If you’re trying to figure out which SaaS products your target customers are actually using, you know it’s not as easy as reading a few blog posts or skimming analyst reports. Most of what’s out there is outdated, vague, or just plain wrong. If you want real answers—what’s gaining ground, what’s fading out, and what companies in your space are actually buying—you need better tools. That’s where Builtwith comes in.
This guide is for you if you’re in product, sales, marketing, or just need to cut through the noise and get real data on SaaS adoption in your market. I’ll walk you through how to use Builtwith without getting overwhelmed or wasting your time, and point out what’s worth paying attention to—and what’s not.
Step 1: Get Clear On What You Actually Want to Know
Before you even open Builtwith, figure out your real questions. “What SaaS tools do companies like ours use?” is too broad. You’ll get lost in data and miss the good stuff.
Here’s what you might want to nail down instead:
- Which SaaS categories are gaining traction (CRM, marketing automation, chat, etc.)?
- Which specific tools are rising or falling among your target audience?
- Are there certain tools dominant in your target geography, company size, or vertical?
- How fast are competitors or prospects switching tools?
Pro tip: Write your questions down. If you can’t turn your goal into a question, you’re not ready to start searching.
Step 2: Understand What Builtwith Can (and Can’t) Do
Builtwith scans millions of websites and catalogs the tech they’re using: SaaS apps, web frameworks, analytics—if it leaves a fingerprint in the code, it probably shows up. But this isn’t magic.
What works:
- Spotting which SaaS products are actually deployed on company websites.
- Tracking adoption over time (when a tool first appeared, or disappeared).
- Segmenting by industry, company size, location (with caveats).
What doesn’t:
- Anything that happens behind the scenes (internal tools, desktop SaaS, stuff not linked to the site).
- Usage details—Builtwith can tell you Slack is installed, not if people actually use it.
- Complete certainty—blocking scripts, custom implementations, or CDNs can hide usage.
Ignore: Builtwith’s “market share” stats at face value. They’re directionally helpful, but they can be skewed by sample bias (it’s web-only, and favors companies with public websites).
Step 3: Build a List of Target Companies
You’ll get better results if you focus on a clear list of companies in your target market, instead of just poking around in broad categories.
How to build your list:
- Pull from LinkedIn, Crunchbase, or industry directories.
- Filter by company size, vertical, and region.
- Don’t go too broad—50 to 500 companies is plenty for most research.
Pro tip: Builtwith’s paid plans let you upload a list and analyze them in bulk. If you’re just testing, start with a manual check on a handful of sites.
Step 4: Find Out What Tech They’re Using
Now, fire up Builtwith. Here’s how I’d do it:
- Search by individual domain: Enter a company’s website in Builtwith to see all detected tech, broken out by category (analytics, live chat, CRM, etc.).
- Look for patterns: Do this for several companies. Note the SaaS tools that keep popping up. Are there clear favorites?
- Export for analysis (paid): If you have a list, upload it and let Builtwith spit out a spreadsheet of tech stacks. This saves hours if you’re analyzing at scale.
What to look for:
- Which SaaS tools show up the most? Ignore one-offs; focus on recurring names.
- Any “new” tools appearing? If you see a name you haven’t heard, research it.
- Tools missing? If a big player (like Salesforce or HubSpot) doesn’t show up, is it because your sector isn’t using them, or because they’re not detectable?
Step 5: Track Adoption Trends Over Time
Builtwith lets you see historical adoption data for many SaaS products. This is where you get trend lines, not just static snapshots.
How to use it:
- Search for a SaaS tool (e.g., Intercom): You’ll get a graph showing number of sites using it over time.
- Segment by geography or vertical: Use filters if you have access. See if adoption is flat, rising, or tanking.
- Compare competing tools: Plot Drift vs. Intercom, or HubSpot vs. Marketo.
What matters:
- Steady growth: Indicates a tool is gaining ground, probably for a reason.
- Sudden drops: Could mean a tool lost favor, got acquired, or changed pricing.
- Flat lines: Sometimes “boring” is good—shows stability.
Don’t get fooled: A spike doesn’t always mean a trend. Sometimes it’s just Builtwith adding new domains, or a big customer switching. Look for sustained movement.
Step 6: Cross-Reference With Other Signals
Builtwith’s data is solid, but it’s not gospel. Always sanity-check what you see.
Ways to check your findings:
- Job postings: Are people hiring for skills in the SaaS tools you spotted?
- Company news: Any big vendor partnerships, migrations, or rollouts announced?
- Direct outreach: Ask friendly contacts if they’re really using the tools Builtwith detects.
If you’re seeing a tool everywhere on websites but nobody talks about it, maybe it’s just embedded for a trial—or it’s legacy code that never got removed.
Step 7: Ignore the Hype, Focus on Actionable Insights
All the data in the world means nothing if you can’t act on it. Here’s how to make your research useful:
- Share raw findings, not just “market share.” For sales: “30% of mid-market SaaS companies in healthcare switched to X over the last year” is better than “X is popular.”
- Spot whitespace. If a competitor is gaining ground in your segment, figure out why.
- Don’t overinterpret. Just because a tool shows up doesn’t mean everyone loves it, or even uses it properly.
Pro tip: Document your process and sources—so you (or your boss) can repeat or tweak your analysis later.
What to Skip (So You Don’t Waste Your Time)
- Perfect accuracy. Builtwith is good, not perfect. Treat it as a strong signal, not a single source of truth.
- Tiny adoption changes. Don’t sweat a 1-2% move. Look for real, sustained shifts.
- Tools with unclear names. Sometimes Builtwith detects “custom” or “other”—ignore these unless you have context.
Keep It Simple—And Iterate
Don’t try to map your whole market in one go. Start narrow, pick a segment, and see what you learn. Builtwith gives you a solid window into SaaS adoption, but you’ll get the most out of it by asking focused questions and cross-checking what you find. The best insights are usually the simplest ones: Who’s using what, and is that changing?
Cut the fluff, trust your eyes, and use the data to make better calls—not to drown in spreadsheets. If you keep your process honest and repeatable, you’ll spot real trends before the hype cycle hits.