Famous Websites Built With WordPress

Article Summary: Famous sites running WordPress include NASA, the White House, TechCrunch, Rolling Stone, Variety, Microsoft News and The Walt Disney Company. In our scan of 20 confirmed WordPress sites, almost all used custom themes built by agencies such as 10up and PMC rather than themes you can buy.

We confirmed WordPress on 20 famous sites, including nasa.gov, whitehouse.gov and techcrunch.com.
TechCrunch and Observer both run themes built by the agency 10up.
Rolling Stone and Variety run themes from PMC, the publisher that owns both titles.
WPBeginner was the one site in our scan using a commercial theme, Genesis by StudioPress.

"Is that really WordPress?" is a fair question when the site belongs to NASA or the White House. We checked. Every site below was scanned with Any Theme Detector, and we only list the ones where WordPress was confirmed by several signals at once.

Scanned with Any Theme Detector on November 1, 2026. Sites change their themes, so run a fresh check for the latest result.

The sites we confirmed

Website	Theme	Version	Type	Notable tech
blog.mozilla.org	Foxtail	0.7.1	Commercial theme	None visible
blog.ted.com	TED2012 (ted2012)	1	Commercial theme	Google Analytics
boingboing.net	BoingBoing2020	1.0	Commercial theme	Bootstrap, jQuery, Google Analytics
katyperry.com	UMG Grand Royal	3.5.9	Commercial theme	jQuery, Google Tag Manager, reCAPTCHA
nasa.gov	NASA	1.1.1	Commercial theme	jQuery, Google Tag Manager
news.harvard.edu/gazette	Harvard Gazette	1.0	Commercial theme	jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Font Awesome
news.microsoft.com	Source Theme	n/a	Theme	jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Microsoft Clarity
newsroom.spotify.com	For the Record	2.0	Theme	jQuery, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
observer.com	Observer Ads	1.1	Commercial theme	jQuery, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
pinchofyum.com	Pinch of Yum 2020	2.0.0-alpha	Commercial theme	Tailwind CSS, Google Tag Manager, Font Awesome
rollingstone.com	Rolling Stone 2022 (pmc-rollingstone-2022)	1.0	Commercial theme	jQuery, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
smittenkitchen.com	Smitten Kitchen	1.0.15	Commercial theme	jQuery, Google Analytics, Adobe Fonts
techcrunch.com	TechCrunch 2024	0.1.0	Commercial theme	Google Tag Manager, reCAPTCHA
thewaltdisneycompany.com	Trident Theme	2.4.0	Commercial theme	jQuery, React, OneTrust
tim.blog	Rockbase Framework	0.0.1	Commercial theme	jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Google Fonts
usainbolt.com	Custom Theme V2	1.0.0	Commercial theme	jQuery, Judge.me, Adobe Fonts
variety.com	PMC Core V2	2.0	Commercial theme	jQuery, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
whitehouse.gov	The White House	47	Theme	Google Tag Manager, Mailchimp, Google Fonts
wordpress.org/news	WordPress.org News Theme, 2021 edition	1.1.0	Commercial theme	Google Tag Manager, Google Fonts
wpbeginner.com	Genesis	3.6.0	Commercial theme	jQuery, Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity

Government and institutions

NASA runs a theme called NASA, built by the agency Lone Rock Point, with several plugins behind it. The White House runs a custom theme named The White House. The Harvard Gazette uses a theme from Human Made, a WordPress agency that works with large publishers and universities.

These organizations could use any platform. They chose WordPress for its editing experience, its large pool of developers and the ability to host it on secure managed platforms.

News and media

Publishing is where WordPress is strongest. TechCrunch runs a theme called TechCrunch 2024 by 10up, and Observer also runs a 10up theme. Rolling Stone and Variety both use themes from PMC, Penske Media Corporation, which publishes both titles and maintains a shared core theme across its brands.

Many of these publishers sit on WordPress VIP, Automattic's enterprise hosting, which stores themes in a dedicated VIP folder. Our WordPress theme detector guide explains how to read those paths.

Big brands and companies

Microsoft News runs a theme called Source Theme. The Walt Disney Company uses Trident Theme by CAPPS Team, and Spotify's newsroom runs a theme called For the Record. Mozilla's blog runs Foxtail, its own theme. Katy Perry's official site uses UMG Grand Royal, a theme by Push Entertainment.

Blogs and creators

Pinch of Yum and Smitten Kitchen, two of the best known food blogs, both run custom themes. Tim Ferriss's blog uses Rockbase Framework. The one commercial theme in our scan was at WPBeginner, which runs Genesis by StudioPress, a framework that many professional bloggers have used for years.

What the pattern tells you

Almost every famous WordPress site runs a custom theme. That isn't a sign that ready made themes are weak: these organizations have in house teams and agencies on retainer. The more useful lesson is in what they share. Most load fewer plugins than you might expect, many rely on managed hosting, and nearly all keep their designs simple and fast.

If you want a site like these without an agency, start with a well supported theme and reliable managed hosting.

Premium WordPress hosting by KinstaFast, secure, expert support. Partner link.

How we ran this scan

We checked each home page with the same engine that powers the detector. WordPress was confirmed only when several signals agreed, such as theme and plugin paths, the WordPress REST API link and generator tags. Theme details come from each theme's own style.css header. Sites change over time, so every row links to a live check.

Frequently asked questions

Is NASA's website built on WordPress?

Yes. When we scanned nasa.gov it ran WordPress with a custom theme called NASA, built by Lone Rock Point.

Does the White House use WordPress?

Yes. whitehouse.gov ran WordPress with a custom theme named The White House when we scanned it.

What theme does TechCrunch use?

TechCrunch ran a custom theme called TechCrunch 2024, built by the agency 10up. It isn't available to buy.

Do big websites use free WordPress themes?

Rarely. In our scan nearly every famous site used a custom theme. Smaller sites and blogs use free and premium themes far more often.