If you’re in B2B sales, marketing, or research, you know the pain: finding good leads without wasting hours on dead ends. Or worse, pitching a “perfect” solution to a company that’s not even using the right tech. This is where Wappalyzer comes in. It promises to uncover what tech websites are built with—think CRMs, e-commerce platforms, chat tools, analytics, and more. The big question: is it actually useful for finding B2B leads or understanding your market, or is it just another chrome extension collecting dust? Here’s the straight talk.
What Wappalyzer Actually Does
At its core, Wappalyzer is a tool that detects the technologies running on websites. That means if you’re curious whether a company uses Shopify, Salesforce, HubSpot, or something more obscure, Wappalyzer will sniff it out. It works through a browser extension, a web app, or via API (if you want to get nerdy and automate things).
Main features:
- Technology identification — See what CMS, e-commerce, CRM, analytics, ad networks, and other tech a site is running.
- Lead lists — Find companies using specific software, sorted by geography, industry, or traffic size.
- Data exports — Download lists for your CRM or outreach tools.
- Monitoring — Get alerts when a company adds or drops a certain tool.
Who is this useful for?
- B2B sales teams hunting for prospects who use (or don’t use) specific software
- Marketers sizing up the competitive landscape
- Product folks tracking adoption of competing tools
- Agencies pitching website rebuilds or migrations
How Wappalyzer Helps With B2B Lead Generation
Let’s cut through the fluff. Most “lead generation” tools either bombard you with unqualified contacts or require a PhD to use. Wappalyzer is a bit different because it starts by telling you what a company is running, not just who works there. Here’s how that changes the game:
1. Find Companies Running (or Not Running) Your Target Tech
If you sell integrations, plugins, or services for a specific platform (say, Magento), this is gold. You can filter for companies using that exact stack—and skip the ones that aren’t worth your time.
Example:
You sell a Salesforce plugin. With Wappalyzer, you can pull a list of sites using Salesforce, export it, and put your outreach on autopilot.
Pro tip:
Flip it around. Target companies not using a certain tool (for example, those still on WordPress instead of Shopify) if you’re selling a migration service.
2. Segment by Geography, Industry, and Traffic
Not all leads are created equal. Wappalyzer lets you filter by country, industry, and estimated website size. This means you don’t end up pitching your enterprise SaaS to a mom-and-pop blog in rural Idaho (unless that’s your thing).
3. Export and Plug Into Your Workflow
Wappalyzer’s exports work with most CRMs, email tools, or even Google Sheets if you like to keep things simple. No fancy integrations needed—just download CSVs and get moving.
4. Enrich and Qualify Leads
Technology data is a strong qualifier. If you know a company spends money on a certain stack, there’s a good chance they’re in your target market. This beats guessing based on company size or industry alone.
Market Research: Get the Real Lay of the Land
Beyond lead gen, Wappalyzer is handy for market research—especially if you’re skeptical of “industry reports” that feel like they were written by an AI trained on corporate press releases.
1. Understand Market Share in the Real World
Want to know how many e-commerce sites use Shopify vs. Magento? Or which analytics tools are actually out there in the wild? Wappalyzer can spit out numbers based on real websites, not surveys or guesses.
Use cases: - Sizing up competitors’ adoption rates - Spotting trends (who’s gaining or losing ground) - Backing up your pitch deck with actual data
2. Track Technology Trends Over Time
With Wappalyzer’s monitoring, you can see when companies switch tech. This is great for spotting churn or new opportunities (for example, if a big brand ditches your competitor’s tool).
3. Identify Gaps in the Market
Find clusters of companies using older tech or no tech at all. These are often ripe for outreach—think “upgrade” or “modernization” pitches.
What Works Well (And What Doesn’t)
No tool is perfect. Here’s where Wappalyzer shines, and where it falls flat.
The Good
- Fast, accurate detection: For most mainstream tools, Wappalyzer’s tech IDs are solid. You’ll spot Shopify, HubSpot, Google Analytics, etc., quickly.
- Flexible search and export: You don’t need to be a data scientist to pull useful lists.
- No-nonsense pricing: You pay for access to bigger lists and premium features, but the free tier is enough for small-scale prospecting.
The Limits
- Not foolproof: Sites can obfuscate their tech, especially big brands. Some stacks (like custom CRMs) can slip through undetected.
- Contact info is basic: Wappalyzer isn’t a contact database. You’ll get company names and domains—not direct emails or LinkedIn profiles. You’ll still need a tool like Hunter or Apollo for that.
- Data freshness: Tech stack info can lag a bit. If a site just switched tools yesterday, Wappalyzer might not pick it up instantly.
- APIs aren’t for everyone: If you want to automate at scale, you’ll need some technical chops (or a dev) to use their API.
What to Ignore
- “All-in-one” hype: Wappalyzer is great at telling you what tech a company uses. It’s not an outreach platform, and it won’t write your cold emails for you.
- Signal vs. noise: Just because a company uses a certain tool doesn’t mean they’re a perfect fit. Always double-check before hitting send.
How to Use Wappalyzer for B2B Lead Gen and Market Research (Step-by-Step)
Here’s a simple, no-nonsense workflow you can use right now:
- Sign up and install: Create a Wappalyzer account and install the browser extension or use the web app.
- Search for your target tech: Use the “Technologies” tab to search for companies running your tool (or a competitor’s).
- Filter by what matters: Apply filters for industry, geography, or traffic size. The more targeted, the better.
- Export your list: Download your results as a CSV. Clean up any obvious junk (personal blogs, spammy sites, etc.).
- Enrich with contacts: Run the domains through a tool like Hunter.io, Apollo, or LinkedIn Sales Navigator to find decision-makers.
- Outreach: Personalize your emails based on what you know about their tech stack. Mentioning real details beats “Hi, I’d like to connect” every time.
- Track and iterate: Watch who replies, refine your filters, and keep tweaking. Don’t expect magic from a single export.
Pro tip:
If you’re after market research, skip the contact enrichment and focus on pulling stats, trends, or competitor lists. It’s faster and often more honest than relying on analyst reports.
A Few Real-World Use Cases
- SaaS vendors: Find customers running your competitors’ software. Pitch your migration tool or integration.
- Agencies: Spot websites using out-of-date CMSs. Offer redesign or upgrade services.
- Market analysts: Track shifts in platform popularity over time, with actual web data (not just surveys).
- Recruiters: Identify companies using specific backend languages, cloud providers, or frameworks—target your outreach accordingly.
Final Thoughts: Keep It Simple, Stay Skeptical
Wappalyzer is a solid, no-nonsense tool for anyone who cares about what tech companies actually use. It won’t close deals for you, and it can’t read minds, but it’ll save you from pitching in the dark or chasing dead leads. Don’t get bogged down in fancy features—just use it to get better info, make smarter lists, and iterate as you learn what works.
Don’t overthink it. Start small, see what data is actually useful for you, and adjust as you go. The best results come from doing the basics better—and Wappalyzer helps you do just that.