With competition among website platforms getting busier, from Wix and Squarespace to AI-powered website builders, our clients keep asking one question: “Why use WordPress?” The answer is simple: in 2026, no other platform offers the same mix of flexibility, ecosystem and value as WordPress.
Further reading:
- 15 of the Best WordPress Plugins for Business Websites in 2026
- WordPress vs a Custom Website: Which Suits You Better?
- How Much Does a Professional Website Cost in Indonesia?
- See Webzoo's Website Development Prices
WordPress's dominance has nothing to do with nostalgia, and it is no accident. There are good reasons why 43% of all websites in the world run on this platform, from personal blogs to the websites of Fortune 500 companies.
WordPress in 2026: the facts you cannot ignore
Before looking at the reasons, let's look at the latest data. According to W3Techs, WordPress's market share among known CMSs reaches 63%, far ahead of Shopify (6%), Wix (3.7%) and Squarespace (3.2%).
In Indonesia, WordPress is the first choice for business websites, news portals, online stores and even government websites. The local ecosystem of WordPress developers keeps growing too, which makes support and development easier and more affordable.
1. An unmatched plugin ecosystem
One of the strongest reasons to use WordPress is its remarkable ecosystem. With more than 60,000 free plugins in the official WordPress repository, plus thousands of premium ones, there is almost no feature you cannot add to your website.
Need an online store? There is WooCommerce. Want to optimise for SEO? There is Rank Math, as well as Yoast. Want an advanced contact form? There is WPForms. Need a membership site? There is MemberPress. All of them install in one click, with no coding at all.
Other platforms do offer integrations, but none are as broad or as deep as the WordPress ecosystem. The number of plugins is only part of the story. What counts is the maturity of an ecosystem that has been built up over more than 20 years.
2. Total flexibility, from blogs to enterprise
WordPress can become whatever you need. That is not an exaggeration, and thousands of websites around the world prove it:
- Blogs and content portals: WordPress started life as a blogging platform and is still the best in its class
- Business websites and company profiles: a professional look with full customisation
- Online stores (e-commerce): WooCommerce is one of the most widely used online store platforms in the world
- Marketplaces: multi-vendor marketplaces with plugins such as Dokan or WCFM
- News and media portals: WordPress VIP is used by major publishers such as TIME
- Membership websites and online courses: a complete LMS with LearnDash or LifterLMS
- High-quality landing pages: built with Elementor or Beaver Builder
No other platform can serve all of these use cases to the same standard. As your business grows and your needs change, WordPress can grow with you.
3. SEO-friendly by nature
For businesses that want to be found on Google, WordPress makes a lot of basic SEO work easier. It was designed from the start with a structure that search engines can read easily:
- Clean, customisable URLs (permalinks)
- A structured heading hierarchy (H1, H2, H3)
- Loading times you can optimise with a caching plugin
- Automatic schema markup with an SEO plugin
- Full support for Google's Core Web Vitals
- Automatic XML sitemaps
- Open Graph and Twitter Card tags for social sharing
Add an SEO plugin such as Rank Math, and on-page optimisation becomes easy, even for complete beginners.
4. Full control over your website and data
This point is often underrated, but it is crucial: with self-hosted WordPress, you fully own your website and all its data. Compare that with SaaS platforms such as Wix or Squarespace, where you are essentially renting space on their platform.
The consequences are very real. If the platform shuts down, raises its prices sharply or changes its policies, you have no choice but to go along with it, or to move and lose all the work you have put in.
With WordPress:
- Your database is entirely under your control
- You can move to another host at any time without losing data
- There is no vendor lock-in
- You are free to modify the code as you need
- There are no extra transaction fees (unlike Shopify)
5. The largest community and the most active support
WordPress is an open source project with the world's largest community of developers, designers and users. That means:
- Bugs are fixed quickly: thousands of active contributors monitor and fix security issues
- Regular updates: WordPress releases major and security updates regularly
- Comprehensive documentation: almost every question has already been answered on the official forums or Stack Overflow
- WordCamp: WordPress community conferences take place in major cities around the world, including in Indonesia
In Indonesia, WordPress communities are active in many cities. Whether your business is in Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung or elsewhere, you will have no trouble finding a competent WordPress developer.
6. A very competitive total cost of ownership
When it comes to cost, many people compare the wrong things. WordPress is not entirely “free” (you still need hosting and a domain), but when you look at the value you get, nothing else comes close.
Annual cost comparison for a business website:
| Platform | Cost per year | Freedom to customise | Transaction fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress + hosting | Rp 1–3 million | Full (100%) | None |
| Shopify Basic | Rp 4–5 million | Limited | 2% per transaction |
| Wix Business | Rp 3–4 million | Very limited | None |
| Squarespace | Rp 3–4 million | Limited | 0–3% |
For a smaller investment, WordPress gives you far more freedom. And when you need extra features, many high-quality plugins are available for free.
7. WordPress in the age of AI: still relevant and still evolving
In 2026, many people predicted that AI would push traditional platforms aside. The reverse has happened: WordPress has grown stronger through AI integration. Plugins such as AI Engine and Bertha AI, along with direct integration with Claude AI and Gemini, make content creation, SEO optimisation and website personalisation easier than ever.
WordPress has also adopted Full Site Editing (FSE), which lets you customise the design of your entire website without code, competing directly with modern visual page builders. The steady development of the Gutenberg editor shows that WordPress is not standing still.
Conclusion: WordPress is still the best choice in 2026
Why use WordPress? Because no other platform gives your business the same combination of flexibility, ecosystem, SEO-friendliness, full control and value. Other platforms may be easier at the start, but WordPress is a long-term investment that scales as your business grows.
From small startups to multinational companies, WordPress has proved itself for more than two decades. With an ecosystem that keeps growing and an active community, it is unlikely to lose its place as the leading CMS any time soon.
Need a professional WordPress website?
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Custom design. SSL and security. You own the code. Chat on WhatsApp for a free consultationThe first consultation is free. For the cost of your project, go to our Get a Quote page.
