Core Web Vitals: WordPress and Astro Versus Everyone Else (Search Engine Journal)
A Search Engine Journal analysis ranking seven web platforms by core-web-vitals pass rate, using real-world field data.
The ranking (April 2026)
| Rank | Platform | CWV pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duda | 85% |
| 2 | Wix | 80% |
| 3 | Shopify | 79% |
| 4 | astro | 67% |
| 5 | Drupal | 64% |
| 6 | Joomla | 58% |
| 7 | wordpress | 49% |
(Does not include Next.js, Gatsby, Nuxt, or Squarespace.)
Data source
Combines CrUX (Chrome UX Report — anonymized real-world field data from Chrome users) with HTTP Archive lab testing. Drupal was notably stable at 64% Jan→Apr 2026.
The author’s argument
Page weight alone does not determine Core Web Vitals. Shopify carries the heaviest median page (3.77 MB) and the lowest Lighthouse (lab) scores, yet posts strong real-world CWV — because the platform “carries complexity efficiently.” Architecture and delivery optimization beat raw payload minimization.
Why it matters here
- Closer to a neutral benchmark than astro‘s self-reported numbers: CrUX field data independently corroborates Astro at ~67% (vs Astro’s own 66%) and wordpress at 49% (vs the ~48% cited in wordpress-market-share-decline).
- Reframes the contest: Astro is not the overall CWV leader — hosted site builders (Duda, Wix, Shopify) beat it. Astro leads the open developer-framework / self-hosted-CMS pack, comfortably ahead of Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress.
- Directly challenges byte-budget minimalism (the sibling webperf-wiki’s thesis) — see the tension flagged in synthesis.