

Aged.

Open stale share is Core 74.9% and Gutenberg 64.3%; 2+ year open share is Core 59.7% and Gutenberg 39.9%.

Current open backlog

Contributor spread?

Broad entry, concentrated work.

Since 2024, top-50 work share is Core 35.9%, Gutenberg 50.8%, and PRs 65.0%.

Contributor concentration

Builders gaining?

Some share, yes.

HTTP Archive tracked share has WordPress at 78.9%, down 10.8 points since 2020-01-01; WordPress still leads the current tracked BuiltWith 90-day pipeline at 67.4%.

HTTP Archive + BuiltWith proxy