Why people look for a Wappalyzer alternative
Wappalyzer made technology detection a household tool: install the extension, open a site, see the stack. Two things changed the calculus. The project - open source for over a decade and the fingerprint library half the industry quietly built on - went closed-source,2 and the hosted product moved to credit-metered pricing behind a paywall in 20231 that adds up fast for programmatic use. Both are legitimate business decisions; both are why you are reading an alternatives page.
So the question is rarely “what is the single best tech-detection tool.” It is “what gives me a free per-site lookup, and ideally an API, without a sales call.” The right alternative depends on which Wappalyzer you were using: the free extension, the fingerprint library inside your own code, or the lookup API. Disclosure: JobsPipe sells a tech-detection API, so we compete in the third category only.
Which Wappalyzer alternative fits how you used it
If you used the browser extension
WhatRuns is the drop-in replacement most people land on: free, fast, good coverage of modern frameworks. BuiltWith's extension is solid and backed by the deepest historical index, though its paid side is a different animal. For one-off manual checks, Netcraft's free site report adds hosting and certificate detail no extension shows, and the scan at the top of this page does the same job without installing anything.
If you embedded the open-source library
The community answered the closed-sourcing the way communities do: forks. Maintained fingerprint collections continue the old technologies.json lineage under new names, and language ports still work for self-hosted detection. The trade-off is maintenance reality: frameworks change constantly, fingerprints rot, and a fork's coverage is only as good as its contributor base. If detection is core to your product, budget for contributing back; if it is a side feature, an API you do not maintain is usually cheaper than a fork you do.
If you used the API
This is the slice where we have a horse in the race. JobsPipe Stack Scan returns a domain's detected stack as structured JSON - slug, name, categories, confidence, the signals that fired - from a live scan that is cached, on a self-serve key with a free tier. BuiltWith's API is the other established option, with more history and higher prices. Evaluate all three on the domains you actually care about: coverage differs by stack type more than vendors like to admit. If the question is adoption or churn of a specific backend tool rather than what the page serves, Bloomberry's API reads that from infrastructure signals and sits beside a scan, not in place of one.
Wappalyzer alternatives compared
| Tool | Free lookup | API | Detection | Reads internal stack from job postings | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 JobsPipeUs jobspipe.dev | Yes - free instant domain scan, no signup for first lookups | Yes - REST API, free tier on signup | 7,000+ technologies via live domain scan, plus the internal stack from job postings | Yes | Developers and data teams who want a free scan and a clean API |
 Wappalyzer wappalyzer.com | Extension still installs; useful web app and ruleset paywalled since 2023 | Yes - paid plans only | Closed ruleset; public detections drifted after closed-sourcing | No | Teams already standardized on the Wappalyzer extension |
 BuiltWith builtwith.com | Free single-site lookups; bulk and lists are paid | Limited; value lives in the paid web app | Very deep dataset with historical adoption back to 2008 | No | Sales teams needing lists of sites running a given tech |
 crft.studio crft.studio | Yes - free web tech-stack lookup tool | No public API | Browser-based per-site detection on common frameworks | No | One-off in-browser lookups with no account |
 WhatRuns whatruns.com | Yes - free browser extension, no signup | No | Around 1,000 detections; strong on fonts and CMS themes | No | A like-for-like swap for the free Wappalyzer extension |
 W3Techs w3techs.com | Yes - free per-site lookups and daily surveys | Yes - pay-as-you-go request packs | Top-1M sites; thin on long-tail per-site depth | No | Market-share research, not per-site profiling |
 Bloomberry bloomberry.com | Yes - 1,000 free test credits on API signup; no lookup tool | Yes - REST, self-serve from $199/mo | Infrastructure signals: DNS, subdomains, cert logs | No | Adoption and churn events on 1,700+ B2B tools |
Detection counts describe technologies identified via a live domain scan, not a count of indexed websites. BuiltWith's historical adoption data goes back to 2008.3 Pricing and free-tier states reflect publicly listed plans as of June 2026.
The tools in detail
- Free instant tech-stack scan on any domain - paste a URL above and see the result in a couple of seconds, no extension, no account for the first lookups.
- Reads the live site directly - on stripe.com our scan flagged React, Cloudflare, Segment, and Stripe in about two seconds - then joins that signal with technographics from job postings, so you also see backend and data tools a page scan can never surface.
- Developer-friendly REST API with a free tier on signup, so the same detection that powers the web lookup drops straight into your own pipeline or CRM enrichment.
- Newer in the tech-detection category than Wappalyzer or BuiltWith, so the public brand recognition is smaller.
- No browser extension yet - the free scan runs on the web and via API, not as a click-the-toolbar popup.
- Historical adoption depth does not go back as far as BuiltWith's multi-year archive.
The pick if you want a genuinely free domain scan plus a clean API without the Wappalyzer paywall. Try the live lookup at the top of this page before you compare anything else.
- The reference point - most teams know the extension and the in-browser tech list it produces.
- Paid web app and API cover bulk lookups and lead lists once you are on a plan.
- Broad brand recognition makes it easy to standardize a team on a single tool.
- The useful surface moved behind a paywall in 2023, and the public ruleset went closed-source, so free detections have drifted on newer frameworks.
- The free extension still installs but stopped getting community contributions.
- API access is paid-only, which is the friction most people searching for a Wappalyzer alternative are trying to escape.
Still fine if your team is already standardized on it and paying. If you are here because the free tier got thin or the API is gated, the free scan above and a free API tier are the direct answer.
Scan Wappalyzer's own tech stack →- Deepest dataset in the category, with historical first-detected dates going back to 2008.
- Bulk site lists filtered by technology - the actual sales workflow Wappalyzer's paid tier targets.
- Free single-site lookups remain available without a login for ad-hoc checks.
- Bulk lookups, lists, and exports sit behind paid plans that start far above a hobby budget.
- No real free API; the value is concentrated in the paid web app.
- Long-tail detections can be stale, and revenue estimates deserve skepticism.
Pick BuiltWith when you need lists of sites running a given tech and historical adoption depth. For a free per-site scan with an API attached, JobsPipe is the lighter, cheaper starting point.
Scan BuiltWith's own tech stack →- Free web-based tech-stack lookup with no account required.
- Clean, fast per-site UI for one-off checks on common frameworks.
- Good fit when you just want to eyeball one URL and move on.
- No public API, so it does not fit into an automated pipeline.
- No bulk lookups or list building.
- Detection set is narrower than a full ruleset and skews toward popular frameworks.
A solid free single-site tool. The moment you need an API or a backend/data signal that a page scan misses, move up to JobsPipe.
Scan crft.studio's own tech stack →- Closest UX clone of the old free Wappalyzer extension - click the icon, see the stack.
- Genuinely free with no lookup limits and no signup gate.
- Strong on fonts, WordPress themes, and design-side tech.
- Around 1,000 detections - a smaller set than a full ruleset.
- No web app, no bulk scanner, no API - browser-only.
- Slower to add detections for new frameworks.
The right swap if you only ever used the free Wappalyzer extension in-browser. If you need an API or programmatic access, it is a dead end.
Scan WhatRuns's own tech stack →- Detects backend and off-website B2B tools - CRMs, AI assistants, data platforms - that no page scan can see, read from DNS records, new subdomains and certificate transparency logs.
- Tracks churn as well as adoption, with adoption events typically surfacing within 3-7 days and churn within 1-2 weeks.
- Self-serve REST API with a free 1,000-credit test key, so it drops into an enrichment pipeline next to a scan.
- Not a Wappalyzer replacement for frontend detection: no browser extension, no free lookup tool, no frontend fingerprint catalog.
- Covers a curated 1,700+ B2B products rather than every framework and script.
- Priced as a sales-signal product from $199/month, so it pairs with a free scan rather than replacing one.
The pick if the reason you opened Wappalyzer was 'is this company paying for X', not 'what does this page serve'. Pair it with the free scan at the top of this page for the frontend half.
Scan Bloomberry's own tech stack →The question detection cannot answer
Every scanner on this page reads the public surface of a website. What none of them see is intent: the migration underway, the tools used behind the firewall, the platform a company is hiring its way into. Job postings carry that signal - a company advertising several Kubernetes roles has told you something no homepage fingerprint can. The chart is the share of active postings on the ten boards JobsPipe collects that name each tracked technology; most of the list never ships in a public bundle.
- Python4.7%
- AWS3.1%
- SAP2.9%
- Microsoft Azure2.8%
- Salesforce1.9%
- Power BI1.8%
- Java1.7%
- Google Cloud1.7%
- Kubernetes1.5%
- React1.3%
That hiring-based layer of technographics comes from the same JobsPipe key as the scan: POST /v1/jobs/search with skills_or returns every company hiring for a technology, and every posting carries its technology_slugs. Combining it with a homepage scan gives both halves: what a company serves today, and what it is building next. Per-technology lists are at companies using each technology.
FAQ
What is the best free Wappalyzer alternative?+
For an in-browser, click-the-toolbar swap, WhatRuns is the closest free clone of the old Wappalyzer extension. If you want a free instant lookup that runs on any domain in the browser and also exposes a free API tier, JobsPipe is the better fit - paste a domain into the scan at the top of this page and you get the detected stack in a couple of seconds without an account. For one-off manual checks, Netcraft's site report adds hosting and certificate detail.
Is Wappalyzer still open source?+
No. The project that was open source for over a decade closed its source, and the public repository stopped receiving the fingerprint updates the community relied on. Community forks continue the old fingerprint lineage and remain usable for self-hosted detection, with coverage that depends on their contributor base.
Wappalyzer vs BuiltWith - which should I use?+
Wappalyzer is built around the per-site extension and a paid web app; BuiltWith is built around bulk site lists, historical adoption data, and sales prospecting. Use Wappalyzer for quick per-page detection, use BuiltWith when you need to pull lists of every site running a given technology. Both gate their best features behind paid plans, which is why a free scan with an attached API is a common third pick.
How accurate is tech-stack detection?+
Front-end detection (frameworks, analytics, CDN, payment, CMS) is reliable across tools because it reads markers in the page itself. Accuracy drops on backend, data, and infrastructure tools that never touch the public HTML - no page scanner can see Snowflake, Kubernetes, or an internal service from the front end. JobsPipe addresses that blind spot by joining the live domain scan with technographics pulled from job postings, which reveal team-side tools a page scan cannot.
Can technology detection tell me what a company is adopting?+
Only partially. Detection reads what a site serves publicly today; it cannot see internal platforms or migrations underway. Job postings carry that forward-looking signal - a company hiring repeatedly for a technology is investing in it regardless of what its homepage shows. Combining homepage detection with hiring-based technographics answers both questions: what a company serves today, and what it is building next. Infrastructure-signal providers such as Bloomberry take a third route, dating adoption and churn of specific B2B tools from DNS and certificate changes.
Is there a Wappalyzer alternative with an API or CLI?+
Yes. Wappalyzer's own API is paid-only. JobsPipe offers a REST API with a free tier on signup, so the same detection behind the web lookup is available programmatically for enrichment, monitoring, or research, alongside a jobs search endpoint that returns the technologies each company names in its postings. For a self-hosted CLI route, the maintained open-source forks of the pre-2023 Wappalyzer codebase run locally with no rate limits, but you operate the infrastructure yourself.
How many technologies can JobsPipe detect?+
JobsPipe detects 7,000+ technologies from a live domain scan - frontend frameworks, analytics, CDN, payment, marketing, and SaaS tools running on the public site - and layers on job-posting technographics that surface backend and data tooling a page scan alone would miss.
References
- Wappalyzer's shift to paid plans, announced in 2023: wappalyzer.com/pricing
- Wappalyzer's technology-detection ruleset is no longer published under an open license: github.com/enthec/webappanalyzer tracks the community fork of the last open ruleset.
- BuiltWith states it has tracked technology adoption since 2008: builtwith.com/about
Related reading
BuiltWith alternatives
Sorted by what you were buying: lead lists, an API, free checks, or adoption.
Technographics, explained
What technographic data is, where it comes from, and what postings add.
Companies using each technology
Who is hiring for React, Kubernetes, Snowflake and more.
Tech-stack lookup
Scan any domain and see the technologies running on its public site.
Free domain scan, a developer-friendly API, and the internal stack from job postings in one tool. Key in 30 seconds.
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