State of the
WordPress Agency 2026
In March of 2026 we surveyed 622 WordPress agency owners and freelancers about their business. Here's what we learned:
Business Profile
How long have you been in business?
Distribution of respondents by years of operation.
Experience brings stability. It doesn't guarantee momentum.
Agencies under 5 years old posted the strongest growth in 2025 at 59.8%. Agencies with 16+ years of experience were the most consistently profitable. So while newer agencies may have more momentum, older agencies tend to be more durable.
| Years in business | Grew in 2025 | Consistently profitable | $100k+ revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–5 years | 59.8% | 28.6% | 16.4% |
| 6–10 years | 49.4% | 42.3% | 41.2% |
| 11–15 years | 42.7% | 43.5% | 44.4% |
| 16+ years | 43.8% | 45.9% | 47.7% |
How big is your team?
Total number of people working in the business, including the owner.
Where in the world are you?
Respondents represented 51 countries across every inhabited continent.
Full-time or side hustle?
Whether respondents run their WordPress business as their primary income source.
How do you identify?
Self-reported gender identity of respondents.
Women were twice as likely to say burnout was their biggest barrier
Women named burnout as their #1 growth barrier at more than double the rate of men, one of the most significant gaps between the genders.
| Women | Men | |
|---|---|---|
| Burnout as #1 growth barrier | 16.9% | 8.1% |
Financials
What was your total revenue?
Gross revenue from all sources in 2025, before expenses.
What did you pay yourself?
Total owner compensation taken from the business in 2025.
What do you charge per project?
Average price point for a typical client project.
There's a profitability cliff at $5,000
Under $5k per project, 1 in 3 agencies is consistently profitable. At $5k+, that jumps to nearly 1 in 2.
| Project price | Consistently profitable | Rarely/never profitable |
|---|---|---|
| $100–$999 | 25.0% | 37.5% |
| $1,000–$2,499 | 30.0% | 13.6% |
| $2,500–$4,999 | 36.8% | 11.8% |
| $5,000–$9,999 | 56.8% | 2.7% |
| $10,000–$19,999 | 50.0% | 3.1% |
Is your business profitable?
How respondents describe their overall profitability in 2025.
Revenue Model & Growth
How much of your revenue is recurring?
Percentage of total revenue from recurring sources like care plans, hosting, and retainers.
Recurring revenue is the clearest line between struggling and thriving
Agencies with no recurring revenue are unprofitable nearly 60% of the time. But once recurring revenue reaches 25% of total revenue, that drops below 10% (and stays there).
| Recurring revenue | Consistently profitable | Rarely/never profitable |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | 25.0% | 58.3% |
| 1–24% | 29.7% | 16.7% |
| 25–49% | 47.4% | 9.7% |
| 50–74% | 47.8% | 4.5% |
| 75%+ | 46.9% | 6.2% |
How do you price your work?
The primary pricing model used for client work.
Retainer agencies outperform on every metric — but the model probably isn't the reason
Retainer agencies are the most profitable, hit the highest revenue, and grew the fastest in 2025. But stronger agencies also tend to gravitate toward retainers. The model reflects a healthy business as much as it creates one.
| Model | Consistently profitable | $100k+ revenue | Grew in 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retainer | 51.2% | 59.0% | 56.6% |
| Productized | 44.4% | 51.1% | 55.6% |
| Value-based | 46.2% | 27.3% | 50.0% |
| Fixed-price | 36.4% | 35.5% | 47.4% |
| Hourly | 39.8% | 34.9% | 42.2% |
Where does new business come from?
The single most important source of new client leads.
Proactive agencies are more than twice as likely to break $200k
Most agencies still rely on word of mouth. But agencies that actively pursue new business through channels like SEO, partnerships, or community are much more likely to surpass $200k in revenue — 24.8% compared to 11.6%.
| Proactive | Passive WOM | |
|---|---|---|
| Under $50k | 26.2% | 45.6% |
| Over $100k | 50.3% | 31.8% |
| Over $200k | 24.8% | 11.6% |
| Consistently profitable | 53.8% | 33.1% |
What's holding agencies back?
Respondents selected the single biggest factor currently limiting their agency's growth.
Burnout looks a lot like an underpricing problem.
Among agencies making under $50k, 15% say burnout is their biggest barrier. For agencies at $200k+, that drops to just 3.3%. That suggests burnout may have less to do with how much work you do — and more to do with how well that work pays.
| Revenue band | Burnout as #1 barrier |
|---|---|
| Under $50k | 15.1% |
| $50k–$99k | 15.0% |
| $100k–$199k | 8.8% |
| $200k+ | 3.3% |
What services do you offer?
Respondents selected all services they actively offer to clients.
Accessibility may be a differentiator.
Only 1 in 4 agencies offers it, but the ones that do are nearly twice as likely to surpass $200k in revenue. They also reported declines in 2025 at about half the rate of agencies that don't offer accessibility.
| Offers accessibility | Doesn't offer it | |
|---|---|---|
| Hit $200k+ | 26.6% | 11.0% |
| Consistently profitable | 47.6% | 38.1% |
| Declined in 2025 | 13.1% | 21.7% |
Operations
How much work stays in-house?
Percentage of client work completed by internal team vs. outsourced.
What do you build websites with?
The primary tool or framework used to build client websites.
How concentrated is your client base?
Percentage of total revenue coming from just your top 3 clients.
A few big clients create more risk, not more stability.
When 3 clients make up 75%+ of revenue, agencies are far less likely to reach $200k+ in revenue or pay themselves $100k+ than agencies with a more diversified client base.
| Top 3 clients = % of revenue | Hit $200k+ | Pay self $100k+ | Consistently profitable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less than 25% | 26.2% | 20.6% | 51.0% |
| 25–49% | 14.1% | 11.0% | 41.6% |
| 50–74% | 8.2% | 4.6% | 33.9% |
| 75%+ | 5.4% | 7.4% | 29.4% |
Sustainability & Outlook
How did 2025 compare to the year before?
Self-reported business performance in 2025 relative to 2024.
How do you feel about 2026?
Overall sentiment about business prospects for the year ahead.
How has AI impacted your business?
Whether respondents feel AI has helped, hurt, or had no effect on their business.
Agencies embracing AI are outperforming those resisting it.
Agencies that say AI is helping them grew much faster in 2025 and are dramatically more optimistic about 2026 than agencies that say AI is hurting them.
| AI sentiment | Grew in 2025 | Declined in 2025 | Optimistic about 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Significantly positive | 58.5% | 12.3% | 80.0% |
| Somewhat positive | 48.0% | 17.3% | 60.9% |
| Neutral | 43.6% | 21.8% | 47.1% |
| Negative | 28.4% | 43.3% | 13.4% |
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This data came from people like you.
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