Article
WordPress isn’t slow, but many WordPress sites are
I analysed how many websites in Germany pass Google’s Core Web Vitals, broken down by system. In five charts, I show why WordPress lags behind, what page builders have to do with it and where the problem almost always lies.
When people ask whether WordPress or a website builder is better, it is usually about price and ease of use. Rarely about speed. Yet loading speed helps decide whether someone stays on your site and whether Google likes to show it.
That is why I launched the Website Builder Index. Every month, it shows how many websites in Germany pass Google’s Core Web Vitals, broken down by system. The data comes from real visits in Chrome, collected in the Chrome UX Report and analysed by the HTTP Archive. Only websites with enough Chrome visits are counted, in September 2026 that was 586,975 in Germany. Here are the results.
Eleven out of fifteen systems pass more often than WordPress
The Core Web Vitals are three metrics Google uses to assess how a page feels to visit. A website passes them when three values are right for at least 75% of page views: the largest content appears within 2.5 seconds, the page responds within 200 milliseconds, and the layout barely shifts.
On mobile, 69.2% of all measured websites in Germany manage this. Jimdo sites pass at 98.0%, Duda at 93.0%, Wix at 90.9%. TYPO3, widely used in Germany, is far ahead at 87.4%. WordPress reaches 63.1%, below the average.
That does not mean WordPress is slow. Builder sites are often simpler: few pages, one consistent design, hardly any extensions. A WordPress site can be anything, from a lean one-pager to a heavy shop. The index shows a correlation, not a cause.
Page builders cost WordPress sites almost ten points
The extensions show where things go wrong. A page builder is an extension that lets you design pages by drag and drop instead of writing code. The best known for WordPress are Elementor and Divi. Elementor runs on 27% of all WordPress sites with measurement data. With Elementor, only 53.6% pass, with Divi 53.9%. Shops with WooCommerce reach 51.4%. Divi stands out on desktop: only 41.4% pass there, even fewer than on mobile.
Page builders make designing convenient. In return, they often load extra code for features the site does not even use.
Where WordPress sites fail: loading speed
Looking at the three values separately makes it clearer. On responsiveness to input, WordPress is even ahead of the average of all websites, at 95.0% versus 88.7%. Layout stability is fine too. But only 69.6% achieve a good value for loading the largest content, compared with 79.7% on average. With Elementor, it is 58.2%.
The largest content is usually the hero image or a slider at the very top. If it is too big, loads too late or waits for scripts, the site fails.
Everyone gets faster, the gap remains
The good news: websites are improving. In March 2024, 56.5% of all websites in Germany passed, in September 2026 it was 69.2%. Over the same period, WordPress rose from 50.7 to 63.1%, exactly in line with the average. Wix made the biggest leap, from 71.3 to 90.9%. Sites with Elementor also improved, from 42.3 to 53.6%, but remain far behind.
Because WordPress is so widespread, the gap matters. 29% of all measured websites in Germany run on WordPress, but 35% of the websites that fail. That is about 63,600 sites. 37% of all WordPress sites fail, compared with 31% of all websites.
How to make your WordPress site faster
- Measure your real values. PageSpeed Insights shows the same Chrome field data for your address that the index is based on. Search Console adds the Core Web Vitals report for all pages.
- Start with the hero image. Modern formats such as WebP or AVIF, the right size for mobile, no slider in the first screen and no lazy loading for exactly this image.
- Review page builders and plugins. Every extension that adds nothing to the content costs loading time. A lean theme without a page builder often saves the most.
- Use caching and good hosting. A page cache and a server close to your customers shorten the time before anything loads at all.
- Choose the system by its content. A website builder is often enough for a small business card site. If you maintain lots of content, you need a CMS that is built lean.
I described how many inquiries slow sites cost in my article on websites that lose inquiries. I build websites lean and with a CMS where you edit texts and images yourself. If you want to know where your site stands: in the website audit for €499 net, I check loading speed, mobile display and the paths to an inquiry. You will find the latest figures every month in the Website Builder Index.
Frequently asked questions
Why is WordPress so slow?
Usually it is not WordPress itself but what runs on it. According to the HTTP Archive, WordPress sites in Germany mainly fail at loading the largest content: only 69.6% achieve a good value, compared with 79.7% across all websites. Typical culprits are an oversized hero image, a slider at the top and page builders with lots of extra code.
WordPress or a website builder: which is faster?
On average, the builders. In September 2026, according to the HTTP Archive, 98.0% of Jimdo sites in Germany passed Google’s Core Web Vitals on mobile, as did 93.0% of Duda and 90.9% of Wix sites, but only 63.1% of WordPress sites. This is correlation, not cause: builder sites are often simpler, and a lean WordPress site can be just as fast.
Does Elementor slow down WordPress?
Often, yes. According to the HTTP Archive, only 53.6% of WordPress sites with Elementor in Germany passed Google’s Core Web Vitals in September 2026, compared with 63.1% across all WordPress sites. For loading the largest content quickly, only 58.2% reached a good value with Elementor. Page builders often load code for features the site does not even use.
What are the Core Web Vitals?
The Core Web Vitals are three metrics Google uses to assess how a page feels to visit. The largest content should appear within 2.5 seconds, the page should respond to input within 200 milliseconds and the layout should barely shift. A page passes when this works for at least 75% of page views. PageSpeed Insights shows your values.
Sources
- HTTP Archive (2026): Core Web Vitals Technology Report, data for Germany, as of September 2026, accessed 8 Nov 2026. httparchive.org
- Google (2026): Chrome UX Report, methodology and CC BY 4.0 license. developer.chrome.com
- Google: Web Vitals, thresholds for LCP, INP and CLS, accessed 8 Nov 2026. web.dev
- Tschapke, Martin Reza (2026): Website Builder Index Germany, data as of September 2026. tschapke.com
