What Website Builder Is This Site Using? 5 Quick Checks
Curious which platform a website runs on? You don't need a paid tool or any technical background. Five quick checks in your browser will identify most sites, and a short cheat sheet below covers the fingerprints of the platforms you are most likely to meet.
This guide is about the platform in general: WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace and the rest. If you specifically want to know whether a site was generated by AI, read our guide to AI website builders next, because knowing the platform is only the first half of that question.
Check any website for signs of AI
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Check 1: read the footer
Start with the obvious. Scroll to the bottom of the page. Many sites still say "Powered by WordPress", "Made with Squarespace" or show a small builder badge. Free plans on several builders add their branding automatically. It takes three seconds and settles the question more often than you would expect.
Check 2: look at the address bar
Free and starter plans often host sites on the builder's own domain, so the address alone tells you the platform:
name.wixsite.comis Wix.name.myshopify.comis Shopify.name.webflow.iois Webflow.name.framer.websiteis Framer.name.godaddysites.comis GoDaddy's builder.name.lovable.appandname.durable.siteare AI builders, which we cover separately.
Also watch the paths of pages and images as you click around. Addresses containing /wp-content/ mean WordPress. Addresses with /products/ and /collections/ are typical of Shopify stores.
Check 3: search the page source
This is the most reliable check. Press Ctrl+U (Cmd+Option+U on a Mac) to open the source, then Ctrl+F to search it.
The generator tag
Search for generator. Many platforms announce themselves in a tag like <meta name="generator" content="WordPress 6.8">. Site owners can remove it, so a missing tag proves nothing, but a present one is usually accurate.
Where the files come from
Every page loads images, scripts and styles, and most platforms serve them from their own servers. Those addresses are the hardest fingerprint to hide. The cheat sheet below lists the ones to search for.
Check 4: look at the response headers
Open your browser's developer tools (F12), switch to the Network tab and reload the page. Click the first request, the page itself, and read the response headers. Some platforms and hosts identify themselves there:
x-powered-bysometimes names the software, for example a PHP version on a WordPress host or a framework name.server: Netlifyor anx-nf-request-idheader points to Netlify hosting.- An
x-vercel-idheader points to Vercel, a host popular for sites built with Next.js.
Headers tell you about hosting as much as about the builder. A site can be built with one tool and hosted on another, so combine this with the source check.
Check 5: try the standard files
Add these to the end of the domain and see what loads:
/wp-sitemap.xmlexists on most WordPress sites, because WordPress creates it by default./sitemap_index.xmlis the format used by popular WordPress SEO plugins./robots.txtoften mentions platform-specific paths, such as/wp-admin/on WordPress or/checkoutand/cartrules on Shopify.
Cheat sheet: what to search for in the source
WordPress
/wp-content/, /wp-includes/, /wp-json/, and a generator tag with "WordPress".
Shopify
cdn.shopify.com, paths containing /cdn/shop/, and a JavaScript object named Shopify.theme.
Wix
static.wixstatic.com, static.parastorage.com, and a generator tag mentioning the Wix website builder.
Squarespace
static1.squarespace.com and images.squarespace-cdn.com.
Webflow
Attributes named data-wf-page and data-wf-site on the page, files from website-files.com, and a generator tag with "Webflow".
Framer
A comment saying the site was built with Framer, a generator tag such as Framer 03f754e, files from framerusercontent.com, and class names starting with framer-.
Ghost
A generator tag with "Ghost" followed by a version number, and images under /content/images/.
GoDaddy
Images from img1.wsimg.com.
Lovable and Durable
lovable-uploads or data-lov-id for Lovable, cdn.durable.com for Durable. See our dedicated guides on Lovable and Durable.
Custom code
If none of these appear, the site is probably built with a framework rather than a builder. Paths starting with /_next/ point to Next.js, and a single empty <div id="root"> with a bundled script suggests a React or Vue app.
Three mistakes to avoid
Counting a link as a fingerprint
A page that links to Shopify's website or reviews Squarespace contains those words too. Only count matches in the site's own code: scripts, stylesheets, image addresses, meta tags. We made this mistake in an early version of our own checker and flagged a major payments company because its homepage showed an AI builder's logo in a list of customers.
Trusting detector tools blindly
Browser extensions and lookup sites are fast and usually right, but they make the same mistake at scale. While testing our checker, we found a company listed by technology trackers as running on an AI builder, when only one promotional page it linked to did. If a result matters, confirm it in the source yourself.
Assuming one site, one platform
The shop might be Shopify, the blog WordPress and the landing pages Webflow, all under one brand. Check the specific page you care about.
From platform to "was it made by AI?"
Knowing the platform is useful context, and for dedicated AI builders like Lovable and Durable it nearly answers the AI question by itself. For everything else, the platform tells you very little about whether a person or a model wrote the pages. That is where publishing patterns and content signals come in, and where our 12-sign guide picks up.
Check any website for signs of AI
Free, no sign-up. Every clue is explained.