BuiltWith

BuiltWith
Name	BuiltWith
Type	Private
Industry	Web analytics
Founded	2007
Founder	Gary Brewer, Nicholas Howlett
Headquarters	Sydney, Australia
Products	Technology lookup, lead generation, market analysis

BuiltWith BuiltWith is a commercial web technology profiler and lead-generation service that provides technology usage information for websites. It aggregates details about content management systems, analytics tools, advertising networks, e-commerce platforms, and hosting providers used across the World Wide Web. The service is utilized by marketers, sales teams, competitive analysts, researchers, and security professionals from a variety of organizations.

Overview

BuiltWith offers searchable datasets that identify technologies such as WordPress, Shopify, Magento, Drupal, Joomla!, Squarespace, Wix, Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Hotjar, Segment, Cloudflare, Akamai, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Heroku, Firebase, Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, Authorize.Net, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, Mailchimp, SendGrid, Constant Contact, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom, Optimizely, Varnish, NGINX, Apache HTTP Server, Internet Information Services, Linux, Windows Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, Elasticsearch, Kubernetes, Docker, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Google Tag Manager, AdSense, DoubleClick, The New York Times, BBC, CNN, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Apple Inc., IBM, Oracle Corporation.

History and Development

BuiltWith was founded in 2007 by Gary Brewer and Nicholas Howlett in Sydney. Early development intersected with trends catalyzed by companies like Google and Amazon that popularized large-scale web data collection. The platform evolved alongside technologies pioneered by WordPress Foundation, Drupal Association, and projects such as NGINX and Node.js, and responded to shifts introduced by HTML5 and CSS3. Over time BuiltWith incorporated detection rules influenced by analytics from Comscore, SimilarWeb, Alexa Internet, Netcraft, and market research firms like Gartner and Forrester Research.

Features and Functionality

Key features include site technology lookup, bulk domain search, historical trends, technology market share, and lead lists. The lookup identifies technologies used by websites such as Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Stripe, and Cloudflare, and reports on tags, widgets, and plugins developed by organizations like Akismet, Jetpack, and Yoast SEO. BuiltWith provides CSV and API exports for integration with platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, Zapier, Segment, and Microsoft Power BI. It supports enterprise workflows involving teams at Accenture, Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Company.

Data Sources and Methodology

BuiltWith compiles datasets by crawling publicly accessible web pages and parsing markup, scripts, headers, cookies, and DNS records. Detection leverages indicators associated with vendors such as Google, Cloudflare, Akamai, Fastly, Amazon CloudFront, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It cross-references signals from registrars like GoDaddy, Namecheap, Network Solutions, WHOIS records, and hosting infrastructures tied to Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure. Methodological discussion involves statistical sampling approaches used by organizations such as Pew Research Center, Statista, ICANN, and academic groups at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of Cambridge, and University of Oxford.

Business Model and Pricing

BuiltWith operates on a freemium and subscription model offering tiered plans for individuals, small businesses, and enterprises. Pricing and enterprise licensing are comparable to services offered by Gartner, Forrester Research, SimilarWeb, SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz, Screaming Frog, and Majestic. Revenue streams include API access, data exports, custom research, and lead-generation services targeted at customers such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, Adobe Inc., and digital agencies working with clients like Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Nike, Inc., Samsung, Sony, Toyota.

Reception and Criticism

BuiltWith has been cited in trade publications and by analysts at TechCrunch, Wired, The Verge, ZDNet, Forbes, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Guardian, The New York Times, and BBC News. Critics and researchers note limitations similar to those discussed in reports by Netcraft and academic papers from IEEE and ACM on detection reliability, sample bias, and the difficulty of inferring technology usage from client-side artifacts. Privacy advocates from organizations like Electronic Frontier Foundation and Privacy International have raised concerns about large-scale web scanning and profiling. Legal debates reference frameworks such as General Data Protection Regulation and rulings in courts like the European Court of Justice.

Use Cases and Impact on Web Analytics

Use cases span competitive intelligence, sales prospecting, market research, security assessments, and academic research. BuiltWith-driven workflows inform product teams at Google, Meta, Twitter, Snap Inc., TikTok, and enterprise security teams at Microsoft, IBM, Cisco Systems, Palo Alto Networks, and CrowdStrike. Marketers at agencies representing brands like L'Oréal, PepsiCo, Heineken, IKEA, H&M, and Zara use technology footprints for campaign planning. In web analytics, BuiltWith complements metrics from Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Comscore, SimilarWeb, and Chartbeat by adding a technology-detection layer used in research at institutions such as Harvard University, Yale University, and Princeton University.

Category:Web analytics