Web Technologies of the Year 2022

Posted by Matthias Gelbmann on 3 January 2023 in News, Actalis, Adobe DTM, Advertising Networks, Akamai, Amazon, Amazon CloudFront, Angular, Apache, Baidu Analytics, CloudLinux, Content Delivery, Content Management, Data Centers, Debian, DNS Servers, Email Servers, Equativ, Facebook, Fastly, GlobalSign, Google Ads, Google Tag Manager, GridPane, IdenTrust, Java, JavaScript Libraries, JsDelivr, Matomo, Matomo Tag Manager, Microsoft, Nginx, Node.js, Operating Systems, OVH, OVH, OVH, OVH, Pinterest, Plesk, PrestaShop, React, Reverse Proxies, RunCloud, Scala, Server-side Languages, Snowplow, Social Widgets, Squarespace, SSL Certificate Authorities, Static Files, Tag Managers, Team.blue, Traffic Analysis Tools, Twitter, Underscore, United Internet, United Internet, United Internet, United Internet, Unix, Unpkg, Web Hosting, Web Panels, Web Servers, Wix, Wix, Xandr, Yandex Libraries Hosting

To identify the winners in the various web technology categories, we compared the number of sites using a technology on January 1st, 2022 with the corresponding number on January 1st, 2023. We use the difference of these numbers, rather than a percentage, because that would favor technologies with a tiny user base at the beginning of the year. As in all our surveys, we focus on the relevant web, see technology surveys for more details.

These are the technologies that gained most sites in 2022

Content Management System of the Year 2022

  Wix  

Wix usage numbers went up from 1.9% of all websites to 2.4% in just one year, growing faster than any other CMS. WordPress gained this title in the last 12 years, but growing further becomes really hard once you reach well over 60% market share. PrestaShop is a little surprise as the second-fastest growing CMS. As a well-established system, its usage rate went up to 0.70% from 0.46% one year ago. The third ranked Squarespace is another example of the strong trend towards hosted content management systems.

Server-side Programming Language of the Year 2022

  Java  

Java is the web programming language of the year after winning the title already in 2015. Java, as well as the second-ranked Scala, are general-purpose languages, that make an impact also on web development. The third rank goes to static sites. We rank them in the programming language category, because the fact that no language is executed when fetching these sites is a significant data point in that context, and it's growing in popularity.

JavaScript Library of the Year 2022

  Underscore  

Underscore is our JavaScript library of the year for the second time in a row. It is now used by almost 9% of all websites. Angular comes second, ahead of React.

Web Server of the Year 2022

  Apache  

The fact that the Apache web server is growing faster than any other in 2022 is a surprise. Nginx is the leading web server and still growing, but a little bit slower than Apache in the 2022. Node.js can repeat its third rank from last year.

Web Panel of the Year 2022

  Plesk  

Plesk is not only by far the most popular web panel, it was also growing faster than any competitor in 2022. Last year's winner RunCloud is second this time, and also GridPane is in the top three again.

Operating System of the Year 2022

  Unix  

Unix which includes Unix-like systems such as Linux, is our operating system of the year after winning already in 2018-2020. Two Linux distributions follow this year: Debian as second, and CloudLinux as third.

Web Hosting Provider of the Year 2022

  United Internet  

The German United Internet with its many subsidiaries such as 1&1 IONOS, Strato and others is the web hosting provider of the year, growing from 1.20% market share to 1.87% in 2022. The French provider OVH is second, while Wix comes in third just like last year.

Data Center Provider of the Year 2022

  United Internet  

Both United Internet and OVH are also data center providers, and thus they also make it to rank #1 and #2 in this category. Last year's winner Amazon comes in third this time.

Reverse Proxy Provider of the Year 2022

  Fastly  

Fastly is the reverse proxy provider of the year for the first time, after regularly ranking in the top three in previous years. Cloudflare is still the most popular reverse proxy provider by a long shot, but loses the title after winning 6 times in a row. Akamai and Amazon CloudFront come in second and third in that category.

DNS Server Provider of the Year 2022

  United Internet  

United Internet is winning a third title this year, as DNS server provider of the year, and OVH coming in second in one more category. The third rank goes to team.blue, who owns a range of internet services brands.

Email Server Provider of the Year 2022

  Microsoft  

Microsoft defends its title as the fastest growing email server provider. Gmail, the leading provider, was actually losing market share in 2022. United Internet and OVH finish second and third in this category.

SSL Certificate Authority of the Year 2022

  IdenTrust  

IdenTrust, the root certificate provider of Let’s Encrypt regained the title of SSL certificate authority of the year after winning four times in the past. GlobalSign, another winner in previous years, is second, while Actalis, an Italian provider, coming in third is a little surprise.

JavaScript Content Delivery Network of the Year 2022

  jsDelivr  

jsDelivr is a top provider for many years, but 2022 is the first time for them to win the title. CDNJS, the leading provider and winner in the last 6 years, actually lost a little bit of market share in 2022. unpkg is second, finishing in the top three just like many years before. Yandex Libraries Hosting is third.

Traffic Analysis Tool of the Year 2022

  Matomo  

Matomo, the privacy-focused open source analytics platform, is the traffic analysis tool of the year for the first time, while Google Analytics and the other previous winners all lost a bit of market share in 2022. The Chinese Baidu Analytics ranks second this year. Snowplow, another open source tool, is an unexpected third.

Advertising Network of the Year 2022

  Google Ads  

It's hard to compete with Google in the advertising space. It is again the fastest growing ad network for the 9th time if we include DoubleClick and AdSense, which we counted as separate networks many years ago. Smart AdServer, finishing second, is a little surprise, while Xandr, owned by Microsoft, finished already in the top three last year.

Tag Manager of the Year 2022

  Google Tag Manager  

Can you keep growing when you have already over 99% market share? The Google Tag Manager can, winning primarily users that didn't use any tag manager before. It is our tag manager of the year for the 9th time in a row. The fastest growing competitors last year were Adobe DTM and Matomo Tag Manager.

Social Widget of the Year 2022

  Facebook  

The three most popular social widget providers also finished as the top three fastest growing providers: Facebook ahead of Twitter and Pinterest.

Congratulations to all the awardees for their extraordinary achievements in the last year.
 

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