How One Developer Built a $14M SaaS Without Employees – The BuiltWith Story

Gary Brewer, a programmer, founded BuiltWith—a service that identifies the exact technologies used by any website. Starting in 2006 after a startup conference, he built a scraper and technology database that could map code snippets to specific platforms, such as detecting Adsense or Java usage.

BuiltWith launched and quickly attracted massive traffic. Brewer partnered with AboutUs founder Raymond King, who added BuiltWith links to every entry in AboutUs’s millions‑of‑companies index, causing an explosive increase in visits and SEO rankings.

The service offers two versions: a free tier that lets users see which technologies competitors use, and a paid tier that enables keyword‑based searches, location, spending, and social interest filters to find and segment target sites—essentially a powerful lead‑generation tool.

Because BuiltWith functions as a comprehensive internet‑technology database, many companies treat it as a source of potential customers and competitive intelligence, driving over 50% of its traffic from direct visits. Statistics show the company operates with zero employees, generates $14 million in annual revenue, and receives about 2 million page views per month, with 57% direct traffic and 36% from search engines, without any paid keyword advertising.

The entire operation is essentially automated; Brewer only needed to create a short tutorial video, and no engineers are required for ongoing development or sales. This case demonstrates how a single developer can run a high‑revenue SaaS business by providing valuable, automated insights into web technologies.