Written by Varun Dubey• April 22, 2025• 9:59 pm• CMS Comparisons, CMS Platforms • Views: 2

CMS Market Share in 2025: Analyzing the Leaders and Emerging Platforms

The Content Management System (CMS) landscape is one of the most dynamic areas in the digital world. As the demand for flexible, scalable, and secure content solutions continues to grow, so too does the evolution of CMS technologies. In 2025, the CMS market is more fragmented, competitive, and innovative than ever before. From traditional open-source giants to next-generation headless platforms, this year is shaping the way organizations manage content in a multi-device, multi-channel environment.

This blog dives deep into the current CMS market share in 2025, analyzing the leading platforms, the rise of new contenders, technological trends influencing adoption, and what businesses should consider when selecting a CMS today.

The CMS Landscape: Then and Now

For over a decade, WordPress dominated the CMS space. Launched in 2003, it rose to power by making web publishing accessible and flexible. However, the digital transformation of businesses, the shift toward omnichannel delivery, and the rise of composable and API-first architectures have significantly reshaped the CMS terrain.

In 2025, content is not just meant for web pages. It’s delivered across mobile apps, smart TVs, IoT devices, and even AR/VR environments. As a result, CMS platforms are no longer evaluated solely on ease of use or themes, but on scalability, API strength, security, and integration capabilities.

“Content management has moved from being a backend admin task to a cornerstone of digital strategy.” — Deane Barker, author of Web Content Management

WordPress: Still the Titan, but Evolving

WordPress continues to lead in raw market share, powering over 38% of the internet in 2025. Its strength lies in its massive ecosystem of plugins, themes, and developers. However, its monolithic structure has shown limitations for enterprises needing headless flexibility or complex integrations.

To stay relevant, WordPress has embraced headless capabilities through REST API and GraphQL via WPGraphQL. The rise of decoupled WordPress, supported by JAMstack frameworks like Next.js and Gatsby, has kept it in the game for developers seeking flexibility.

However, for mission-critical, security-sensitive, or highly personalized environments, WordPress often plays second fiddle to modern alternatives.

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM): The Enterprise Favorite

AEM holds a solid chunk of the enterprise CMS market. With its integration into the Adobe Marketing Cloud, it offers powerful tools for personalization, analytics, and digital asset management.

Large corporations value AEM for its scalability and omnichannel capabilities, but it comes with a steep learning curve and cost. In 2025, Adobe has introduced AI-driven content recommendations and automated workflows, keeping it competitive in enterprise digital experience platforms (DXPs).

Drupal: The Developer’s CMS

Drupal continues to be the preferred choice for government, education, and complex data-driven websites. Its modular architecture and API-first capabilities make it well-suited for headless implementations.

Despite a smaller market share, Drupal 10, released in late 2022, has solidified its role in building highly customized and secure digital experiences. The community’s push toward better user experience and decoupled architectures keeps Drupal relevant among tech-savvy teams.

“Drupal’s strength isn’t in flashy interfaces. It’s in flexibility, security, and scalability.” — Dries Buytaert, Creator of Drupal

Shopify: Dominating E-Commerce CMS

Shopify has moved beyond just a shopping cart solution. With Shopify Plus and its headless commerce offerings, it is now one of the top CMS platforms for e-commerce brands.

In 2025, Shopify powers over 6 million businesses globally, thanks to its ease of use, integrated payment systems, and vast app marketplace. The introduction of Hydrogen (Shopify’s React-based framework) and Oxygen (its hosting platform) has allowed developers to build custom storefronts with better performance and flexibility.

Wix and Squarespace: User-Friendly Powerhouses

Wix and Squarespace continue to capture small businesses, personal brands, and creative professionals with their drag-and-drop builders and all-in-one hosting. In 2025, both platforms have expanded their capabilities to include e-commerce, email marketing, and analytics, appealing to a broader user base.

Though less customizable than open-source platforms, their focus on simplicity and built-in tools makes them attractive for non-technical users seeking fast deployment.

Headless CMS Platforms: The Fastest Growing Segment

Headless CMS platforms have exploded in popularity due to their API-first nature and flexibility. In 2025, headless CMSs represent over 20% of the CMS market, up from just 8% five years ago.

Leading headless players include:

Contentful: Offers rich APIs, localization, and extensive integration support.
Strapi: Open-source and highly customizable, popular among developers.
Sanity: Known for its real-time collaboration and structured content modeling.
Storyblok: Combines headless architecture with visual editing.
Hygraph (formerly GraphCMS): Focuses on GraphQL-based content management.

These platforms are popular with digital agencies, startups, and enterprise clients building multichannel experiences.

Static Site Generators and CMS Hybrids

The JAMstack ecosystem continues to blur the lines between CMS and static site generator. Solutions like Netlify CMS, Hugo, and Eleventy integrate with Git workflows and are often used in combination with markdown files or headless CMS backends.

This approach is especially popular in developer-driven projects where performance, security, and version control are top priorities.

Market Share Breakdown (2025 Estimates)

According to data from W3Techs, BuiltWith, and Statista, the CMS market share in early 2025 looks approximately like this:

WordPress: 38%
Shopify: 9%
Wix: 7%
Squarespace: 5%
Drupal: 3%
Joomla: 2%
Headless CMS platforms combined: 20%
Others (Blogger, Magento, proprietary CMSs): 16%

This distribution highlights the resilience of legacy platforms and the rapid growth of headless and composable solutions.

Key Trends Driving CMS Evolution

1. Omnichannel Content Delivery Organizations need to push content across websites, mobile apps, smart devices, and emerging formats like AR and voice. CMSs must support flexible content modeling and delivery APIs.

2. Personalization and AI Integration AI is powering dynamic content recommendations, adaptive interfaces, and predictive search. Platforms with native AI integrations are gaining ground.

3. Low-Code/No-Code Development Marketers and content editors are demanding more control. CMS vendors are responding with visual builders and automation tools that reduce reliance on developers.

4. Composable DXPs Rather than all-in-one suites, businesses are assembling best-of-breed services for CMS, analytics, CRM, and marketing automation, requiring seamless integration.

5. Security and Compliance With increasing data privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA, etc.), secure and compliant CMS platforms are a top priority, especially in healthcare, finance, and government.

Choosing the Right CMS in 2025

The right CMS depends on your business goals, technical expertise, scalability needs, and audience. Here are some strategic considerations:

For startups: Choose platforms like Strapi, Sanity, or WordPress with WooCommerce for flexibility and speed.
For enterprise: Consider AEM, Contentful, or Sitecore if personalization, multilingual support, and governance are essential.
For developers: JAMstack with Netlify CMS or a Git-based workflow paired with Sanity or Hygraph.
For creatives/small businesses: Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify offer all-in-one simplicity.

“The future is not about choosing a CMS, but building an architecture that lets you adapt quickly to change.” — Preston So, Author of Decoupled CMS

Conclusion: The CMS of Tomorrow

The CMS ecosystem in 2025 is richer and more diverse than ever. While traditional leaders like WordPress remain dominant, they are being challenged by agile, headless platforms built for the future. As content becomes more decoupled from presentation and user expectations evolve, businesses must reassess their CMS strategy to stay competitive.

Whether you prioritize ease of use, developer control, omnichannel delivery, or speed to market, there’s a platform designed to meet your needs. What matters most is choosing a CMS that aligns with your content vision and can grow with you.