How to Find What CMS a Website Is Using

Why You Should Know What CMS a Website Uses

Whether you're a sales professional researching prospects, a marketer analyzing competitors, or a developer planning a migration, knowing what content management system (CMS) powers a website gives you valuable intelligence. Understanding a company's tech stack reveals their digital maturity, budget priorities, and potential pain points—all useful for crafting personalized outreach or making strategic decisions.

For B2B sales teams specifically, CMS detection is a cornerstone of technographic targeting. If you sell WordPress plugins, you need to know which prospects actually use WordPress. If you offer Shopify integrations, you need a list of Shopify stores. And if you're pitching website redesign services, knowing a prospect is running an outdated Joomla installation tells you they might be ready for an upgrade.

The Major CMS Platforms You'll Encounter

Before diving into detection methods, it helps to know what you're looking for. WordPress dominates the CMS market with approximately 62% market share among websites using a content management system. It powers everything from personal blogs to major enterprise sites like CNN and Forbes.

Shopify holds the second position with around 6.7% market share, having grown significantly as ecommerce adoption accelerated. It's the go-to choice for online stores that want a managed, all-in-one solution without the technical overhead of self-hosted platforms.

Wix comes in third, primarily serving small businesses and individuals who want drag-and-drop simplicity. Squarespace follows closely behind, known for its design-forward templates and creative-focused user base.

The open-source alternatives—Joomla and Drupal—have declined over the years but still power millions of sites, particularly in government, education, and enterprise contexts where their flexibility matters. Webflow has emerged as a growing contender, especially among agencies and designers who want code-level control without writing actual code.

Manual Detection Methods That Still Work

You don't always need fancy tools to identify a website's CMS. Several manual techniques can reveal this information in seconds.

Check the Source Code

Right-click any webpage and select "View Page Source." Press Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on Mac) and search for "generator." Many CMS platforms add a meta tag that explicitly states the platform and version, like: <meta name="generator" content="WordPress 6.4">.

If there's no generator tag, look for telltale file paths. WordPress sites typically reference directories like /wp-content/ or /wp-includes/ in their CSS and JavaScript links. Shopify sites often load assets from cdn.shopify.com. Squarespace uses paths containing /static/ and references to their CDN.

Examine the Footer

Some websites, especially those using default themes or free templates, display "Powered by WordPress" or similar badges in their footer. This is less common on professional sites but still worth checking.

Check HTTP Headers

For the technically inclined, HTTP response headers can reveal CMS information. Open your browser's developer tools, go to the Network tab, and look at the response headers for the main document. Headers like X-Powered-By or X-Generator sometimes expose the underlying platform.

Try Common Admin URLs

Adding /wp-admin or /wp-login.php to a URL will reveal a WordPress login page if the site runs WordPress. Shopify sites redirect /admin to their login. Drupal uses /user/login. This method is quick but works only if the site hasn't customized or protected these paths.

Browser Extensions for On-the-Go Detection

If you frequently need to check websites' tech stacks, browser extensions save significant time. Instead of copying URLs into separate tools, you get instant answers while browsing.

Wappalyzer is the industry standard. It identifies not just the CMS but also analytics tools, frameworks, payment processors, and dozens of other technologies. One click shows you a comprehensive technology profile. It's available for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.

BuiltWith offers similar functionality with detailed reporting. Their extension is particularly useful for sales teams who need to research prospects quickly during browsing sessions.

CMS Detect focuses specifically on content management systems and can identify over 600 different platforms. It's lightweight and fast if CMS detection is your primary need.

Online CMS Detection Tools

When you need more detailed analysis or want to check multiple sites without installing anything, online tools provide comprehensive results.

WhatCMS.org detects over 1,200 content management systems and frameworks. Enter any URL, and within seconds you'll know what powers that site. They also offer an API for bulk lookups and automated workflows.

BuiltWith.com goes beyond CMS detection to reveal analytics tools, advertising networks, hosting providers, and much more. Their technology profiles are particularly valuable for competitive analysis and sales intelligence. You can see historical data showing when a site adopted or dropped certain technologies.

For more advanced research at scale, consider using a dedicated tech stack scraper that can analyze multiple websites simultaneously and export the results for your sales or marketing campaigns.

Using Tech Stack Data for Sales Intelligence

Knowing what CMS a website uses becomes truly valuable when you integrate it into your sales and marketing workflows. Here's how professionals actually use this data:

Technographic Targeting

Instead of generic outreach, technographic data lets you segment prospects by their actual technology. A company running WordPress with WooCommerce has different needs than one using Shopify. Your pitch should reflect that understanding.

For example, if you're selling email marketing services, a prospect using Squarespace might need different integration guidance than one using WordPress with AWeber.

Competitive Displacement Campaigns

If you sell a WordPress hosting service, you might target companies still running on outdated infrastructure. Tech stack data reveals not just what platform they use, but often which hosting provider and even which plugins they've installed.

Timing Your Outreach

Companies that recently changed their CMS or added new technologies are often more receptive to solutions that integrate with their stack. Monitoring tech stack changes can help you reach prospects at the right moment.

Qualifying Leads More Effectively

Before investing time in a prospect, verify they actually use the technology your product serves. A quick tech stack check prevents wasted calls and helps prioritize leads who are genuinely good fits.

Bulk CMS Detection at Scale

Checking websites one by one works for occasional research, but sales and marketing teams need to analyze hundreds or thousands of sites. This is where purpose-built tools become essential.

Galadon's Tech Stack Scraper is designed exactly for this use case. Upload a list of domains or company names, and get back detailed technology profiles including CMS, analytics tools, marketing platforms, and more. Unlike manual methods, this scales to enterprise-level research.

The value compounds when you combine tech stack data with other intelligence. For instance, once you've identified companies using a specific CMS, you can use an email finder to locate decision-makers, then verify those contacts before launching your campaign. This creates a complete prospecting workflow from technology targeting to verified outreach lists.

What to Do When Detection Fails

Sometimes websites resist detection. Custom-built platforms won't match any known CMS signature. Heavily modified installations might strip identifying markers. Enterprise sites often use headless CMS architectures that serve content through APIs, making front-end detection difficult.

When automated tools fail, try these approaches:

• Check job postings: Companies hiring WordPress developers probably use WordPress. Job boards reveal tech stacks indirectly.
• Review case studies: Many web agencies publish client case studies that mention the CMS used.
• Ask directly: In B2B contexts, asking about someone's tech stack during discovery calls is perfectly normal and often welcomed.
• Monitor their digital presence: Blog posts, conference talks, and social media from the company's tech team often mention their stack.

Privacy and Ethical Considerations

CMS detection uses publicly available information—nothing is being hacked or accessed without permission. The source code served to your browser is meant to be read by browsers, and by extension, by you. HTTP headers are part of the normal web protocol.

That said, use this information responsibly. The goal is better-targeted, more relevant outreach—not spam. Knowing someone uses WordPress doesn't entitle you to flood their inbox. Use tech stack intelligence to be more helpful, not more annoying.

Building Your Tech Stack Research Workflow

Here's a practical workflow for integrating CMS detection into your sales process:

1. Define your ideal customer profile including which technologies indicate a good fit for your product or service.
2. Build target lists using industry directories, LinkedIn, or lead databases.
3. Run tech stack analysis on your target list using a bulk tech stack scraper to filter for companies using your target technologies.
4. Enrich with contact data to find the right decision-makers at qualified companies.
5. Personalize your outreach referencing the specific technologies they use and how your solution fits.

This approach transforms generic cold outreach into targeted, relevant conversations. When you mention specific details about a prospect's technology in your first message, you demonstrate research and genuine interest—which dramatically improves response rates.

Wrapping Up

Identifying what CMS a website uses is straightforward once you know where to look. Manual methods work for quick checks, browser extensions speed up everyday browsing, and dedicated tools enable research at scale.

The real value isn't just knowing the CMS—it's using that knowledge to have better conversations, build more relevant campaigns, and ultimately close more deals. Whether you're prospecting for WordPress agencies, pitching ecommerce solutions to Shopify stores, or offering migration services to companies on legacy platforms, tech stack intelligence gives you the edge.

Start with a single website and practice the manual detection methods. Once you're comfortable, scale up with tools designed for bulk analysis. Your outreach will become more targeted, your qualification more efficient, and your results more consistent.