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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Besides backlinks, Ahrefs offers tools for keyword research, content analysis, and competitor tracking, making it a robust all-in-one SEO platform.
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.
SITRIX 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.
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.
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).
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.
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, Rankranking allows creating a Favorites list of competitors' backlinks that you would like to replicate later.
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.
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.
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.
For instance, if you need the most extensive backlink database and in-depth analysis, Ahrefs and SEMrush might be the choice. For those focused on historical backlink data, Majestic offers unique insights. Budget-conscious users can opt for SE Ranking or Seobility, which provide solid backlink tracking at a lower cost.
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.