Best Free Backlink Checkers 2026: 6 Options Compared

Free backlink checkers all answer the same question, who links to this site, but they differ in whose site you may ask about. Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools show the links pointing at a property you have verified, and nothing about a competitor. Ahrefs, Majestic and OpenLinkProfiler will look at any domain, and pay for that openness by cutting the result: Ahrefs' free checker lists the top 20 backlinks, Majestic gives a few Site Explorer clicks a day on your own site, and OpenLinkProfiler asks you to sign up before it shows domain metrics. Semrush sits in between, with a demo project and ten reports a day shared across all its tools. So the first decision is whether you need to audit your own links or spy on someone else's. For your own site, start with the two search engines, because their data comes straight from the crawlers that decide rankings, and add Ahrefs Free for its larger list of up to 1,000 backlinks on a verified site. For competitor research, expect a sample, not a full profile. No free tool here replaces a paid index when you need every link, so use these to spot patterns, then pay for one month of a paid plan only if you must export the whole list.

Ahrefs

Its free backlink checker shows the top 20 backlinks for any site, and Ahrefs Free lists up to 1,000 backlinks on sites you verify. The paid Starter plan is the next step when you need full competitor profiles.

Price: Free (Ahrefs Free: unlimited verified sites, Site Audit 5K crawl credits per project per month, Site Explorer shows up to 1K backlinks and keywords); paid from $29 per month (Starter; Lite is $129 monthly) (Ahrefs pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.

Best for: Checking competitors and your own verified sites.

Compare: Ahrefs alternatives

Google Search Console

Its Links report lists top linking sites, external links and top linked pages for your verified property, with tables capped at 1,000 rows. It cannot show anyone else's backlinks.

Price: Free (Free service; Google states no usage plans) (Google Search Console pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary free service.

Best for: Auditing the links to your own site.

Worth knowing: Covers your own verified sites only, not competitors.

Bing Webmaster Tools

Free backlinks report for your own verified site, and you can compare against up to two competitors. Check the live report for current features.

Price: Free (Free: backlinks report for your own site and up to two competitors, Site Scan crawler, SEO reports) (Bing Webmaster Tools pricing, checked 2026-10-24).

Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary free service.

Best for: A second opinion beside Google's data.

Majestic

A free account gives a few Site Explorer clicks per day on your own site plus a weekly showcase domain. Lite, the first paid tier, costs $49.99 a month.

Price: Free (Free account: Backlink Checker on your own site with a few Site Explorer clicks per day, plus a weekly showcase domain); paid from $49.99 per month, billed monthly (Lite; $499.99 per year) (Majestic pricing, checked 2026-10-24).

Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.

Best for: Trying a dedicated link index before paying.

Worth knowing: Pro is $99.99 monthly, API $399.99 monthly. Prices exclude VAT.

OpenLinkProfiler

A free backlink checker for any domain that reports total backlinks, referring domains and domain rank, but you must sign up and verify an email first. It does not state its link limits.

Price: Free (Free backlink checker; sign-up with email verification is needed to see domain metrics) (OpenLinkProfiler pricing, checked 2026-10-24).

Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary free service.

Best for: Quick competitor lookups without a paid plan.

Semrush

The free plan gives one demo project and 10 reports a day across all tools, so backlink lookups compete with every other report. Paid SEO starts at $139 a month billed monthly.

Price: Free (1 demo project, 10 reports per day across tools); paid from $139 per month, billed monthly (SEO plan; $117.33 billed annually) (Semrush pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.

Best for: Teams that may upgrade to a full SEO suite.

Worth knowing: 7-day trial of paid plans.

Compare: Semrush alternatives

Which one to pick

• You only care about links to your own site: Google Search Console
• You want to peek at a competitor's top links: Ahrefs
• You want a second index to compare against: Majestic
• You need a free check with no paid plan in sight: OpenLinkProfiler