Is PHP dead? Usage and market share for September 2024
Introduction
We are now in a new era of computing thanks to artificial intelligence and still, the rise of PHP, an almost 30-year-old scripting language, cannot be stopped.
Stable ecosystems without constant drama and forks each time there’s a disagreement are needed now more than ever to build the next generation of successful products.
Let me review the numbers and statistics from September 2024 together and see if PHP is dead or not.
PHP is dead. Or is it? Let’s look at the statistics
In 2024, PHP is the most used and popular server-side scripting language, with a 75.8% market share overall, according to usage statistics. 🚀
| Language | Usage in September 2024 |
|---|---|
| PHP | 75.8% |
| Ruby | 6.0% |
| ASP.NET | 5.8% |
| Java | 5.0% |
| JavaScript | 3.6% |
| Scala | 3.4% |
| Static files | 1.7% |
| Python | 1.3% |
| ColdFusion | 0.2% |
| Perl | 0.1% |
| Erlang | 0.1% |
Source: W3Tech.
These statistics clearly show that PHP is far from dead. Let’s dive deeper into more PHP-related statistics.
The demand for PHP developers didn’t die yet: Job market statistics
Gathering meaningful statistics for PHP jobs is nearly impossible, unfortunately. But I’ll try anyway, even if it’s not much and clearly not representative of the global market.
At the time I’m writing these lines, IT Jobs Watch, a website dedicated to IT job offers in the UK, shows clear evidence of higher demand for PHP developers.
Here’s a table showing the changes in ranking over a span of one year for keywords related to PHP:
| Description | Change |
|---|---|
| PHP | -16 |
| OO PHP | +297 |
| PHP Developer | +59 |
| PHP Web Developer | +289 |
| Laravel PHP Framework | +71 |
| LAMP Stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL/MariaDB, PHP/Perl/Python) | +145 |
| PHP Laravel Developer | +329 |
| Senior PHP Developer | +270 |
| Full Stack PHP Developer | +287 |
| PHP Software Engineer | +322 |
| LAPP Stack (Linux, Apache, PostgreSQL, PHP/Perl/Python) | +328 |
| Lead PHP Developer | +313 |
| LEMP Stack (Linux, Nginx, MySQL/MariaDB, PHP/Perl/Python) | +289 |
| Junior PHP Developer | +337 |
| PHP WordPress Developer | +339 |
| Cake Software Foundation CakePHP (PHP Framework) | +333 |
| PHP Symfony Developer | +347 |
| Mid-Level PHP Developer | +348 |
| PHP Joomla! Developer | +351 |
| PHPUnit | +296 |
| PhD | -70 |
Many of these keywords rank higher compared to a year ago. Not bad for a dead language!
Source: IT Jobs Watch
PHP versions market share statistics in 2024
The PHP version having the most market share in 2024 is PHP 7 (51.0% usage among PHP websites), according to usage statistics.
WordPress requires at least PHP 7.4 to be installed. And since it’s the most used CMS, we can safely predict how the use of PHP 8 will skyrocket whenever it stops supporting version 7.
I find it funny to see some antique websites still up and running thanks to PHP 4 and 5. 😅 But you know what we say, right? “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! 🤙”
| PHP Version | Usage in September 2024 |
|---|---|
| 7 | 51.0% |
| 8 | 35.3% |
| 5 | 13.5% |
| 4 | 0.1% |
(I’m pretty sure that PHP 4 is more alive than some of the other languages listed above.)
Source: W3Tech.
Popular websites using PHP: Usage statistics
A programming language is only considered a good option if it can be run at scale by big teams. Here are some statistics on popular websites using PHP:
- Microsoft.com
- Facebook.com
- Wikipedia.org
- Wordpress.org
- Digicert.com
- Vimeo.com
- Wordpress.com
- Mozilla.org
- Nih.gov
- Archive.org
Someone should tell them that PHP is dead!
Source: W3Tech.
CMS (Content Management System) market share statistics in 2024
The CMS having the most market share in 2024 is WordPress, which is based on PHP. Let’s look at the CMS usage statistics:
| CMS | Market share in September 2024 |
|---|---|
| WordPress | 62.8% |
| Shopify | 6.2% |
| Wix | 3.8% |
| Squarespace | 3.0% |
| Joomla | 2.5% |
| Drupal | 1.5% |
| Adobe Systems | 1.5% |
| PrestaShop | 1.2% |
| Google Systems | 1.0% |
| Webflow | 1.0% |
| Bitrix | 0.9% |
| OpenCart | 0.8% |
Source: W3Tech.
WordPress market share statistics in 2024
WordPress has more than 62.8% market share across all the websites whose CMS we know, according to usage statistics.
I’m not surprised that WordPress is so popular. It’s an always-evolving CMS; there are plenty of great WordPress hosts and many excellent themes and plugins to help you reach your goals.
Also, if you ever want to switch away from WordPress, most alternatives offer tools to import every post you already wrote. That means WordPress is a safe choice to begin with.
WordPress versions market share statistics in 2024
The WordPress version having the most market share in 2024 is version 6, as shown by the following statistics:
| WordPress Version | Usage in September 2024 |
|---|---|
| 6 | 84.4% |
| 5 | 11.4% |
| 4 | 3.8% |
| 3 | 0.3% |
Source: W3Tech.
The most used WordPress plugins: Usage statistics in 2024
The most popular WordPress plugins also deserve to be mentioned here. Some of them can even be considered as mini-CMSes. Here are the usage statistics:
| Technology | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Elementor | 25.8% |
| WooCommerce | 21.1% |
| WPBakery | 10.4% |
| Beaver Builder | 1.1% |
| 10Web Photo Gallery | 0.7% |
| NextGEN Gallery | 0.6% |
| Oxygen | 0.4% |
| bbPress | 0.3% |
| FooGallery | 0.2% |
| LearnPress | 0.2% |
| BuddyPress | 0.2% |
| Other | 37.9% |
Source: W3Tech.
PHP frameworks market share statistics in 2024
The PHP framework having the most market share in 2024 is Laravel, according to the statistics below. Laravel is by far the favorite on Packagist and GitHub.
Laravel VS. other PHP frameworks on Packagist (CakePHP, CodeIgniter, and Symfony)
The most popular PHP framework on Packagist in 2024 is Laravel. And for good reasons. Laravel is a state-of-the-art framework that makes it easy to create world-class web applications in no time thanks to its rich feature set and extensive ecosystem.
| Package | Downloads in September 2024 |
|---|---|
| laravel/framework | 359,971,803 |
| symfony/symfony | 81,279,858 |
| cakephp/cakephp | 13,982,429 |
| codeigniter4/framework | 2,247,410 |
| codeigniter/framework | 1,793,761 |
Compare the ranking of Laravel and other PHP frameworks on GitHub (CakePHP, CodeIgniter, and Symfony)
The most popular PHP framework on GitHub in 2024 is Laravel.
It’s surprising to watch Laravel’s steady growth over the years and other frameworks stagnate, even Symfony. Of course, a framework’s success is hardly measurable using the amount of stars it gets on GitHub.
| Repository | Stars in September 2024 |
|---|---|
| laravel/laravel | 78,3K |
| symfony/symfony | 29.6K |
| bcit-ci/codeigniter | 18,3K |
| cakephp/cakephp | 8,7K |
Conclusion
So, is PHP dead? Obviously not. The popularity of this language is hardly debatable, as shown by the numerous statistics presented in this article. Its ecosystem is flourishing thanks to WordPress and frameworks like Laravel and Symfony. Also, a new major version is released every year, keeping the language fresh and relevant.
These statistics paint a clear picture: PHP is very much alive and thriving. Jump on the PHP hype train!
