WordPress Still Powers a Huge Share of the Web, Even as Builder Competition Grows
Even as competition from drag-and-drop builders like Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly intensifies, WordPress continues to power a substantial share of all active websites worldwide, a figure that has held remarkably steady for years despite the rise of no-code alternatives.
For users comparing free-tier options specifically, the distinction between WordPress.com (a hosted, more limited free service) and self-hosted WordPress.org (which requires its own hosting but unlocks the full plugin ecosystem) remains one of the most commonly misunderstood points in the free-website-builder conversation.
Analysts attribute WordPress's continued dominance to its flexibility and the depth of its plugin and theme ecosystem, advantages that remain largely exclusive to the self-hosted version rather than the more restricted WordPress.com free tier most beginners start on.