WordPress is free, open-source software for building and managing websites. You install it on your own web hosting, choose a theme for the design, add plugins for extra features, and then edit pages, publish articles and manage the site through a browser-based admin panel, without writing code. It is the most widely used content management system in the world.
How WordPress works
WordPress is a content management system written in PHP. It keeps your content in a MySQL or MariaDB database and builds each page when a visitor asks for it. A WordPress site is made of three layers:
- WordPress core, the software itself, maintained and updated by the open-source project.
- A theme, which controls the design and page layouts. It can be a ready-made theme, a commercial one or a custom theme built for one business.
- Plugins, which add features: contact forms, bookings, an online shop, SEO settings, memberships. The WordPress plugin directory lists over 77,000 free plugins, and many more are sold commercially.
Take an accountancy firm with eight staff. Its WordPress site has service pages, team profiles, a news section and a contact form. The office manager adds a new team member by filling in a template, a partner publishes a note on tax deadlines from the block editor, and an SEO plugin such as Yoast SEO lets them set the page title and description for search results. None of this needs a developer. A client portal connected to the firm’s practice software would.
WordPress.org and WordPress.com
The names cause confusion. Both run the same software, but WordPress.com’s own comparison explains the difference: WordPress.com includes managed hosting in its paid plans, while with WordPress.org you download the software and choose and pay for your own hosting.
When agencies and developers say “a WordPress site”, they almost always mean the self-hosted WordPress.org version. It gives you full control over plugins, code and data, and it also makes you responsible for the hosting, updates and backups.
How popular is WordPress?
According to W3Techs, on 30 October 2026 WordPress was used by 39.5% of all websites, which is 58.2% of the websites whose content management system it could identify. The popularity has practical benefits: plenty of developers know it, most third-party services offer a WordPress plugin, and help is easy to find. It says nothing about whether WordPress suits your particular site.
The software is licensed under the GPLv2 or later, which gives you the freedom to run it for any purpose, study and change the code, and share it.
What WordPress is good at, and where it struggles
WordPress is a strong choice for:
- service businesses that publish articles, case studies and news;
- sites with several editors, where roles and approval matter;
- small and medium online shops, using the WooCommerce plugin for e-commerce;
- businesses that want to own their site outright and be able to change agency or host.
It is weaker where:
- Security depends on upkeep. WordPress’s own hardening guide warns that older versions are not maintained with security updates and lists outdated plugins among common ways in for attackers. A site left without updates for a year is a risk.
- Plugins pile up. Each plugin adds code, updates and potential conflicts. Twenty plugins doing small jobs can slow a site down and make updates fragile.
- Heavy page builders lock you in. Some visual builders store layouts in their own format, so switching theme or builder later means rebuilding pages.
- Complex business logic such as custom pricing rules, client portals or integrations with several internal systems often fits better in a custom application built on a framework like Laravel.
What WordPress really costs
The software is free. Running a business site on it is not. Budget for hosting, the domain, any premium theme or plugin licences, design and development, and ongoing maintenance: core, theme and plugin updates, security monitoring and backups. For the sites we build, hosting typically runs at £10-£200 a month depending on the site, and we confirm the build price after a short Discovery stage, with a line-item estimate.
How we work with WordPress
We use WordPress for content-heavy sites with editorial workflows, and recommend Shopify or a custom Laravel build when the site’s job calls for it. When WordPress is the right fit, our WordPress website development service takes the site from design to launch, and you own the code, content and accounts, with documentation from us. For a longer introduction to working in the admin panel, see our guide to what WordPress is and how to use it.
FAQ
Is WordPress free?
The WordPress.org software is free to download and use for any purpose, including commercial sites. What you pay for is everything around it: hosting, a domain, premium themes or plugins if you need them, and the time of whoever builds and maintains the site. WordPress.com is a separate hosted service with its own plans.
Do I need to know how to code to use WordPress?
Not for everyday work. Editing pages, publishing posts, adding images and managing users all happen in the admin panel. Building a custom theme, writing a plugin or connecting WordPress to other business systems does need a developer.
Is WordPress good for SEO?
It gives you what SEO needs: editable titles and descriptions, clean URLs, XML sitemaps and fast pages if the site is built carefully. Rankings still depend on content, site structure and links. Our WordPress SEO guide walks through the main settings.
Can WordPress run an online shop?
Yes, with the WooCommerce plugin, which adds products, a basket, checkout and payments. It suits shops that want full control and a lot of content alongside the products. A shop that wants hosting, checkout and payments handled as one subscription may find Shopify simpler to run.
