Biplob Hossain
The Burnout Epidemic in the Programming Industry
Everyone has an opinion on this. Wix fans say it’s easier. Squarespace fans say it looks better. AI builder fans say it’s the future. WordPress developers say everything else is a toy.
I have been building websites with WordPress for 14 years. I have worked on everything from simple blogs to complex directory websites, membership platforms, and eCommerce stores. I have also watched students pick the wrong platform, hit a wall two years in, and rebuild from scratch.
So let me give you the comparison nobody else does: one backed by actual numbers, not platform bias.
Table of Contents
- The Market Share Reality
- Cost Comparison: What You Actually Pay
- Vendor Lock-in: Who Really Owns Your Website?
- Features and Scalability
- SEO: Where the Real Gap Is
- AI Website Builders: The Honest Truth
- Who Should Use What
- Earning Potential as a WordPress Developer
- Final Verdict
- FAQ
1. The Market Share Reality
Before opinions, numbers.
According to W3Techs data for 2026, WordPress powers 43.4% of all websites on the internet. That is not websites built with a CMS. That is all websites, including static HTML sites and everything else.
When you filter for only CMS-powered websites, WordPress holds approximately 63% of the market. The rest of the CMS world combined cannot catch up.
Here is how the competitors look:
| Platform | Global Market Share (2026) |
| WordPress | 43.4% |
| Shopify | 5.1% |
| Wix | 4.2% |
| Squarespace | 2.4% |
Source: W3Techs / invedus.com
WordPress is roughly nine times bigger than Shopify and over ten times bigger than Wix.
Now, to be fair, Wix grew 32.6% year over year in revenue, hitting $1.99 billion in 2025. And Squarespace was acquired for $7.2 billion. Both platforms are growing. But the gap with WordPress is still enormous.
There is also one nuance worth mentioning. WordPress market share peaked at 43.6% in 2025 and has slightly declined. But it is not losing ground to Wix or Squarespace. The growth is coming from AI-generated static sites in the “No CMS” category, which grew from 28.6% to 29%. These are simple, one-page, throwaway websites. Not the kind of site anyone serious is building.
2. Cost Comparison: What You Actually Pay
This is where the conversation usually gets dishonest. People compare a free WordPress install to a Squarespace annual plan without accounting for what you actually need to build something real.
So let me break it down properly.
Squarespace starts at $16/month on its cheapest plan, which works out to roughly $192/year. That plan has limited features. To unlock eCommerce or advanced tools, you move to higher tiers.
Wix starts at $17/month for a basic paid plan. If you need eCommerce, the Core plan is $29/month. Annual costs add up fast.
AI Website Builders vary widely. Lovable is $21/month, Bolt is $25/month, and Durable sits around $22/month. Serious usage pushes many into higher tiers, taking you to $60–$100/month, or $720–$1,200/year.
WordPress itself is free. Open source. Always has been.
You pay for hosting, which can be as low as $3–$5/month on a starter plan. A quality theme can cost $0 to $60 one-time. A premium page builder like Elementor Pro runs about $59/year.
Even if you add a few paid plugins, your total annual cost for a professional WordPress site is typically under $150/year — and often much less.
The difference is not marginal. On Squarespace or Wix, you will pay more every single year, indefinitely, whether or not you use all the features.