# Tech Stack & CMS Detector — Technology Check, Pixels & Shopify (`brenton8907/tech-stack-check`) Actor

Tech stack and CMS detection, a Wappalyzer / BuiltWith alternative. Finds pixels other detectors miss: those loaded through Google Tag Manager and Shopify apps. Domains in, one row out: CMS, analytics, chat, payments, ad pixels and marketing tools, with evidence and tracking IDs. JSON/CSV/API/MCP.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/brenton8907/tech-stack-check.md
- **Developed by:** [Brenton Keller](https://apify.com/brenton8907) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, SEO tools, Agents
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.50 / 1,000 tech stack check (site read)s

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Tech Stack & CMS Detector: Technology Check, Pixels & Shopify

Give it a list of domains. You get one row per site listing the CMS, analytics, chat, payment, ad-pixel and marketing tools it runs. Each technology comes with the evidence that matched it, and the tracking IDs it found (GA4, Google Ads, Meta pixel, TikTok, Pinterest, GTM, HubSpot portal, Klaviyo account).

An alternative to BuiltWith and Wappalyzer that finds pixels other detectors miss: those loaded through Google Tag Manager and Shopify apps. On 20 Shopify stores tested, that was 48 technologies a page scan does not see.

Built for lead enrichment. Use it to find Shopify stores running Klaviyo, B2B sites with a LinkedIn Insight Tag but no chat widget, or WordPress sites with no analytics at all.

### Why this one sees more

**It reads the Google Tag Manager container.** Most ad pixels (Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, Bing, Reddit) are not in a site's HTML. They are loaded by Tag Manager after the page opens. A detector that only scans the HTML reports these sites as having no pixels. This actor fetches the site's public `gtm.js` container, the same file every visitor's browser loads, and counts the tags it actually fires.

On 30 well-known sites tested, half of everything found (120 of 239 technologies) was visible only inside the Tag Manager container.

It reads the container carefully. GTM's own runtime code mentions Google's ad products on every site, and paused tags still ship inside the container. Counting either would report technologies the site does not use. Only live tags, the templates they call, and the variables they read are counted.

**It reads Shopify's web pixels.** Shopify apps such as Facebook & Instagram, Google & YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest and Klaviyo now install their tracking as sandboxed "web pixels". These never appear as script tags or in Tag Manager. The storefront still embeds each app pixel's settings, and the actor reads them. Only pixels that are actually configured count: an app installed but never set up is not reported. On 20 Shopify stores tested, this found 48 ad pixels and tools that a page scan misses, including the Meta pixel on 8 stores.

**It doesn't sell you a guess.** If Cloudflare, DataDome, Akamai, Fastly, PerimeterX, Imperva, AWS WAF or Vercel answers with a challenge page instead of the site, you get an error row saying which one, and you are **not charged**. A tool that reads the challenge page instead would report "uses Cloudflare, nothing else".

**Every detection shows its evidence.** For example, `meta_pixel: "tag manager GTM-ABC123: connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js"`. If you doubt a row, you can see why it says what it says.

### Input

```json
{
  "domains": ["allbirds.com", "webflow.com", "techcrunch.com", "https://acme.com/pricing"]
}
```

- A bare domain is tried at `https://domain/`, then `https://www.domain/`, then `http://domain/`.
- A full URL is fetched exactly as given. Use this to check a pricing or checkout page, which is where payment providers usually load.

| Option | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| `inspectTagManager` | `true` | Reads Tag Manager containers. Costs one extra request per container. Containers shared across sites are fetched once. |
| `maxTagManagerContainers` | `2` | Most sites have one container. Some load an agency container and an in-house one. |
| `includeEvidence` | `true` | Up to three evidence strings per technology. Turn it off for smaller rows. |
| `maxConcurrency` | `8` | Sites checked in parallel. |
| `requestTimeoutSecs` | `20` | A site that doesn't answer in time becomes a free error row. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | none | Not needed for most sites. Add a residential proxy for sites behind aggressive bot protection. |

### Output

One row per input, in input order. A line that repeats an earlier one (ignoring case and a trailing slash) is checked and charged once, so it gets no second row. `shop.acme.com` and `acme.com` are different sites and each get a row.

```json
{
  "query": "allbirds.com",
  "final_domain": "allbirds.com",
  "tech_count": 14,
  "cms": ["shopify"],
  "analytics": ["elevar", "google_tag_manager", "microsoft_clarity"],
  "chat": [],
  "payments": [],
  "ads": ["criteo", "google_ads", "meta_pixel", "microsoft_ads", "outbrain", "reddit_pixel", "tiktok_pixel"],
  "marketing": ["attentive", "yotpo"],
  "consent": [],
  "frameworks": [],
  "hosting": ["cloudflare"],
  "tracking_ids": {"google_tag_manager": ["GTM-TH8KRSBJ"], "google_ads": ["AW-786649265", "AW-736740096"], "reddit_pixel": ["t2_b4kw4fzh"], "microsoft_clarity": ["yrlg0i3snv"]},
  "shopify_store": "weareallbirds.myshopify.com",
  "is_parked": false,
  "evidence": {"meta_pixel": ["tag manager GTM-TH8KRSBJ: connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js"], "...": []}
}
```

**Categories:**

- `cms`: CMS or storefront platform
- `analytics`
- `chat`: chat and support widgets
- `payments`
- `ads`: ad pixels
- `marketing`: marketing automation, email, ABM, reviews and schedulers
- `consent`: cookie consent tools
- `frameworks`
- `hosting`: hosting and CDN

The fingerprint table covers 180+ technologies, including:

- **CMS:** WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, Webflow, Squarespace, Wix, Framer, HubSpot CMS, Drupal, BigCommerce, Magento, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Contentful and Sanity.
- **Analytics:** Google Analytics, Segment, Mixpanel, PostHog, Amplitude, Heap, Hotjar and FullStory.
- **Chat:** Intercom, Zendesk, Drift, Crisp, LiveChat, HubSpot Chat, Gorgias and Qualified.
- **Payments:** Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, Shop Pay, Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm, Adyen and Paddle.
- **Ad pixels:** Google Ads, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Pinterest, Snap, Microsoft, Reddit and AppLovin Axon.
- **Marketing:** HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot, Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Braze, Attentive, Nosto, Dynamic Yield, 6sense, ZoomInfo, Clearbit and Demandbase.

`shopify_store` is the store's permanent `*.myshopify.com` handle. It stays the same when the store changes its domain.

### What it cannot see

This actor reads the HTML a browser receives. It does not run the page's JavaScript. So these are invisible to it:

- **Tools bundled into the site's own JavaScript.** stripe.com serves Stripe.js from its own bundle, and posthog.com does the same with PostHog. The vendor's script URL never appears.
- **Tools loaded only on other pages.** Payment providers usually load only at checkout or on the pricing page. An empty `payments` list on a homepage is not proof the site takes no payments. Pass that page's URL to check it.
- **Shopify custom pixels.** App pixels are read (see above), but Shopify doesn't expose the code of a store's own custom pixels. The `hint` says how many a store runs.
- **Tags that only fire after login**, and **server-side tagging** where the browser never contacts the vendor.

### Pricing

**$0.005 per site read.** Error rows are free. These include unreachable sites, bot-protection challenges, invalid inputs and public suffixes. One site's price covers the homepage fetch and its Tag Manager containers.

### Errors

| Error | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `Blocked by <vendor> bot protection` | A challenge page answered instead of the site. Not charged. Try a residential proxy. |
| `Site unreachable: …` | DNS, TLS, timeout or an HTTP error on every URL variant. Not charged. |
| `… is a public suffix` | You entered something like `co.uk`, which can't be a website. Not charged. |

A `hint` field explains caveats on successful rows: a redirect to another domain, a parked domain, an unreadable Tag Manager container, Shopify custom pixels that can't be read, or a page truncated at 3 MB.

***

Wappalyzer and BuiltWith are trademarks of their owners. This actor is an independent tool, is not affiliated with or endorsed by either, and uses its own fingerprint set rather than their data.

# Actor input Schema

## `domains` (type: `array`):

One per line. A bare domain (acme.com) is fetched at https://acme.com/, then www., then http://. A full URL is fetched exactly as given, which is how to check a pricing or checkout page instead of the homepage. Repeated lines are checked and charged once.

## `inspectTagManager` (type: `boolean`):

Most ad pixels (Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, Bing) are loaded through Tag Manager and never appear in the page HTML. With this on, the public container file is read and only its live tags count: paused tags and unused templates are ignored. One extra request per container.

## `maxTagManagerContainers` (type: `integer`):

Sites occasionally load several containers (agency plus in-house). Containers shared between sites in one run are fetched once.

## `includeEvidence` (type: `boolean`):

For each technology, up to three strings saying what matched: the script URL, header, cookie, meta tag or Tag Manager tag. Turn off for a smaller row.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Every site is a different server, so parallelism does not hammer anyone. Lower it on a small memory setting.

## `requestTimeoutSecs` (type: `integer`):

Per request. A site that does not answer in time is an unreachable error row and not charged.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Not needed for most sites. Sites behind aggressive bot protection (Cloudflare challenge, DataDome, Akamai) return a challenge instead of the page; those rows are errors and not charged, and a residential proxy usually gets through.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "domains": [
    "allbirds.com",
    "webflow.com",
    "techcrunch.com",
    "intercom.com"
  ],
  "inspectTagManager": true,
  "maxTagManagerContainers": 2,
  "includeEvidence": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 8,
  "requestTimeoutSecs": 20,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `items` (type: `string`):

One row per domain or URL.

## `csv` (type: `string`):

The same rows as CSV, for spreadsheets.

## `run` (type: `string`):

The run page with the Overview table, status message and log.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "domains": [
        "allbirds.com",
        "webflow.com",
        "techcrunch.com",
        "intercom.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("brenton8907/tech-stack-check").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "domains": [
        "allbirds.com",
        "webflow.com",
        "techcrunch.com",
        "intercom.com",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("brenton8907/tech-stack-check").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "domains": [
    "allbirds.com",
    "webflow.com",
    "techcrunch.com",
    "intercom.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call brenton8907/tech-stack-check --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,brenton8907/tech-stack-check"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/diWZiUjc7XwORqZnT/builds/x1cPBJckBKBsJULu3/openapi.json