3 Powerful Trends Shaping WordPress in 2026

If you suddenly feel WordPress has changed, that’s because it has!

Remember the ‘WPDrama‘ from late-2024? The legal turmoil between WordPress and WP Engine plunged the community into uncertainty and chaos.

It’s early 2026 now. I wish I could say the worst is over, but the truth is, WordPress’ troubles are far from over!

AI is changing how sites are built, clients are experimenting with DIY solutions, core is absorbing functionalities, and organic growth is more unpredictable than ever.

So where does that leave us? Where is WordPress headed? How do we protect our businesses?

We set out to find answers and asked the community – developers, agency owners, and marketers – about the future of WordPress as they see it. Here’s what they said:

The AI Paradox: Your Biggest Threat & Your Best Leverage

Unsurprisingly, AI or Artificial Intelligence is a common talking point in the community’s predictions.

Everyone is using AI, including the people trying to replace you, i.e., your customers!

The threat is real. Basic WordPress products are stagnating, losing existing customers to AI-built plugins and custom codes.

Collins Agbonghama (Lead Developer of ProfilePress Membership Plugin) says as much:

“We sent out an email survey to our past customers, asking why they churned, and we discovered a number of agencies and website builders who chose our plugin primarily because of a small feature we offer, churned because they’ve been able to replace our plugin with an AI-assisted coded one.”

There are over 60,000 free or freemium plugins in the WordPress repository. Many of these plugins are being abandoned in favour of DIY solutions as we speak.

But here’s the thing – DIY solutions have hidden costs!

Operating AI at scale involves massive AI credit expenditures and untested AI-built custom codes, and plugins are often riddled with bugs.

Pavel Ciorici (Owner of WPZOOM) thinks customers are about to experience a rude awakening.

“Let’s give these people a few more months to see how many issues they encounter when they try to scale their website, add new features, and end up consuming a lot of AI credits to build a very unsafe WordPress clone. All this just because they hopped on a trend and tried to have more control in their hand.”

Brad Vincent (CEO of FooPlugins) echoes similar sentiments about vibe-coded plugins:

“Some people have the opinion that you can just vibe code a plugin from scratch. And this might be true for a lot of simple plugins. But there are 2 things you do not get from vibe coded plugins: support when things go wrong and an author who cares about the things you have not even considered (standards, WP core updates, security, etc).”

It’s important to note, however, that AI isn’t just a threat; it’s a powerful tool.

Smart businesses are leveraging AI to build or improve products, troubleshoot problems faster, and generate marketing ideas and content at scale.

Remkus de Vries (WordPress Consultant and Educator, Truer than North) explains:

“What I saw happening in 2025, in WordPress-related businesses, both site builders and product companies, was that they started looking for ways to level up their toolset, their workflows, and their general approach to the work. I think this was largely helped by them leveraging AI as a learning assistant. As online businesses in general mature and scale up, so will those who build sites for those businesses. Leveling up is the name of the game for 2026.”

AI can write the code, but it can’t decide what to build, for whom, and why. That’s up to you.

Core Features Eating Into Plugin Territory

This is old news!

It always has been and always will be.

Even so, like many WordPress users, I’m excited about real-time editing functionalities coming in version 7.0. Taher Batterywala (Organic Growth Lead at GrowthOS) points out:

“This means we will no longer require plugin subscriptions for collaboration tools like Multicollab, WP Collaborative Editing, or Yjs-based tools. It will reduce the expenses for agencies and businesses handling significant content volumes.”

On the flip side, for collaboration tool makers, this means years of work being decimated overnight.

Hard reality! But core absorptions often force a useful question: what can your plugin offer that WordPress never will?

Answering that honestly is the most important thing a plugin business can do right now.

Marketing Is Your Competitive Advantage

Just build the product, and customers will come – this used to be a winning mantra, but it’s outdated now.

A recent survey found that 48.8% of plugin companies saw sales worsen in 2025.

2024 wasn’t great either. I can think of multiple established brands (like Barn2 and WP Fusion) speaking about revenue declines from new customers.

You can blame AI and search engines, but the problem runs deeper than what external factors indicate.

Here’s how Maria Ansari (Co-Founder of BloggInc – Marketing & Web Design Agency) sees it:

“In 2026, WordPress companies that try to serve everyone will keep struggling, while those that serve a specific market segment extremely well will dominate. The ecosystem is moving away from generic plugins and themes toward sharply positioned products built for specific audiences. Marketing strategy is becoming the real competitive advantage.”

Marketing is vast, complex, and overwhelming. But every popular and successful WordPress business that takes marketing seriously started somewhere. You can too. Select one channel, one audience, and show up consistently.

Final Thoughts

WordPress has survived drama, competition, and countless predictions of its demise. It’s still here – as are many businesses that refuse to stand still.

What kept them standing? They recognised that the rules of the game had changed and they adapted.

How are you going to adapt to changing times? What are you doing differently this year?

Tell us in the comments below!