What CMS Is a Website Using? A Complete Guide
In the digital world of 2026, millions of websites power businesses, blogs, e-commerce stores, and personal portfolios. But have you ever visited a site and wondered, “What CMS is this website using?” Whether you’re a developer scouting competitors, a marketer analyzing tech stacks, a curious web enthusiast, or a business owner planning a redesign, identifying a site’s content management system (CMS) can provide valuable insights.
A Content Management System (CMS) is software that allows users to create, manage, and modify website content without deep coding knowledge. Popular options include WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Joomla, Drupal, and Squarespace. Knowing the CMS behind a site helps understand its capabilities, potential vulnerabilities, customization level, and even why it performs a certain way.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore why this question matters, the most effective methods to detect a CMS (updated for 2026), popular platforms and their market dominance, manual detection techniques, limitations, and practical tips. By the end, you’ll confidently answer “what CMS is a website using” for almost any site.
Understanding a site’s CMS goes beyond curiosity. Here are key reasons professionals care:
With over 1.2 billion websites online and CMS usage evolving rapidly, tools and techniques have become more sophisticated thanks to AI-assisted detection and broader signature databases.
Before diving into detection, let’s look at the landscape. Data from sources like W3Techs, BuiltWith, and industry reports show clear leaders as of early 2026.
WordPress remains dominant, powering around 43% of all websites (and over 62-63% of CMS-powered sites). It holds a massive lead due to its flexibility, vast plugin ecosystem, and open-source nature.
Shopify follows as a strong second for e-commerce, with roughly 6-6.7% market share among CMS platforms.
Other notables include:
Many sites (around 28-31%) use no CMS at all, relying on custom code or static generators like Hugo or Gatsby.
This dominance influences detection—tools prioritize signatures for top platforms, making WordPress the easiest to spot.
The fastest, most accurate method in 2026 is online detectors. These tools scan a URL and analyze code, headers, paths, and other signals.
WhatCMS.org — Detects over 1,500 technologies, including niche CMS. Enter a URL for instant results on CMS, frameworks, hosting, and more. Highly reliable for WordPress and Shopify.
BuiltWith — Comprehensive tech profiler showing CMS plus analytics, widgets, hosting, and e-commerce tools. Free basic view; premium for deeper data.
CMS Detector (cmsdetect.com) — Algorithm-based scanner for hundreds of CMS options. Simple interface, quick results.
Sitechecker.pro CMS Checker — Free tool focused on CMS identification with additional SEO insights.
Wappalyzer (browser extension) — Install for Chrome/Firefox; it auto-detects technologies on any visited site.
These tools use a mix of:
In most cases, results appear in seconds with high confidence.
When tools aren’t available or for verification, manual checks work well.
Right-click any page > “View Page Source” (or Ctrl+U). Search (Ctrl+F) for:
Many sites remove generator tags, so dig deeper.
CMS leave fingerprints in URLs:
Broken image links sometimes reveal paths like /wp-content/themes/…
Some sites proudly display “Powered by WordPress” or “Built with Squarespace” in the footer. Custom or agency-built sites often remove this.
Try /admin, /login, /wp-admin, /administrator. The design or error messages can hint at the CMS.
Open DevTools (F12) > Sources tab. Look for folders like wp-content (WordPress) or static/shopify (Shopify). Network tab shows loaded resources with revealing URLs.
These manual methods work best for popular CMS but require some experience.
Some sites hide their CMS using custom development, security plugins (like Wordfence for WordPress), or headless setups.
Use browser extensions or curl to check response headers. Some CMS add X-Powered-By or specific cookies.
Certain CMS have unique admin behaviors or error pages.
Tools like WPScan target WordPress vulnerabilities but require permission.
For headless CMS (Contentful, Strapi), detection is harder as frontend might be React/Vue with no backend clues.
No method is 100% accurate. Challenges include:
Tools like WhatCMS.org claim high accuracy for top platforms, but niche or custom setups may return “unknown.”
Asking “what CMS is a website using” opens doors to understanding modern web development. With dominant players like WordPress (43%+ of the web), tools like WhatCMS.org and BuiltWith make detection effortless, while manual inspection builds deeper knowledge.
Next time you admire a sleek site, try these steps. You’ll often uncover WordPress under the hood—or discover innovative uses of Shopify, Wix, or custom solutions.
Mastering CMS detection sharpens your web skills in 2026’s dynamic landscape. Happy hunting!
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