How to Find Out What Tech Stack a Website Uses

To find out what tech stack a website uses, open the page, view its source and network requests in your browser's DevTools, and look for telltale file paths, headers, and script names. A React site ships _next or static/js/main bundles. A WordPress site loads /wp-content/ and /wp-includes/. Cloudflare shows a cf-ray response header. Shopify exposes a x-shopify-stage header and a cdn.shopify.com asset host. Ten minutes in DevTools tells you most of it, and a domain intel scan fills the rest.

Why bother finding a site's tech stack?

Knowing what a competitor runs on tells you how they move. A site on a headless React frontend with a fast CDN is built for speed and scale. A site on a page builder plugin is built for quick edits, not performance. You also learn where they are strong and where they are exposed. If a rival ranks well and an AI answer recommends them instead of you, part of the reason may be their stack, not just their content.

How do you find a website's tech stack in the browser?

You do not need a paid tool to start. Your browser already sees everything the server sends.

1. View source. Right click, View Page Source. Search for wp-content, _next, cdn.shopify, Wix, squarespace, or gatsby. Framework names hide in plain sight.
2. Open the Network tab. Reload with DevTools open. Watch the domains assets load from. cdn.shopify.com, assets.squarespace.com, and stripe.com each name a vendor.
3. Read the response headers. Click the main document request, then Headers. Server, X-Powered-By, cf-ray, and X-Vercel-Id reveal the host and CDN.
4. Check the cookies. A wordpress_logged_in or _shopify_y cookie names the platform directly.
5. Look at the favicon and meta tags. <meta name="generator"> often spells out the CMS and version.

What are the tell-tale signs of each platform?

• WordPress: /wp-content/, /wp-json/, generator meta tag, wp- cookies.
• Shopify: cdn.shopify.com, x-shopify-stage header, Shopify.theme in source.
• Next.js / React: _next/static, __NEXT_DATA__ script blob, X-Powered-By: Next.js.
• Wix: static.parastorage.com, X-Wix-Request-Id header.
• Squarespace: static1.squarespace.com, SQUARESPACE_ROLLUPS in source.
• Cloudflare (CDN, not CMS): cf-ray and cf-cache-status headers.
• Vercel / Netlify hosting: X-Vercel-Id or X-Nf-Request-Id headers.

How do you find the stack faster without DevTools?

Manual inspection is accurate but slow, and it misses things a single page does not load. Analytics tags, marketing pixels, DNS records, and email providers rarely show on the homepage. A domain intelligence scan pulls all of it at once: the CMS, the frontend framework, the CDN, the host, the ad and analytics stack, and the DNS and mail setup. You get the full picture in one report instead of clicking through five browser tabs.

Turn stack knowledge into an edge

Reading the stack is step one. The point is what you do next. If a competitor runs a slow, plugin-heavy build, speed becomes your wedge. If they lack structured data, you add it and get picked up by AI answers first. Pair a stack scan with a free SEO audit on your own site, then check your AI visibility so you know whether ChatGPT and Perplexity name you or your rival.

Do this for your top three competitors. Patterns show up fast: the same host, the same CDN, the same gaps. Those shared gaps are your opening. Scan, note, and build the thing they skipped.