Pavel Ciorici, Author at WP.MD

The State of WordPress Themes — An Analysis of 14,800 WordPress.org Themes (June 2026)

by Pavel Ciorici June 23, 2026June 23, 20262 Comments

Of nearly 15,000 themes in the WordPress.org directory, only five non-default block themes have crossed 100,000 active installs. The top 20 themes account for 61.7% of all active installs across the entire ecosystem. Roughly 6,500 themes have not received an update in two or more years. This is what the WordPress theme ecosystem looks like …

How WordPress.org Ranks Popular Themes (And Why a Brand-New Theme Can Briefly Top the Chart)

by Pavel Ciorici June 23, 2026June 23, 2026No Comments

As of , leads the WordPress.org popularity ranking, followed by and . But ships bundled with WordPress core, so part of its lead reflects bundling rather than deliberate choice — and that’s only the beginning of how strange this list really is. If you’ve ever watched the WordPress.org “Popular” themes page from one day to …