How to become a WordPress developer [+ tips from WCEU speaker Paul Bearne]

If you’re interested in learning how to become a WordPress developer, I think you’re making a great decision.

According to the most recent 2025 data from W3 Techs, WordPress powers 43.5% of all websites on the internet. What’s more, that popularity has helped millions of people earn a living, including myself, for well over a decade (and hopefully you after reading this post).

To help you get a foothold in this market, I’m going to provide all the information you need to become a WordPress developer, including my own thoughts as well as insights from Paul Bearne’s session “Finding your WordPress lifestyle – insider insights from a veteran coder” at WordCamp Europe 2022.

Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

• How to Become a WordPress Developer
• What is a WordPress developer?
• How much do WordPress developers make?
• Where do WordPress developers work?
• Job Outlook for WordPress Developers
• Fields Related to WordPress Development
• WordPress Developer Lifestyles
• WordPress Theme Development
• WordPress Plugin Development
• Starting a New Career Path

What is a WordPress developer?

A WordPress developer is a professional who specializes in the infrastructure and ecosystem of the WordPress platform. They might focus on improving the WordPress software itself or creating new products, particularly plugins and themes. They also might work with clients or employers to help create, customize, and manage a WordPress site.

This is a broad definition because WordPress development is such a broad field.

Some WordPress developers develop for the platform itself by creating blocks, plugins, themes, and other tools that extend the platform or by contributing to the WordPress Core. Others help clients build and maintain their sites. Many developers do both.

You might be wondering, if a major factor driving the platform’s enormous popularity is that users don’t need coding skills to build a WordPress website, why do so many seek out developers?

It’s true that users can easily extend the platform’s functionality via plugins, customize its appearance with a theme, create and publish content, add multimedia, configure its settings, and more — all without touching a single line of code.

However, a complete lack of technical knowledge can lead to problems down the road. Some users struggle with securing their site, backing up their data, completely customizing their theme, and redesigning their website. These are just a few reasons that users seek out WordPress developers.

In short, WordPress developers can take on the more technical challenges of creating and managing a WordPress site that the average user simply doesn’t have the experience or time to tackle themselves.

Below, I’ll look more specifically at the responsibilities and job descriptions of WordPress developers so you can get a better idea of their day-to-day.

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What does a WordPress developer do?

A WordPress developer is typically responsible for the back-end or front-end development of WordPress sites (or both). That often includes — but is not limited to — creating custom WordPress themes and plugins. In addition to creating these resources, WordPress developers might be hired to build a sitemap or wireframes for a potential site, migrate an existing site to the WordPress platform, or redesign it to optimize its SEO and conversion rate.

Or, rather than work with clients on their sites, WordPress developers might review and debug the official WordPress codebase to make the software better for all.

This only covers a small portion of the breadth of work that WordPress developers do. To get a better understanding of this role, let’s look at an actual job description for a WordPress developer from SiteCare, a popular WordPress company. The description below is posted on Indeed.com.

Source

For a broader overview of what WordPress developers do, you can check out the services page of WordPress design agencies. For example, here’s the page for WebDevStudios:

How much do WordPress developers make?

If you’re thinking about becoming a WordPress developer, it’s important to understand how much WordPress developers make.

In my own personal experience, because WordPress is such a global project, there can be a lot of variation in earnings based on your own geographic location, as well as the geographic location of your employer.

Your exact earnings will depend on the following:

• The type of position. For example, whether you’re working in-house or as a freelancer.
• Your location. In general, WordPress development salaries are highest in the U.S., but this won’t be true in every single situation.
• Your experience and skills. As with any job, your own experience and skills will affect how much you can earn.

With that being said, I think it’s still useful to look at the data on how much WordPress developers make in general, as this will give you a rough idea of what to expect.

WordPress Developer Salary for Full-Time Positions

Here’s all of the best data that I could find for how much WordPress developers make at full-time salaried positions in the U.S.

• ZipRecruiter: $84,542 average salary ($60,500 at the 25th percentile and $99,500 at the 75th percentile).
• Glassdoor: $87,000 median total pay in the U.S. ($65,000–$116,000 range for total pay and $53,000–$93,000 range for base pay).
• Indeed: $61,808 average base salary ($34,398–$111,061 range). Keep in mind that this is just base compensation, as I could not find total compensation numbers from Indeed.
• Built In: $74,278 average total compensation ($55,000–$96,000 range).

Source

As I mentioned above, WordPress developer salaries can vary greatly depending on your location. For example, different countries will have different salaries, and there’s also a huge variation even between different U.S. states or cities.

For example, if I switch to looking at WordPress developer positions in Boston, Massachusetts, Indeed’s average base salary number jumps from $61,808 to $93,500.

WordPress Developer Freelance Hourly Rate

In terms of WordPress developer hourly rates for freelancing or consulting, there can also be a lot of variation.

For example, at Codeable, a more exclusive WordPress-specific freelance marketplace, freelance WordPress developers get between $80 and $120 per hour.

On the other hand, if I look at a more generalized freelance marketplace like Upwork, Upwork says that WordPress developers generally cost between $15 and $28 per hour, which is significantly less.

Based on my experience, the hourly rate that you can command will depend a lot on your development skills, sales skills, networking, and service.

Where do WordPress developers work?

There are a lot of different places where WordPress developers can work, including freelance or solo businesses, in-house roles, and agencies. In my opinion, this is one of the elements that can make WordPress development so attractive.

Let’s go through the different places where WordPress developers can work.

In House

To kick things off, there are plenty of in-house positions for WordPress developers. This is where the developer works directly for the organization that requires WordPress development work.

For larger organizations that use WordPress, having an in-house developer can make sense. There are also lots of in-house positions working for WordPress hosting, theme, or plugin companies.

In-house positions can be in-office or remote — it really just depends on the company.

Agency

Based on my experience, another really common place for WordPress developers to work is at WordPress development agencies.

These are agencies that help other organizations with custom WordPress development, whether that’s building a website or creating some type of custom plugin solution.

You can find WordPress agencies of all sizes. Some of the big names are Human Made and 10up, but there are also tons of smaller WordPress agencies that you could find work at.

Source

As with in-house WordPress development roles, you can find both in-person and remote agency positions.

Freelance or Consultant

Another popular way for WordPress developers to work is as freelancers or consultants. You can find freelance work directly with companies that need help. Or, WordPress agencies will sometimes hire freelancers if they need help on an ad hoc basis.

One of the great things about this approach is that you can work remotely from anywhere in the world, which gives you a chance to connect with a global market and even move around if you want to.

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In my experience, there are two main ways that you can work as a freelance WordPress developer.

The first option is to make direct connections with clients. You could build an online portfolio and then find clients through your own marketing, networking, and word of mouth. This approach can be difficult to get started if you don’t already have a large network, but it lets you keep 100% of the money that you earn.

The second option would be to join some type of freelance marketplace and use that to connect with clients.

Codeable is one WordPress-specific marketplace that I know a lot of freelance WordPress developers have found success with. However, you can also use more general marketplaces such as Upwork or Toptal.

Solopreneur or Small Business Owner

Lastly, I think that one of the more unique opportunities that are available to WordPress developers is to work on their own plugins or themes.

A lot of WordPress developers have found success as solopreneurs offering their own products. Some developers opt to stay solopreneurs and handle everything themselves, while others eventually grow into larger businesses.

Job Outlook for WordPress Developers

As someone who works in the WordPress space, recent developments with project leadership and contributions have caused me to worry a little bit about the future of the project. For example, in early 2025, WordPress leadership decided to cut the release schedule down to only a single new release in 2025.

However, at the moment, the popularity of WordPress is still quite good, which I think bodes well for the job outlook for WordPress developers.

While WordPress’s market share in the CMS space has dropped a tiny bit, it still powers 61.3% of sites with a known CMS, according to W3Techs’ April 2025 data.

What’s more, a whopping 43.4% of all websites in W3Techs’ sample use WordPress software. The next closest CMS is Shopify, which powers just 4.8% of sites.

Basically, while it does seem like WordPress’s growth might have hit a plateau based on data from the past couple of years, WordPress is still so massively popular that there’s plenty of work to go around.

What about AI WordPress coding tools?

While WordPress is still quite popular, I think that AI WordPress development tools could pose a bigger threat to the job outlook for WordPress developers.

General-purpose AI code assistants can work great for WordPress development, and I’ve also tested some WordPress-specific AI coders, such as CodeWP. I’ve seen people essentially create entire custom plugins just using AI code assistants.

I don’t think AI tools are ready to completely replace WordPress developers yet, but they will probably improve the productivity of WordPress developers, which could reduce the overall demand (because one WordPress developer can get more work done).

If you’re looking to get into WordPress development, here are a couple of tips I have about these AI coding tools:

• If you’re a freelancer or consultant, customer service can still be something that differentiates you from other WordPress developers.
• Don’t stick your head in the sand and hope these tools will go away. Instead, learn how to use them to make yourself more productive, as these skills will also help you stand out from other developers.

If you are worried about the job outlook for WordPress developers, you could also consider specializing in another area, such as HubSpot development. Many businesses are using HubSpot Content Hub to create their websites. By specializing in this area, you can position yourself as an expert in a lucrative space.

Fields Related to WordPress Development

WordPress development is a pretty broad term, so there are a lot of fields and subsets that are related to the overall term.

Here’s a quick rundown of what I think are some of the fields that are most related to WordPress development …

Front-end Web Developer

Front-end web development is one of the most common fields associated with WordPress development. Basically, you take someone’s design and turn it into a working website, either by modifying an existing theme or building a custom theme.

You also might need to create custom plugins or blocks as part of frontend development for WordPress.

Plugin Developer

As a plugin developer, you could work in-house or with a WordPress agency. You could also work as a freelancer directly with clients.

Or, if you don’t want to work for someone else, you can also find success by creating and selling your own plugins. However, in my experience, this is very difficult to do unless you also have good marketing skills (or partner with someone who does).

Theme Developer

Just as with plugin development, you can also work as a theme developer in all the same ways — in-house, agency, or freelancer.

Or, you can create and sell your own WordPress themes. For example, Tom Usborne has achieved a lot of success with the GeneratePress theme, which is one of my personal favorite WordPress themes.

WooCommerce Development

Because of how many features go into creating an ecommerce store with WordPress, I think that WooCommerce development almost fits as its own field adjacent to regular WordPress development.

There are a lot of sub-fields within WooCommerce development that you can consider, including the following:

• Working on the core WooCommerce software.
• Build ecommerce websites for clients.
• Working at a dedicated WooCommerce agency.
• Creating custom plugins to extend the WooCommerce software.
• Creating WooCommerce themes that you sell to customers.

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WordPress Implementer

The distinction between WordPress development and WordPress implementation is something that I’ve found to generate a lot of debate and strong feelings.

In a nutshell, I think the basic differences are best described as this:

• WordPress implementers focus on using off-the-shelf tools (themes and plugins) to build WordPress websites for clients.
• WordPress developers code and develop custom solutions for clients.

Basically, WordPress implementers are people who might not have development knowledge, but are still able to build working solutions for clients.

If you’re still learning about WordPress development, I think that working as a WordPress implementer can be a good intermediate step while you advance your knowledge in WordPress development.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

While I know this is a bit “out there,” I do think that WordPress development and SEO can be tightly linked because of how many people use WordPress as a vehicle for SEO.

WordPress developers can help optimize for search engines and also implement strategies such as programmatic SEO. If you work with clients, I also think that learning the basics of SEO can be another great way to differentiate yourself from other WordPress developers.

Step 1: Master the fundamentals of coding.

As mentioned above, WordPress is popular for being a content management system (CMS) that does not require users to code or even know how to code.

However, if you want to truly be a WordPress developer and not a WordPress implementer, you’ll need to understand how to code.

PHP has always been one of the most important languages to know to work with WordPress. Of course, you’ll also want to know HTML and CSS, as well.

With the introduction of the WordPress block editor (i.e., Gutenberg), I think it’s also essential to learn JavaScript if you want to get the most from the editor.

This is why WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg told people to “Learn JavaScript, deeply.”

Learn PHP

The WordPress software is largely written in PHP, so a solid understanding of PHP will be essential for any WordPress developer.

If you’ve never used PHP before, I recommend starting with Codecademy’s free PHP course.

We’ve also published some posts on PHP-related WordPress topics:

• WordPress plugin development tutorial
• WordPress PHP memory limit
• How to update PHP in WordPress
• WordPress debug mode (for debugging PHP errors)

Learn HTML and CSS

In addition to PHP, understanding HTML and CSS will also be essential for any kind of frontend WordPress development.

Personally, I started with Codecademy’s free courses for CSS and HTML.

You can also find some great CSS and HTML resources on the HubSpot blog:

• CSS explained
• Essentials of HTML
• HTML projects for beginners (some ideas for projects to learn HTML)
• CSS classes and selectors
• How to add CSS to HTML

Learn JavaScript

While JavaScript used to only be a small part of WordPress development, I think that it's become a lot more important with the launch of the new WordPress block editor and the Site Editor experience for creating themes.

Codecademy also has a free JavaScript course, which I think is a great place to start.

Step 2: Read up on WordPress specifically.

Once you’ve got the basics of coding down, I recommend you start reading up on WordPress-specific resources to understand what makes this CMS unique.

For example, you’ll need to learn about WordPress actions and filters, WordPress hooks, the WordPress database structure, etc.

Below are just a few resources that can help you at different stages in your journey to becoming a WordPress developer.

• WordPress Codex. This is the official online manual written by the developers of WordPress. It covers everything from the basics of creating a site to the most technical aspects of WordPress, like how to add AJAX functionality to your custom plugin.
• Envato Tuts+. This website has everything from how-to tutorials to courses to ebooks on WordPress and much more. Their WordPress how-to tutorials cover a similarly broad range of topics as the WordPress Codex, but offer pictures and videos for visual learners.
• WordPress Developer Resources. WordPress has compiled an official list of developer resources, including a code reference and handbooks for APIs, plugin and theme development, the block editor, and more. This is another must for developers as they become more advanced.
• Know the Code. For those who prefer training videos, this e-learning site offers three distinct learning paths: one for plugin developers and two for theme developers. Since you’ll learn how to build a plugin or theme from scratch, this program is for advanced developers.

Source

Step 3: Choose a focus area.

There have always been three major focus areas for WordPress developers: the core software, plugins, and themes. You might specialize in one area, but you can work across all three.

With the growing popularity of the block editor, I would also add a fourth area — block development, though this overlaps with theme and plugin development.

In a follow-up interview to his WCEU session “Finding Your WordPress Lifestyle,” Paul Bearne, a WordPress Core contributor sponsored by XWP, said, “A lot of skills are cross-transferable, so if you know one space, you can do it in the other space.”

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Here’s a quick breakdown of the four development areas. I’ll discuss plugin and theme development in more detail later on.

• Core Development. Developers in this area create and edit the WordPress core itself. The WordPress core is the software available for download on the official WordPress site. While there’s an official WordPress core team led by co-founder Matt Mullenweg, anyone can review and analyze the code, report security vulnerabilities or bugs, and contribute code. There’s even an official handbook for core contributors.
• Theme Development. Developers in this area create custom themes. They can either create it for individual clients, release it for free in the WordPress Theme Directory, or release it for sale on a third-party marketplace or site. There’s also an official handbook for theme developers.
• Plugin Development. Developers in this area create custom plugins. Same as theme developers, they can either create a plugin for individual clients, release it for free in the WordPress Theme Directory, or release it for sale on a third-party marketplace or site. And, you guessed it, there’s an official handbook for plugin developers, too.
• Block Development. If you have strong JavaScript knowledge, you can help organizations create custom blocks for the block editor or build plugins that add blocks. Check out the block editor handbook if you want to get started.

These four are the most popular focus areas, but there are others. APIs are becoming increasingly popular and lucrative, for example. When evaluating these different areas, try to pick the one that aligns most with your skills and interests (and desired income).

Step 4: Create a development environment for testing.

Setting up a development environment is essential for any type of developer. It not only speeds up the development process but also typically results in a better product.

You can set up a local or remote environment, where you’ll store all your WordPress plugins and theme files along with the WordPress core files. This will enable you to test and view changes in a browser instantly. While it will look the same as when you’re visiting any other site on the internet, the files will actually be called in from your computer, not your site’s hosting server.

This way, you can collaborate with a team of other developers and debug any issues before releasing your security patch, custom theme, or custom plugin to the masses.

While you can use any generic local development environment, I personally find it easier to use one of the WordPress-specific local development tools. My personal favorites are DevKinsta and Local, both of which are cross-platform and free to use.

Source

[alt[ The interface for the Local development tool

Step 5: Become an active member of the WordPress community.

When comparing WordPress versus Joomla, Drupal, and other CMSs, WordPress has the largest global community dedicated to improving the platform — something I love about it.

You can reach out to these millions of members through support forums and Slack channels and even meet them in person at WordCamp conferences and other community events all over the world.

Actively participating in this community can help you troubleshoot issues with the software or a specific site, stay updated on announcements and product releases, and network.

Join the online communities.

To get started, I recommend following these instructions to join the Make WordPress Slack channel. This will get you straight into a live chat where you can start interacting with tons of people in the WordPress community.

You can also participate in Make WordPress comment threads and join the WordPress.org support forums.

Beyond the “official” online communities, I also think there can be a lot of value in joining other communities, such as Post Status. Post Status is a community for WordPress professionals. While it is a paid community, I still think that the networking opportunities can be valuable.

Attend an in-person event.

While there’s nothing wrong with exclusively interacting online, one of the things I love about WordPress is how many in-person events there are that give you a chance to network and meet other people in the community.

First off, there are tons of official WordCamps all around the world. There are “flagship” events in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, but then there are also lots of smaller local WordCamps. To browse them all, head to WordCamp Central.

Or, there are also tons of less formal WordPress meetups, which could be as simple as meeting up with a group of WordPressers at a cafe. You can find many of these on Meetup.com — just search for your area.

Step 6: Build a portfolio.

When looking for any job, you want to provide as much evidence of your skills and competencies as possible. This is true of virtually any career, but especially a career in WordPress development.

A great way “to show, not tell” is a portfolio. A portfolio showcasing your development work can improve your chances of being hired as a full-time employee at a company or as a freelancer.

In fact, I think having quality portfolio work is probably one of the best things you can do for advancing your career, though networking is also certainly important.

Here’s an example of a freelance developer’s portfolio from Kristin Falkner, a freelance WordPress developer who specializes in custom WordPress themes.

Source

If you want to build WordPress websites for clients, I recommend browsing our examples of website design portfolio sites to get some inspiration.

However, a portfolio isn’t a must, especially if you’ve worked on the WordPress Core, like Bearne. He recommends getting involved in any open-source project. “They sometimes have more weight than a fancy portfolio site, especially if you’re interested in back-end development,” he said in a follow-up interview to his WCEU session.

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Step 7: Create your technical resume.

Like a portfolio, a technical resume is an important part of any job application for a WordPress developer role. You can create this as a stand-alone resume or your LinkedIn profile. If you’re a freelancer, a technical resume can also be repurposed to provide necessary information on a site like Upwork or for an About page on your own personal website.

A technical resume is made up of a few key sections, including key skills, professional experience, education, and projects. If you have sparse or no information to put under your professional experience because you’re just getting started, that’s okay. Just make sure to beef up other sections with clear illustrations of your skills and personal projects. Here’s an example below:

Source

Step 8: Consider your ideal work environment.

Before you begin applying, it’s important to consider your ideal work environment.

In his WCEU session, Bearne said you need to ask yourself lots of questions like:

• What type of projects do you want to work on?
• How much administrative work are you willing to do?
• Are you okay with travel?
• What city and country do you want to live in?
• Are you a solo worker, or do you want a team?
• Do you prefer a flexible work environment or a structured one?

One of the things that I like about WordPress is that you can find a lot of remote roles that let you work from anywhere. However, you can also find plenty of in-person positions if you prefer that.

Below, I’ll take a closer look at some of the places where WordPress developers can work, what lifestyle they allow, what skills you need, and some pros and cons of each.

WordPress Developer Lifestyles

A WordPress developer has many options for where they work and how they work. While work environments and jobs are all unique, I’ll cover some key information from Bearne’s WCEU session that explains what differentiates corporate companies from small agencies, freelancing, and other types of workplaces and environments below.

You can watch his full session on WordPress.tv.

Corporate Company

A corporate company is similar to working at a government corporation or high-level agency. You can expect to work a traditional workday and primarily work on projects with detailed specifications and long timelines. You can also expect a structured work environment with lots of rules and procedures.

Skills and Other Requirements

• Formal training or a degree
• Written skills
• XML skills likely

Pros

• Salary and benefits
• Mentoring opportunities
• Ideal for developers just starting out

Cons

• Likely will have to travel
• Less creativity

Staffing Agencies

Staffing agencies will place you at different companies in temporary or permanent positions. Bearne said the situation is a little strange because “the agency pays you, but someone else tells you what to do.” He stresses the importance of building relationships with the agency by visiting the office or communicating regularly with the staff.

Skills and Other Requirements

• Needed skills and requirements range widely

Pros

• Flexibility
• Can more easily negotiate salary because agency gets commission

Cons

• May get some benefits and time off depending on country, but may not get any

Media Company

A media company will require developers who can work well under pressure and build things that “don’t fall over when traffic spikes,” Bearne explained. The buzzing environment can be high-pressure but also a lot of fun, and a great way to build out your skill set, he said.

Skills and Other Requirements

• Need to be social and a team player

Pros

• High-energy, exciting environment
• Perks like event tickets

Cons

• Pressure and rapid deadlines

Small Agencies

Small agencies serve a local market, not an international one. “They tend not to be based in the city, so it’s a good option if you want to work in a town,” Bearne said.

Skills and Other Requirements

• Need to be jack of all trades
• Need to be able to teach clients

Pros

• Tend to be friendly and family-oriented

Cons

• Likely have to do the work that comes to the agency, so not always ideal client work

Large Agencies

Large agencies tend to be the fancy offices you see in the center of major cities, Bearne explained. They typically work for the top Fortune 100 companies and do some leading-edge work. You’ll mostly find opportunities to work as a freelance or contract employee.

Skills and Other Requirements

• Need to be able to cope with pressure
• Need to build relationships

Pros

• Interesting work
• Opportunities to gain skills and figure out what you do best
• Lots of social opportunities (but can be too much)

Cons

• Very fast-paced
• High risk of burnout

Government Digital Services

“Government digital services feel like design agencies,” Bearne said. But the difference is that you’re typically working in a space that’s making impactful change.

Skills and Other Requirements

• Cross-collaboration skills
• Need to push new ideas through friction

Pros

• Working on projects that impact people’s lives

Cons

• Can be told “no” a lot

Freelance

Freelancing offers a greater degree of freedom and flexibility than most other lifestyles because you only work with clients that you say yes to. You can get started relatively easily and quickly. But you do need money to buy equipment, and you do need an office, according to Bearne.

Freelance work appeals to many developers, but Bearne offers a note of caution. “There’s a conception that it’s so cool to work when you want to, where you want to. But actually, you’re often working long hours because you have too much work or you’re looking for more work,” he said. You also have to think of sales tax, marketing, insurance, and other factors.

Skills and Other Requirements

• Time management skills
• Entrepreneurship experience helps
• Need to be comfortable working as a solo developer

Pros

• Lots of opportunities to interact with other freelancers (if you make the effort)
• Good way to start agency

Cons

• Lots of admin work and finding new clients
• Difficult to take time off

Premium Plugin or Theme Development

Another opportunity for WordPress developers is to create premium plugins or themes and generate income that way. Bearne, for example, partnered with another developer to create the premium plugin Matador Jobs.

Bearne explained that there’s potential for greater rewards — and challenges — down this path. “You need to be prepared to fail,” he said.

His partner described the work as “fun, challenging, and rewarding, but not for the faint of heart.”

Skills and Other Requirements

• Admin and sales skills
• Need to provide customer support

Pros

• Recurring revenue
• Can be a passion project

Cons

• Takes major time investment to code
• Lots of time required for admin and support tasks after launch

Freelance Platform

WordPress developers may opt to use a freelance platform like Arc and Code Mentor to find work. Others may use it to backfill their own freelance work, like Bearne does.

Skills and Other Requirements

• Have to meet certain standards for professional experience or skills, depending on the platform
• Time management skills
• Need to be comfortable being a solo player

Pros

• Many platforms provide support
• Opportunities to build relationships

Cons

• Lots of competition in spaces for contract
• Paid in USD, so its a hassle for non-U.S. people

Distributed Agency

A distributed agency can be “the best of both worlds, when done right,” Bearne said. This type of agency is competing with high-end agencies, so it attracts some of the best talent and clients. While you will be working independently, you also need to be comfortable doing video calls and being social on Slack in order to build relationships, according to Bearne.

Skills and Other Requirements

• Communication skills

Pros

• Less hustling for work and admin work
• Can work part-time
• Sponsorship opportunities to attend events and contribute to WordPress Core

Cons

• Fully remote so don’t meet colleagues

WordPress Theme Development

WordPress themes are not part of the WordPress core. In fact, they are collections of template files that modify the way a site is displayed without modifying the core WordPress software.

This is ideal because when a new version of the WordPress software is released and the site is updated, the appearance of the site won’t be affected drastically. If the presentation styles and template files were not separated from the core files in this way, every time you updated the core software, all your customization work would be lost.

Because they allow users to completely customize their site without touching a single line of code, WordPress themes are incredibly popular. Some are free, while others are premium and range from $60 to $200.

For example, Tom Usborne has grown the GeneratePress theme to be used on over 600,000 sites, while also selling a premium add-on that starts at $59.

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Theme developers can either create a custom theme for themselves, individual clients, or the public. If the latter, developers may either submit it to the WordPress directory for free or sell the theme on a marketplace like ThemeForest.

Theme developers have different production goals and different means to accomplish those goals. Some developers will simply pick an existing theme, install it, and customize it with the built-in settings and features for their clients’ or personal sites.

With the new Site Editor, creating themes is also easier than ever. Tools like theme.json and the Style Manager let you build completely unique themes using just the block editor (though knowing JavaScript will certainly help for building custom blocks).

No matter why you choose to build your own theme, theme development is an opportunity to develop and flex your HTML, CSS, PHP, and JavaScript skills.

WordPress Plugin Development

WordPress plugins are pieces of software that “plug into” your site and extend its functionality. Like themes, plugins do not modify the WordPress core, which is ideal. If you were to edit core WordPress files to add functionality to your site, the code would be lost when updating your software. That’s because WordPress overwrites core files with each update.

WordPress plugins are, therefore, ideal for adding features to a WordPress website. The plugin ecosystem is incredibly robust, with over 59,000 free plugins offered in the official WordPress directory alone. That’s not to mention the thousands of premium plugins available on third-party sites.

Depending on their purpose, these plugins can make small tweaks or massive changes to your site. For example, using a plugin, you could add a WhatsApp share button to your posts and pages, or you could create a fully multilingual site. There are plugins to scan your site for broken links, run A/B tests, enhance your contact forms, make beautiful sliders, back up your site, collect emails, and much more.

With so many plugins available, you might think that more plugin developers coming in would simply oversaturate the market. But that’s not true. There are still plenty of gaps in the market that you can fill by providing WordPress users with a new or better plugin to meet their needs.

For example, in early 2025, Ryan Howard launched the Website LLMs.txt plugin, which has already racked up more than 29,000 downloads since its launch and is actively used on 8,000+ websites.

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Starting a New Career Path

Learning how to become a WordPress developer can be lucrative and fun! While it will require you to invest time and resources into education and experimentation, WordPress development can offer the income and flexibility you need.

While I think that there are some headwinds affecting the job outlook for WordPress developers in the form of AI coders and debate over WordPress leadership, the platform’s massive popularity means that the demand for WordPress developers won’t go away any time soon.

However, if you do want to give yourself more flexibility, you can also consider learning HubSpot development, which will give you a chance to help the many businesses using HubSpot Content Hub for their online presences.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in July 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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