CRFT Lookup vs BuiltWith vs Wappalyzer: Which Website Tech Detection Tool Is Best for You?

In an age when understanding your competitors’ technology stack or auditing your own website’s infrastructure is non-negotiable for digital success, picking the right tech detection tool is crucial. Whether you’re a marketer, dev, SEO, or agency leader, you’ve likely heard about BuiltWith, Wappalyzer, and, of course, the CRFT Lookup.

Each tool promises to “unmask” what powers a website—from frameworks and CMS platforms to analytics and marketing tools. But do they deliver equally, and which should you reach for in 2025 if you want the most complete, actionable insights (and value for money)? This guide answers that, with practical examples and tips for leveraging the CRFT Lookup’s unique features—including internal linking and integration into your audit workflows.

Why Website Technology Detection Tools Matter

Before we dive into the head-to-head, let’s clarify why these tools are foundational:

• Competitive Intelligence: See which marketing tech, analytics stacks, or frameworks successful competitors use.
• Sales Prospecting: Instantly identify prospect needs—see if a client’s eCommerce site is on Shopify, or if they lack analytics entirely.
• SEO & Technical Audits: Tech stacks shape site speed, crawlability, and UX. The right detection tool helps identify optimization opportunities—a competitive advantage for agencies and in-house marketers.
• Site Migration or Rebuild Scoping: Discover hidden integrations, scripts, or dependencies before you quote a project or start development.
• Client Education: Visualize complex technology layers in clear reports—aiding transparency and trust.

For an in-depth primer on tech stack or web audit concepts (like “Lighthouse Scores” or “CMS Platforms”), see our Web Design Glossary.

Comparing CRFT Lookup, BuiltWith, and Wappalyzer: Key Features

All three tools let you paste a URL and instantly reveal the software, frameworks, and infrastructure powering a website. But under the hood, their capabilities and pricing models differ—sometimes dramatically.

The CRFT Lookup Advantage

While BuiltWith and Wappalyzer paved the way, the CRFT Lookup stands out as the most practical, up-to-date, and cost-effective solution for 2025:

• True “All-in-One”: Go beyond tech detection. Benchmark Lighthouse scores, instantly preview meta tags, and dig into site hierarchies—all within a single workflow.
• No Paywall or Rate Limits: Unlimited deep scans and reports at no cost. Perfect for agencies, marketers, or devs who need to audit many URLs (or do competitive research at scale).
• Visual-first Reports: Instantly share a single, linkable report that sums up a full audit—an absolute game-changer for pitching, onboarding, or educating clients. Keep your internal team (or your client) aligned with transparent evidence.
• Ethical and Secure: CRFT Lookup analyzes only public-facing code (HTML, JS, HTTP headers, sitemaps, meta info). No login, account, or API token needed—and full privacy compliance.

“CRFT Lookup did a great job at giving me insight into how some of my favorite sites are created, and has inspired me to build.” — Nick Hoban, 🇨🇦 Web developer

How Does the CRFT Lookup Work?

• Step 1: Enter any website’s URL.
• Step 2: The CRFT Lookup launches a live, browser-based scan—analyzing HTML, JavaScript variables, response headers, and more.
• Step 3: The findings are compared against a 2,500+ tech fingerprint database (updated from open-source Wappalyzer roots).
• Step 4: Results are consolidated into a single report: detected frameworks, CMS, analytics, marketing and eCommerce tools, infrastructure details, Lighthouse performance scores, meta tag previews, and (if present) a visual sitemap.

For a practical walkthrough, see our Sitemap Visualizer article or dedicated how-to guides on each detector mode.

What CRFT Lookup Does Not Do

• Can’t detect tech hidden behind authentication (private dashboards, gated apps).
• Won’t return insights on custom internal tools or assets not present in public code.
• No bulk export or API (for now)—CRFT Lookup is designed for context-rich, shareable reports, not mass scraping.

Real-World Use Cases (and Internal Linking Opportunities)

Here’s how web pros are using the CRFT Lookup—in ways that naturally support internal links to the Lookup itself or CRFT Lookup-powered content:

1. How-to Guides & Tutorials: Create step-by-step articles—such as “How to Audit Your Website SEO in 5 Minutes”—showing how to pair the CRFT Lookup’s Lighthouse audit with technical checks. Embed links to relevant detector modes in each guide, like referencing the CMS Detector in a site migration checklist.
2. Alternatives & Comparison Pages: Target keywords like “Best Free Tech Stack Checkers (2025)” or “CRFT Lookup vs Wappalyzer,” always placing CRFT Lookup as the primary recommendation.
3. Niche Tech Enterprise Landing Pages: Launch and interlink micro-pages for each detector (Shopify App Detector, Analytics Detector, CMS Detector…)—this wins SEO traffic for vertical-specific technology queries, and keeps the internal linking ecosystem strong.
4. Industry-Specific Checklists: Build ultra-actionable checklists (on-page or as PDFs) for routine audits, with “Check Now with the CRFT Lookup” CTAs for each workflow.
5. API/Integration Guides: Even if you’re working without a public API, document how agencies, SEOs, or developers can reference CRFT Lookup insights in manual (or internal) audits—supporting both power users and non-dev professionals.

Need help with internal strategy or content planning? Contact jeremy@crft.studio for tailored advice.

How CRFT Lookup Compares with BuiltWith and Wappalyzer: Pros & Cons

BuiltWith Pros:

• Largest database of technologies detected.
• Robust reporting and CSV/API export for enterprise use.
• Long legacy—trusted in big enterprise circles.

BuiltWith Cons:

• Paid pricing gets steep quickly; feature limits on the free plan.
• Lacks integrated performance, metadata, or sitemap analysis.
• “Overkill” for most agencies or solo marketers—more data than actionable insights.

Wappalyzer Pros:

• Easy Chrome/Firefox extension for on-the-fly detection.
• Good basic detection for frameworks, CMS, runtimes.
• Some export/APIs available for paying users.

Wappalyzer Cons:

• No Lighthouse or site performance features.
• No sitemap or metadata preview.
• Limited in-depth, holistic reporting—built primarily for browser extension use.

CRFT Lookup Pros:

• Best free value combining deep tech analysis, Lighthouse performance, meta tag preview, and sitemap visualization.
• Unlimited scans, always free to use.
• Designed for agencies: intuitive, shareable, evidence-driven reports.
• Built by web professionals for web professionals—ethical focus, no data mining, no privacy risk.

CRFT Lookup Cons:

• No public API (yet), so not for automated scraping or huge competitive-mapping projects.
• Accuracy is industry-leading but cannot see behind logins or private dashboards (no tool can).
• No lead list building features
• Does not crawl all pages and create a sitemap, but visualizes existing sitemap.xml files if already present

Using the CRFT Lookup in Your Workflow

Want quick wins? Start with a free hero section design audit—you’ll get hands-on experience with the CRFT Lookup’s reporting and design process, plus practical upgrade recommendations for your site’s most important page. Every audit links to your own Lookup-powered report, making it easy to understand (and act on) what’s powering your site today—and how to improve for tomorrow.

Whether you’re an agency leader, freelancer, or marketer, the CRFT Lookup is your all-in-one, no-nonsense choice for website technology detection, performance review, and intelligent, client-facing reporting. Make it your competitive edge in 2025 and beyond.

For more resources, see our full Glossary, and the Lookup home. Interested in a custom workflow, integration, or content strategy? Email me directly at jeremy@crft.studio.