Web Technologies of the Year 2025

Posted by Matthias Gelbmann on 5 January 2026 in News, Actalis, Advertising Networks, AlmaLinux, Amazon, Amazon CloudFront, Bluesky, Bulma, Cloudflare, Cloudflare, Cloudflare Server, Cloudflare Web Analytics, CloudLinux, Content Delivery, Content Management, CPanel, CSS Frameworks, Data Centers, DDoS-Guard, DNS Servers, Elementor, Email Servers, Equativ, Foundation, GlobalSign, Google, GSAP, Hosting.com Group, Hostinger, Hostinger, Hostinger, Hostinger, HPanel, JavaScript, JavaScript Libraries, JsDelivr, Let’s Encrypt, Linux, LiteSpeed, Lodash, Matomo Tag Manager, Microsoft, Node.js, Operating Systems, PulsePoint, React, Reverse Proxies, Ruby, Scala, Server-side Languages, Shopify, Snowplow, Social Widgets, SSL Certificate Authorities, Tag Managers, Tailwind, Telegram, TikTok Pixel, Traffic Analysis Tools, Unpkg, VDX.TV, Vercel, Web Hosting, Web Panels, Web Servers, WhatsApp, Wix, Wix, Wix, WPTangTocOLS

To identify the winners in the various web technology categories, we compared the number of sites using a technology on January 1st, 2025 with the corresponding number on January 1st, 2026. We use the difference of these numbers, rather than a percentage, because that would favor technologies with a tiny user base at the beginning of the year. As in all our surveys, we focus on the relevant web, see technology surveys for more details.

These are the technologies that gained most sites in 2025

Content Management Tool of the Year 2025

  Elementor  

Elementor, a website builder based on WordPress, has repeated its victory from the last two years by increasing its market share from 11.7% to 13.1%. More than 30% of all WordPress sites are based on Elementor. Previous titles caused quite a bit of discussion, as people pointed out that Elementor is merely a WordPress plugin and should not be counted as a CMS. At W3Techs, we use a most generous definition of CMS: it is any tool that may be used to manage the content of a website, and the fact that another platform is used as its basis does not disqualify it.

Second and third rank go to the same systems as last year: former winner Wix comes in second, and Shopify comes in third.

Server-side Programming Language of the Year 2025

  JavaScript  

JavaScript is the web programming language of the year for the third time in a row. It is now used by 5.4% of all websites, up from 4% one year ago. Second-ranked Scala benefits from its use at Wix, while third-ranked Ruby benefits from its use at Shopify and other popular systems.

JavaScript Library of the Year 2025

  React  

React is our JavaScript library of the year for the second time in a row, now used by 6.2% of all websites, up from 4.7% one year ago. Lodash finished second, just like last year, and GSAP is third. Multiple-time winner jQuery remains by far the most-used JavaScript library, but it is now slowly declining.

CSS Framework of the Year 2025

  Tailwind  

Tailwind is the only winner in this category since we introduced it in 2023, for the third time in a row now. Foundation is second this year, while third place goes to Bulma.

Web Server of the Year 2025

  Cloudflare Server  

Cloudflare Server, the server technology used by the popular Cloudflare CDN, is the web server of the year for the fourth time after winning also last year and 2021 and 2020. Node.js and LiteSpeed at ranks two and three swapped places compared to last year.

Web Panel of the Year 2025

  hPanel  

hPanel is the proprietary web panel used by Hostinger for its clients. It is not only the fastest growing, but recently also became the most popular web panel in our surveys, used by 4.1% of all websites. cPanel is second this year, and last year's winner, WPTangTocOLS, a Vietnamese web server administration tool, comes in third in 2025.

Operating System of the Year 2025

  Linux  

Linux is our operating system of the year for the second time in a row. We saw a disproportionately high growth in Linux servers, that we cannot assign to a specific Linux distribution. Therefore, the individual Linux distributions score lower. CloudLinux and AlmaLinux are the distributions that saw the biggest market share increase, and thus come in second and third.

Web Hosting Provider of the Year 2025

  Hostinger  

Hostinger increased its market share from 3.4% to 4.6% in 2025, which makes it the web hosting provider of the year, defending the title from the last two years in an impressive way. Wix, the second in the CMS category, is also second in the web hosting category. Vercel comes in third by almost doubling its market share.

Data Center Provider of the Year 2025

  Google  

Google and Amazon are the dominant data center providers, with Amazon leading in market share and Google being the fastest-growing provider in 2025. Last year's winner, Hostinger, finishes third this year.

Reverse Proxy Provider of the Year 2025

  Cloudflare  

Cloudflare is the reverse proxy provider of the year for the 9th time in the last 10 years, now serving 20.9% of all websites. DDoS-Guard as second, and Amazon CloudFront as third repeat their rankings from last year.

DNS Server Provider of the Year 2025

  Hostinger  

Hostinger is our DNS server provider of the year for the third year in a row. Cloudflare, the clear overall leader in the DNS category, and Wix join the top three in yet another of our categories.

Email Server Provider of the Year 2025

  Hostinger  

Hostinger wins the email server provider category for the third time. They thereby win four of our titles (including hPanel), after winning four titles also in the last two years. A very remarkable achievement. Hosting.com Group ranks second in this category, gaining market share primarily due to acquisitions and mergers. Microsoft ranks third this year, after having won twice in previous years.

SSL Certificate Authority of the Year 2025

  GlobalSign  

GlobalSign and Let’s Encrypt are the dominating SSL certificate authorities, with GlobalSign having somewhat stronger growth in 2025. The Italian provider Actalis comes in third, just like last year.

JavaScript Content Delivery Network of the Year 2025

  jsDelivr  

jsDelivr is our JavaScript content delivery network of the year for the fourth year in a row, now serving 8.8% of all websites. unpkg comes in second again. No other competitor increased its usage in 2025.

Traffic Analysis Tool of the Year 2025

  Cloudflare Web Analytics  

Cloudflare Web Analytics is a relatively new player in the traffic analysis category, and grew faster than any other competitor last year, reaching a usage rate of 1.5% of all websites. Last year's winner, Snowplow, had another good year and ranks second in 2025. TikTok Pixel's growth reflects the popularity of the TikTok platform.

Advertising Network of the Year 2025

  Equativ  

Equativ had its ups and downs this year, but at the end remains the fastest growing network for the second year in a row. VDX.TV is second, and PulsePoint is a somewhat surprising third in that category.

Tag Manager of the Year 2025

  Matomo Tag Manager  

Matomo Tag Manager is the tag manager of the year for the second time. The dominating Google Tag Manager a lost users in 2025, and so did all other tag managers, therefore only Matomo is awarded this year.

Social Widget of the Year 2025

  WhatsApp  

The fastest growing social widget provider is a messenger, and actually the same one that also won in last two years: WhatsApp. The young social network Bluesky is second, and another messenger, Telegram, ranking third.

Congratulations to all the awardees for their extraordinary achievements in the last year.
 

Share this page