Backlinks are the links that lead to your website from another website. They're important for SEO since they help improve your website's ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). When another site links to yours, it tells search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy.
However, not all backlinks are equal. Links from reputable sites are much more effective than those from spammy or low-quality websites like fake news. You should build a strong backlink profile to drive more organic traffic and boost your online visibility. And a backlink checker tool is what you need for that.
Backlink checker tools analyze all the links pointing to your website. They show where your backlinks come from, their quality, and how they impact your site's SEO.
This guide presents you with the 10 best backlink checkers to select the one for your needs. We compare their offerings by analyzing the pricing, features, ease of use, and main pros and cons. Go on reading to explore the details.
A backlink is a link from one website to another. When Site A links to Site B, that's a backlink for Site B. Search engines like Google treat backlinks as votes of confidence — a signal that your content is credible and worth referencing.
But not all backlinks carry the same weight. A link from a high-authority publication like Forbes or a respected industry blog carries significantly more SEO value than a link from a newly created site with no traffic. Quality consistently outweighs quantity in backlink building.
Here's why backlinks matter for your SEO:
Understanding your backlink profile — where your links come from, their quality, and which ones might be hurting you — is where backlink checker tools come in.
First, let's define what makes the best backlink analysis tool:
First, let's take a brief look at the main differences between the top SEO backlink tools on the market so that you can choose the best backlinks checker tool for your needs.
Now, let's get to a more detailed review of the top 10 platforms to help you select the best backlink tool.
SE Ranking's Backlink Checker is a comprehensive tool for evaluating the backlink profiles of any domain or URL.
It provides detailed insights into the quantity and quality of backlinks, including metrics like referring domains, anchor texts, toxicity score, and link types.
SE Ranking's Backlink Checker has a huge and up-to-date database of 2.9 trillion indexed backlinks, 411 million referring domains, and 14 billion pages crawled on a daily basis. Moreover, 58% of all backlinks are regularly updated within 90 days.
Designed for both beginners and experienced SEO professionals, this tool is part of SE Ranking's all-in-one SEO suite, which covers everything from keyword research to competitor analysis.
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Rich database of 2.9 trillion backlinks and 411 million domains
Analysis of over 15 backlink parameters, including domain trust and anchor distribution
User-friendly interface
Regular updates of at least 58% of backlinks every 90 days
Integration with other SE Ranking tools for complete SEO insights on your website
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A rich set of features might be overwhelming for beginners at first
Limited capabilities for free and basic users
You can test how the SE Ranking Backlink Checker works right at the website without even proceeding with the free trial. Just enter the URL or domain into the dedicated bar and get the basic backlinks report. This will give you an understanding of what metrics you can get and whether it's worth signing up.
If you're interested, you're first granted a 14-day free trial. When it ends, you have several paid options to continue (if paid annually):
If paid monthly, the cost is slightly higher.
SE Ranking is the best backlink checking tool for small to medium businesses, agencies, and enterprises seeking an all-in-one SEO platform with advanced backlink insights. For teams weighing SE Ranking against Ahrefs or Semrush on budget: SE Ranking delivers comparable core backlink functionality — toxicity scoring, referring domain analysis, anchor tracking — at roughly half the price of Ahrefs Lite and a third of Semrush Pro.
Majestic is a backlink-focused tool that provides detailed analysis with proprietary metrics like Trust Flow (TF) and Citation Flow (CF).
It evaluates the quality and quantity of backlinks, tracks link-building campaigns, and analyzes competitor profiles. Unlike all-in-one SEO platforms, Majestic specializes in link intelligence, offering features like a neighborhood checker (to identify links from the same hosting environment) and topic-based backlink categorization.
While the layout with all metrics is detailed, the overall design is quite outdated, especially compared with more modern backlink tools.
Large database of more than 21 trillion historical backlinks
Exclusive focus on backlink data
Comprehensive link analysis tools
Affordable pricing compared to competitors
Outdated interface compared to modern competitors
Limited SEO features beyond backlinks
Limited free usage
Majestic doesn't offer a free trial but still allows you to test the tool for free.
However, you get limited data and can only do so after you sign up. To get more backlink analysis, you are offered three paid monthly subscription options:
Majestic is the best backlink checker tool for SEO professionals focusing on backlink intelligence and link-building strategies. It also perfectly suits the needs of smaller agencies due to comparatively affordable pricing. One often-overlooked advantage: Majestic's historic index goes back to 2006, making it the strongest tool for analyzing long-term link profile evolution — useful when auditing established domains or researching competitor history.
Ahrefs is among the top backlink research tools in the market for many users.
Ahrefs backlink Checker is known for its massive backlink database and powerful analysis features. It provides deep insights into any website’s backlink profile, showing referring domains, lost and new links, and anchor texts. Ahrefs also offers domain authority metrics like Domain Rating (DR) and URL Rating (UR) to help evaluate link quality. Surprisingly, 69% of surveyed SEOs picked Ahrefs’ DR as the most dependable authority score, according to link building agency Editorial.Link.
Besides backlinks, Ahrefs offers tools for keyword research, content analysis, and competitor tracking, making it a robust all-in-one SEO platform.
Illustrative metrics showing backlink profile growth or decline
Ability to compare your domain against competitors
Massive backlinks database of 35 trillion historical backlinks and 218 million domains
User-friendly interface
Integration with other Ahrefs′ SEO tools
No free trial
Expensive for individual users or small teams
While Ahrefs doesn't offer free trials, you can still get a quick test of the Ahrefs Backlink Checker tool right on their website. However, the data is very limited.
To get more, you'll need to proceed with paid subscriptions. Monthly options are the following:
Ahrefs is best suited for SEO agencies, large businesses, and professionals needing deep backlinks and SEO insights.
SISTRIX backlink checker focuses heavily on historical data, allowing users to track how their backlink profile evolves over time. It assigns a Visibility Index to assess the quality of links, helping identify strong ones. The tool also provides country-based link distributions, enabling businesses targeting specific regions to evaluate their backlink sources more effectively.
SISTRIX’s database is updated regularly and includes detailed metrics such as referring domains, link strength, and anchor text analysis.
Integrated link data from Majestic and other partners
Free trial with no features limits
Strong backlink tracking with historical data
Detailed geographic and domain-level insights
Relatively high pricing
Not the easiest-to-use interface
SISTRIX offers a 14-day free trial for all new users to test all the features without limits.
After the trial expires, you can choose one of the four paid monthly subscription options, depending on your needs:
Pay attention that each subscription plan will also add taxes upon payment.
SISTRIX is one of the best SEO backlink software on the European market that will perfectly suit the needs of both small agencies and large enterprises. However, for freelancers, it might be a bit costly.
Seobility is a budget-friendly SEO tool that offers a solid backlink checker.
It focuses on backlink tracking, anchor text analysis, and link-building opportunities. It provides users with the ratio of dofollow links to nofollow links, calculates the authority score, and gives the number of referring domains. Additionally, you get the top backlinks together with the information about their quality, such as the link type, rating, or text.
Affordable pricing
Free basic plan
Integration with other Seobility SEO tools
Ability to run backlink analysis without a registration
Outdated interface
Limited advanced features
Seobility is often referred to as a free backlink checker, however there are certain limitations.
Without an account, you only have three free checks per day. After they expire, you need to sign up. With this, you can become a Basic plan user, which is free, but allows adding only one domain for analysis.
To get more, you are offered to upgrade your membership to one of the paid plans:
Good news, Premium subscription also comes with a 14-day free trial so that you can test all the functionality before proceeding with payment.
Seobility is the best backlink software for small businesses and individual website owners looking for an affordable tool, yet effective tool.
Sitechecker backlink checker provides users with real-time monitoring, helping them detect lost or newly gained links as soon as they occur. It also assigns domain authority scores to help evaluate the impact of backlinks on overall rankings.
There's also a helpful email alert system, which notifies users when backlinks are lost or when suspicious links appear.
The tool integrates backlink tracking with other SEO health metrics, such as technical audits and rank tracking, giving users a more holistic view of their website’s performance.
Affordable pricing
Email alerts for lost and gained backlinks
All-in-one SEO health monitoring
Free trial
Easy-to-use interface
Can be not sufficient for the needs of large enterprises
Sitecheker offers a 14-day free trial for all new users. After this, they have three monthly paid options:
There's also an option to buy credits to complete a one-time SEO task without a subscription. The cost starts at $50 for 500 credits.
Due to its beginner-friendly interface and affordable pricing, Sitechecker can become the best website backlink checker for small businesses, startups, and website owners looking for an affordable and simple backlink tracking solution.
SEMrush stands out from other platforms, and is considered to have the best backlink checker for many SEO professionals and is well-known in the industry.
Their powerful backlink checker is a part of a full-scale SEO platform. It allows users to analyze backlink profiles, track lost and new links, compare competitors, and audit link health. It also integrates with SEMrush’s keyword, traffic, and site audit tools, making it a well-rounded option for digital marketers.
SEMrush also provides additional tools such as the Backlink Gap (to compare competitors’ backlinks), the Backlink Audit Tool (to detect toxic links), and the Link Building Tool (for outreach management).
Comprehensive SEO tool beyond backlinks
Intuitive reports and competitor benchmarking
A huge database of more than 43 trillion backlinks
Real-time backlink updates every 15 minutes
Expensive for small businesses or freelancers
Advanced features require a higher-tier subscription
You can conduct 10 free analyses per day after registration on the platform.
However, such data will be limited, and if you need more detailed metrics, opt for paid subscriptions:
SEMrush Backlink Checker is best suited for SEO agencies, large businesses, and professionals who need comprehensive backlink tracking and competitor insights. While it may not be the most budget-friendly option, its advanced features and real-time updates make it a strong choice for many SEO specialists.
Raven Tools backlink checker is designed to help agencies track, analyze, and report backlink data efficiently, making it a great option for client-based SEO work. It pulls backlink data from Moz, Majestic, and Google Analytics, giving users a well-rounded backlink profile analysis.
One of its biggest advantages is the automated reporting system, which allows users to generate white-label reports for clients.
Raven Tools also includes SEO audits, keyword research, and social media analysis, making it a versatile choice for agencies managing multiple clients.
Backlink reports filtering
Tracking link-building efforts with Link Manager
Free trial
Good choice of paid subscription plans tailored to different businesses
Outdated interface
Challenging-to-understand functionality for beginners
Raven Tools offers five paid monthly subscription plans, each targeting the needs of businesses of different sizes:
Additionally, there's a 7-day free trial for all users to test the tool and understand whether it fits their requirements.
Raven Tools can be the best backlinks checker for businesses of all sizes due to its wide pricing offerings. It's also a great solution for SEO agencies and marketing professionals needing client-friendly backlink reports.
Ranktracker backlink checker is a part of Ranktracker's all-in-one SEO platform.
It provides live backlink monitoring, anchor text analysis, and domain authority scoring. Users get a full understanding of their backlink portfolio with the list of all backlinks, including dofollow/nofollow and first-seen/last-seen links.
Interestingly, Ranktracker allows creating a Favorites list of competitors' backlinks that you would like to replicate later.
Database of more than 2.6 trillion backlinks
Several paid subscription options for different budget
Affordable pricing
User-friendly interface
7-day free trial
Limited selection of features
All new users of the Ranktracker backlink checker are welcomed with a free 7-day trial. After it expires, they can select one of the four available paid monthly subscription plans:
If offerings included in each package are not enough, users can buy add-ons.
Ranktracker provides affordable pricing and a clean interface, making it the best backlink checker tool for small businesses and independent SEO professionals.
Seodity backlink checker provides detailed link analysis, including domain authority scores, link toxicity assessments, and lost/gained backlink tracking. Thanks to competitor analysis possibilities, it allows users to compare their link profiles against competitors and identify high-value backlink opportunities.
Seodity also includes SEO audits, keyword research, and rank tracking, making it a well-rounded tool for professionals who want an all-in-one solution.
Database of 1.5 trillion backlinks and 256 million domains
Backlink data filters
SEO audits and rank tracking included
Modern and easy-to-use interface
Lacks advanced filtering for backlink types
There are four paid subscription plans, each differing in the set of included features:
While there's no info about a free trial on the website, Seodity guarantees a 30-day money-back in case you don't enjoy the tool.
Seodity can be the best choice for a backlink checker tool for small to mid-sized businesses, startups, and freelance SEO professionals looking for a cost-effective solution.
Pulling a backlink report is the easy part. Knowing what to do with it is where most teams fall short. Here's how to turn backlink data into action:
Before building new links, understand what you already have. Look for toxic or spammy backlinks dragging down your domain authority — most tools assign a toxicity score to flag these. For links scoring high on toxicity, use Google's Disavow Tool to tell search engines to ignore them.
Every tool on this list offers some form of competitor backlink analysis. Export your top competitor's referring domains and filter for high-DR sites that link to them but not to you. These become your priority link-building targets — sites already proven to link to content in your space.
A link gained is an SEO win. A link lost is a potential ranking drop. Set up monitoring for both — most tools offer alerts or weekly reports. When a high-quality link disappears, reach out to the linking site to understand why and request reinstatement where appropriate.
Your backlink report shows the anchor text used in each link pointing to your site. Over-optimization — too many exact-match anchors — can trigger penalties. Aim for a natural mix of branded anchors, partial matches, and generic terms like "click here" or "read more."
100 links from 10 different domains is worth less than 100 links from 100 different domains. When evaluating your backlink profile or a competitor's, focus on unique referring domains rather than total link volume.
Choosing the best SEO backlink tool depends on your specific needs and budget.
The key things to consider are the size of the database and data accuracy, ease of use, variety of features, and cost. By choosing the best backlinks tool that aligns with your SEO goals, you can strengthen your link-building strategy, monitor competitors, and improve your site’s search visibility effectively.
Not sure which tool to pick? Use this as your decision guide:
Best for client reporting: Raven Tools — white-label reports and multi-source data make it the agency favorite for deliverables
Each tool uses its own crawler with a different crawl frequency, database size, and indexing methodology. Semrush indexes 43 trillion backlinks; Seodity indexes 1.5 trillion. A link in one database may not yet appear in another. None of them show every backlink that exists — Google's own index is the only complete picture, accessible partially through Google Search Console.
Yes — every tool on this list supports competitor backlink analysis. Enter any domain into the tool and you'll see its full backlink profile, referring domains, anchor texts, and authority metrics. This is one of the most valuable use cases for backlink tools.
It depends on the tool's crawl frequency. Semrush updates every 15 minutes for actively monitored domains. Most other tools refresh within days to weeks. If a link was just placed, check back within a week — and verify it's indexed by searching the linking page in Google first.
Both metrics run from 0–100. Generally: 0–30 is low, 30–50 is moderate, 50–70 is strong, and 70+ is highly authoritative. However, these scores are relative — a DR 40 site in a niche industry may carry more relevance than a DR 70 general news site for your specific link-building goals.
Google Search Console is the most accurate source for your own site's backlink data — it comes directly from Google. But it has no competitor analysis, no toxicity scoring, no DR metrics, and limited filtering. Use GSC as your baseline for your own site and supplement with a paid tool for competitive research and link monitoring.
For most sites, a monthly audit is sufficient. If you're actively building links or have recently launched a disavow campaign, check weekly. Set up email alerts in your chosen tool to flag lost or toxic links in real time so you're not waiting for a scheduled audit to catch problems.
Cindy is an Outreach Manager and SEO Specialist at ONSAAS who helps SaaS companies grow through strategic link building and SEO. Outside of work, she loves spending time in nature, especially hiking in the mountains.
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