Top 15 WordPress Theme Detectors for Competitor Analysis
No matter what business, you should always be on the lookout for something that is new and better. When it comes to digital marketing, this also refers to website designs. If you run your website on WordPress, having the perfect theme differentiates your branding from others and gives your platform a more polished look. With a WordPress theme detector, you can easily find the theme your competitors are using.
You can utilize the same design for your platform, rebrand it to make it look better, and reap the benefits. To make matters even better, most of these WordPress theme detectors also generate a list of plugins used on the website. That way, you can check how the competitor is handling their daily content creation and optimization and look for new WordPress plugin ideas.
Top 15 Word Press Theme Detectors
For this particular exercise, I used my own website for reference. Given that I use the Blocksy theme, I could easily tell if a program is doing a good job or not. In case a tool couldn’t detect it, I used one of the other sites for checkup. I will begin with the theme detectors that were able to detect it, as I would recommend you try those first, but I will also include other popular WordPress theme detectors that failed on my site but might be more successful on others.
1. Kinsta
As you can see above, Kinsta wins the prize for finding my theme – and more!
Kinsta is a WordPress hosting platform that offers a few nifty perks. For example, it changes your virtual location to provide SEO perks, such as increased website loading speed. As a part of their offer, they also have a small theme detection tool that helps you figure out which theme a company uses.
The software provides a brief description of the theme, whether it is a parent or child theme. You can preview it while on the Kinsta website, and there’s also a link to the creator’s page. You get a few other information, such as required PHP, required WordPress, version, creation and update times, author, and license.
My favorite thing about the program is that it shows how many times a theme has been downloaded. This makes it ideal for competitive analysis and deciding whether a theme is worthwhile.
2. Satori Web Academy
Not only did Satori Web Academy determine my WP theme, but it also found the theme author. This is something that most other online tools struggled with. The software provides you with a block of text where you can check the theme version. There’s also a brief description of the online theme, which is something you can find on the creator’s home site.
However, you don’t get any other information besides that. Yes, there’s a breakdown of currently popular themes on the Satori Web Academy site, but this doesn’t tell you much about the specific theme. If you scroll down, you’ll also notice a breakdown of the tool’s latest versions and changes that have been made.
3. isitwp
The first thing this tool checks is whether you’re using WordPress. If you fit the bill, the online tool provides various information about the website and website owner. It will show the homepage image of your default theme as well as the website name. Below the title, there will be a direct link to hosting provider.
If you wish to learn a few more tidbits about the website, you can click on the WHOIS link. It will guide you to an external site with a tool for domain lookup. Besides these information, the software also provides the name of the business theme, just if you wish to use it for your own purposes.
My favorite thing about the WP theme detector is that it provides a plugin report. Just below the main data, a list of plugins will appear together with their descriptions, The tool correctly shows that I’m using Yoast and OptinMonster. Unfortunately, the software omitted my other website plugins.
4. Web Themez
Web Themez works as a WordPress Theme & Plugin Detector. After a short processing, the program determined I used Blocksy. Following that, Web Themez generated a list of plugins used for my site. Unlike isitwp, this software did a much better job finding every application.
Alas, I was quite disappointed by the lack of other options and features. Besides my premium theme and exact plugin names, Web Themez barely provided any other information about my domain.
5. WPThemeDetector
My main issue with this particular online tool is that it works really slow. It felt like it took minutes to check my content and files. To make matters worse, the software struggled to retrieve the name of my theme, something that other programs did correctly. Just to be on the safe side, I tried another popular WordPress site.
The second time around, WPThemeDetector managed to provide some valuable info. Although it still didn’t show the theme name, its plugins detection worked just fine. The search tool correctly shows WordPress configuration and all theme changes since the website is active. The WP scanner also shows SEO specialists how the homepage looks like.
6. What WordPress Theme Is That?
This is probably one of my favorite theme detectors on the Internet. The software is pretty fast and is able to analyze thousands of themes. It works by analyzing source code and learning more about various elements of a site.
The theme/plugin checker properly shows theme and author names. You’ll also get links to theme and author homepages if you want to get this particular design pattern for your platform. The software shows the theme versions and there’s a brief description derived from the creator’s website. Lastly, you can analyze the theme license and see the screenshot.
7. SEO Magnifier
SEO Magnifier is a platform that features all sorts of tools for instant SEO analysis, content creation, link checkers, and other nifty tools. Its theme detector extension is just one of the numerous apps you can find on the homepage, which works well in conjunction with other software.
The software did a great job detecting my Blocksy theme. After that, it provided a breakdown of many plugins used on my platform. My only regret is that the software doesn’t have some other handy features to go with this.
Further Reading: The 15 Best SEO Plugins for WordPress That You Should Know
8. BeeHosting Pro
Similar to SEO Magnifier, BeeHosting Pro is a website that features numerous web tools. Its theme checker scans the entire Internet for information about the theme used on your site. During my testing, the software managed to find my Blocksy theme and produce other site information.
BeeHosting Pro shows author and theme names, followed by links to the theme website and author website. As for other information, the program generation data regarding theme license, version, and a website screenshot with the original color scheme.
9. WPdetector
WPdetector provides a plethora of information to its users. First, it assesses whether or not you’re using WordPress. Then, it gives you some basic information about it, such as theme name and description, version, and author name.
Below that, the software generates a long list of plugins found on the website. For each plugin, you’ll see a number of downloads to assess its popularity. There are also links that take you to appropriate homepages. Below that, you’ll see information regarding previous WPdetector checkups. The last section covers hosting information.
Further Reading: WordPress SEO: 31+ Best Practices for Improving Your Ranking
10. WPBeginner
Not only does WPBeginner detects your parent themes, but it also provides other valuable information about your website. For example, it shows which blogging platform you’re using, who is your hosting provider, as well as the title of the site. You get quick information about the website owner and the type of blog the person is running.
By following the WHOIS link, you get extra tidbits about the domain. You can check the domain name, registry domain ID, creation and update date, registrar information, hosting platform, domain status, and more.
Of course, the main reason why you’d use WPBeginner is to detect the underlying design template. I’ve used the online tool for my own site, and unfortunately it did not detect the theme that I am using. If it was able to detect it, apparently the software runs the theme against its database to determine if it’s a regular or custom theme specifically made for the site. Unfortunately it failed for me!
11. Cloudways
This theme detector tool is rather straightforward, similar to other online tools on the list. It works within your Google Chrome browser, and all you need to do is copy-paste your website URL to get information about the themes. I also like that it provides a breakdown of popular themes being used this month.
After doing a checkup, the analytics tool will provide the name of the theme, website title, and website description. Alas, like WPBeginner, Cloudways couldn’t figure out which specific theme I was using. It only said that I’m using a custom theme (which is not true), but couldn’t even find its name.
The app shows what your current theme looks like in search engines by providing a picture of your homepage. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have any extra functionality or features that would make it stand out.
Further Reading: WordPress Contact Form Essentials: Recommended Plugins, Best Practices & Examples to Inspire You
12. Small SEO Tools
Besides plugin detection, tools on this site assist you with all sorts of tasks. You can use them for on-page SEO analysis, creating SEO reports, creating custom designs, writing AI articles, and more.
The first thing I’ve noticed when using the tool is that you need to fill in the captcha, which is pretty annoying. During my testing, the software couldn’t figure out my exact theme, as I haven’t openly shared the information. In fact, when I tested it on other sites, I experienced a similar issue.
Small SEO Tools doesn’t work for sites that aren’t built in WordPress. In other words, the software has limited functionality compared to other entries on the list.
Further Reading: 15 Powerful WordPress Ecommerce Plugins
13. Dupli Checker
At first, it was a bit hard to get my way around Dupli Checker. The “tool” (aka the box for typing website ULR) was almost hidden on the homepage, given all the spammy banners around it.
This tool completely failed in detecting my theme, but when it works well like most other entries on the list, the online tool gives you a screenshot of the website. On the right-hand side, you’ll find other relevant information, including theme author, version, tags, description, author homepage, theme name and homepage.
Further Reading: 15 Exceptional WordPress AI Plugins to Grow Your Business
14. ScanWP
Unfortunately, ScanWP couldn’t find the name of my theme when I did a search, but it managed to find my provider’s name. Users can click on the link to reach the hosting provider’s page. Alternatively, the tool provides a few other suggestions for hosting (in the form of affiliate links).
The good news about this software is that it did a good job finding the vast majority of popular plugins on my site. As an additional functionality, you can click on each of their links to go to their original sites or find them in Google search. One of its additional features allows you to send all this information directly to your email.
15. Gochyu
My main issue with this tool is that it doesn’t provide much info about a website. It doesn’t come with plugins detectors as many other entries on the list. It also doesn’t give you any info about the admin bar, versions, chrome extensions, etc.
The theme checker struggled to detect the theme used on my site. I did another checkup with another website to no avail. However, Gotchy does a solid job detecting the hosting provider, even though it lacks other customization options. All in all, the program isn’t a waste of time, although it offers limited functionality.
Further Reading: The 16 Best WordPress Plugins for Business Blogs in 2024 (and 12 Other Plugins to Consider)
Conclusion
With these programs, you perform quick and easy competitor analysis. You learn which themes are most popular and whether it would make sense to use them for your own platform.
After testing all these programs, I have a hard time proclaiming one of them as “the best.” 9 out of 15 of them did a fantastic job detecting my theme and providing other information on top of that. In that sense, I would urge readers to perform their own research and use the software they feel most comfortable with, but I would definitely begin with one of those nine detectors that performed the job well.
Do YOU use a WordPress theme detector? Would love to hear about your recommendations in the comments below!