Annual Survey 2025 Results
We ran our annual survey in 2025 and here are the results.
The annual ACF survey for 2025 has concluded, and we’re ready to share the results! Our sincere thanks go out to the over 900 members of our community who participated and helped us gain a deeper understanding of how you’re using ACF. Your feedback is crucial for shaping the future of ACF and ensuring our development efforts are focused on the features and improvements that matter most to you.
The 2025 survey provides new insights and builds upon the valuable data collected in the 2023 and 2024 surveys. The findings reveal key trends in the WordPress ecosystem, your development practices, and how the community is adapting to new technologies like AI.
Dive into the results below to see what we’ve discovered.
Results
What best describes your role with using ACF?
The data shows that “Developer/Engineer” remains the most common role among ACF users at 79.17%, a small increase from the previous year’s result of 76.48%. This indicates that our core user base of developers is as strong as ever. The “Other” category includes quite a few developers as well, with over half of the respondents who chose this answer indicating they were also developers. Out of these, the title “Developer/Designer” was most common.
| Answer Choices | Response Percent | Responses |
|---|---|---|
| Developer/Engineer | 79.17% | 760 |
| Designer | 7.60% | 73 |
| Business Owner | 6.56% | 63 |
| Other (please specify) | 4.27% | 41 |
| Editor/Marketer | 2.40% | 23 |
Which of the following best describes your work?
Users working at agencies compose a strong plurality of ACF users at 46.98%. Freelancers make up a further 34.27% of the total.
| Answer Choices | Response Percent | Responses |
|---|---|---|
| I work at an agency | 46.98% | 451 |
| I am a freelancer | 34.27% | 329 |
| I work at a brand | 14.06% | 135 |
| Other (please specify) | 4.69% | 45 |
How many developers are at your company?
The majority of ACF users work in small teams or independently. The data shows that over half of our users (53.11%) work in teams of 1 to 3 people, and a significant portion are sole developers (13.72%).
| Answer Choices | Response Percent | Responses |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 developers | 53.11% | 333 |
| I am the sole developer | 13.72% | 86 |
| 4-10 developers | 20.73% | 130 |
| More than 20 developers | 7.18% | 45 |
| 11-20 developers | 5.26% | 33 |
What types of WordPress sites are you typically building?
We should note that respondents could select multiple answers for this question. The results show strong support for all approaches, but with a small lead for the hybrid approach. The use of “Hybrid themes” is slightly more popular than “Classic WordPress” themes, a very similar result to what we see in 2024.
| Answer Choices | Responses |
|---|---|
| Hybrid theme | 457 |
| Classic WordPress | 432 |
| Page Builder sites | 354 |
| Block based using a block theme | 284 |
| Full Site Editing theme | 200 |
| Headless WordPress sites | 105 |
| Other (please specify) | 61 |
How do you typically use the block editor for your sites?
When it comes to the block editor, ACF Blocks are the clear favorite for our users. Over half of the respondents use ACF Blocks for building custom content, far outpacing the use of native WordPress blocks (24.04%) or custom React blocks (9.41%).
| Answer Choices | Response Percent | Responses |
|---|---|---|
| Building custom blocks with ACF Blocks | 52.26% | 300 |
| Using WordPress native blocks | 24.04% | 138 |
| Other (please specify) | 14.29% | 82 |
| Building custom blocks with React | 9.41% | 54 |
How important is ACF to your development workflow?
ACF continues to be an essential tool for our users. With a weighted average of 4.47 on a scale of 1 to 5, the results show that ACF is considered very important to the majority of our community. When we look at the full breakdown, it’s clear that ACF is a cornerstone of the development workflow.
| Answer Choices | Response Percent |
|---|---|
| 5 – Very important | 68.79% |
| 4 | 17.42% |
| 3 | 8.71% |
| 2 | 2.60% |
| 1 – Not at all important | 2.47% |
- Total Responses: 769
- Weighted Average: 4.47
The data highlights that over two-thirds of respondents rated ACF as “Very important” to their workflow, a powerful testament to its value.
How would you rate your most recent support experience with ACF?
We’re pleased to see a high satisfaction rate with our support. The weighted average of 4.28 indicates that users are having positive experiences when they reach out for help.
- Weighted Average: 4.28
- Answered: 340
How long have you been using ACF?
The survey results show a mature user base, with the vast majority of our respondents being long-time users. Over 58% of respondents have been using ACF for more than five years.
| Answer Choices | Response Percent | Responses |
|---|---|---|
| Since its early days and beyond | 58.75% | 480 |
| 3 – 5 years | 26.56% | 217 |
| 1 – 3 years | 9.91% | 81 |
| 6 months – 1 year | 2.57% | 21 |
| 0 – 6 months | 2.20% | 18 |
How often do you use the following ACF fields?
We asked survey respondents to rank how often they used various ACF fields. Below are the top fields that were rated “Always”, ranked by the number of responses. It’s clear that core fields like Text, Text Area, and Repeater are indispensable to many workflows.
| Field | Responses (Always) |
|---|---|
| Text | 536 |
| Text Area | 429 |
| Image | 404 |
| Repeater | 352 |
| WYSIWYG Editor | 342 |
| Select | 243 |
| Number | 235 |
| URL | 224 |
| Checkbox | 223 |
| Radio Button | 207 |
How do you currently use AI?
This year we introduced a question about AI usage for the first time. The results show that our community is primarily leveraging AI for “Development/Code” and “Content Creation.” As this was a “Select all that apply” question, the percentages will not add up to 100%, but they give us a clear picture of where AI is being adopted in workflows.
| Answer Choices | Response Percent |
|---|---|
| Development/Code | 75.93% |
| Content Creation | 33.33% |
| Content Optimization | 32.41% |
| Performance Optimization | 25.00% |
| Accessibility | 16.67% |
| Design and layout | 13.89% |
| I don’t use AI today | 13.89% |
| Other (please specify) | 10.19% |
| Security Monitoring | 9.26% |
While the main categories show how most of our users are applying AI today, the “Other” responses provide a more granular look at these unique use cases. The common theme in these responses is using AI for very specific, often challenging tasks. We saw users employing AI for troubleshooting and problem-solving, with one respondent noting they use AI for “brainstorming how to solve problems, diving into software documentation.” Others use it for niche development work, such as “Schema.org implementation” or “Restructuring/reorganizing data and sometimes doing calculations.”
Some respondents also pointed to a more cautious or limited adoption, using AI for just “small snippets here and there” or as a general “code assist.” This also gave a voice to the sentiment of those who are skeptical of AI, with one respondent stating that “checking and fixing mistakes takes longer than just building it correctly myself.” These insights demonstrate that while AI is growing in its adoption, some users remain unconvinced of its benefits.
Conclusion
The 2025 ACF Annual Survey has once again provided us with a wealth of information about our users and the broader WordPress landscape. We’ve seen a continuation of several key trends, including the dominant role of developers and the deep reliance on ACF Blocks for custom content creation.
The high scores for “How important is ACF to your workflow?” and “How would you rate your most recent support experience?” reinforce our commitment to providing a powerful and well-supported product. The introduction of questions about AI usage also gives us an exciting glimpse into how our community is adapting to new technologies.
The data from this survey will directly inform our roadmap for the coming year. Your participation helps us build a better product for everyone. Thank you!
Build smarter, faster, better with ACF®