How to check if a website is built with WordPress? (2 simple methods)

WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that lets you create, manage, and modify a website without writing the code from scratch.
You can add content like text, photos, and videos through an interface, like editing a document in word processing software.
It’s built using PHP, a programming language, and uses a MySQL database to store all your website’s content and settings.
WordPress is stated to have over 60% of CMS market share and is estimated to be the technology behind over 40% of all websites today.
Many want to check if a website is built with WordPress – and no wonder.
There are two main methods to check if a website is built with WordPress: 1) check with an online tool or 2) check the source code manually.
Method 1) Check with an online WordPress detector tool
This is by far the quickest and easiest route to check whether a website was built with WordPress or not:
- Copy the URL of the website you want to check.
- Paste it into our free WordPress detector tool.
The results will tell you whether the website was built with WordPress. As a bonus, you discover the theme and plugins it uses.
Method 2) Check the website source code manually
This method can be a bit technical, but if you follow this guide, you’ll probably learn something useful: how to check for WordPress clues in the source code.
- View Source Code: Right-click anywhere on the web page and select “View Page Source” or a similar option, depending on your browser. This will launch a new tab that displays the page’s HTML source code.
- Check for WordPress clues: Use the shortcut Ctrl + F (or Cmd + F on a Mac) to bring up the search function in your browser. Enter “
wp-content
” in the search field to scan the code for mentions or links to WordPress themes or plugins. - Check for Meta tags: look for meta tags that include “WordPress” in the content attribute. For example
<meta name="generator" content="WordPress 5.6" />
, it indicates the site is running on WordPress. - Check headers: Use developer tools in your browser (usually accessible by pressing F12) and check the network tab while the page loads. Look for
wp-
prefixes in the names of CSS and JavaScript files, which suggests WordPress is being used.
Your safest bet will be searching for wp-content
in the source files. Almost every WordPress website has some form of wp-content
in their source code.
WordPress developers who want to hide that websites are built with WordPress can make it challenging to find the clues, but it can often be revealed with the tips above.
Check out our guide on which website platform is used.
Other popular web stacks you can investigate
Website builders
- SquareSpace detector (also detects themes).
- Webflow detector.
- Framer detector.
- Wix detector.
- Bubble.io detector.
- Weebly detector.
- Unbounce detector.
E-commerce platforms
- WooCommerce detector (also detects themes).
- Shopify detector.
- BigCommerce detector.
- PrestaShop detector.
- OpenCart detector.
CMS
Javascript frameworks
Christoffer Pettersen
Founder, Web developerPettersen is the founder of Stackcrawler, a platform that helps analyze tech stacks. He is passionate about new trends and technologies in the software industry.