Free Backlink Checker
A backlink checker lists the links pointing to a website from other sites. Enter any domain and this free backlink checker reports its live backlinks, referring domains and IPs, dofollow versus nofollow links, link types, countries and anchor texts, then explains what those numbers mean for rankings. No signup; run it on your own domain or a competitor's.
Backlink Checker
Links and Backlinks
About this tool
What the backlink report shows: every link from another website to the domain you enter is a backlink, and the report groups them in the ways that matter for SEO. The first tiles give the total live backlinks, the referring domains (different websites linking to you), the referring IPs and subnets (how many separate servers those websites sit on), the followed and nofollow split, and a link rank from 0 to 1000. Below that come the history and health rows (when the index first saw a link, broken backlinks, a spam score for the profile when the index supplies one), then tables of link types, top-level domains, countries, kinds of linking sites and link attributes, the top anchor texts when the summary carries them, and a plain-language reading of what your numbers mean.
How to read dofollow vs nofollow: a dofollow link is an ordinary link with no rel attribute, and search engines may treat it as a vote for the page it points to. A nofollow link carries rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored" or rel="ugc", which asks search engines not to pass that credit; since 2019 Google treats these as hints rather than commands, but they still carry far less weight. Nofollow links are normal on social profiles, forums, directories and comments and do not hurt a site. A profile that is 60 percent nofollow or more usually means the links came from profiles and directories rather than editorial mentions, and a profile with almost no nofollow links at all is unusual enough to look at twice. Google's spam policies require paid links to carry rel="sponsored", so a healthy profile always contains some nofollow links.
How to read the anchor distribution: anchor text is the clickable wording of a link. In a natural profile the biggest anchors are the brand name, the bare domain, "click here" style words and the page title, with exact-match keywords a small minority. When the anchor table shows your money keyword as the top anchor, that pattern is what Google's link spam systems look for, and it points to links you built rather than earned. Use the anchors a competitor earned as a guide to the words other sites naturally use for your topic, and keep your own outreach to brand and descriptive phrases.
Referring domains vs backlinks: the referring domain count matters far more than the backlink total. A thousand backlinks from one website, usually a sitewide footer, sidebar or blogroll, carry roughly the weight of a single endorsement, while fifty links from fifty relevant websites are fifty endorsements. Divide backlinks by referring domains: a ratio near 1 means links spread across many sites, a ratio in the dozens means sitewide links. Referring IPs and subnets add one more check: when many linking domains sit on a handful of servers, they may belong to one network, which is how private blog networks get caught.
How often to check and what to do with the result: check your own domain monthly, and after any campaign, to see which new links the index has found and whether old ones were lost; a sudden jump in backlinks from one country or TLD you do not sell in is the usual first sign of spam links pointed at you, which Google normally ignores on its own. For outreach, run the three sites ranking above you for your main keyword. The gap in referring domains tells you how much link building stands between you and them, and the kinds of sites linking to them (directories, industry blogs, resource pages, news) are your prospect list. The Backlink Opportunity Finder turns that list into a plan for your niche and country.
Limits of any free backlink checker, and how ours compares: every link index runs its own crawler and finds a different share of the web, so no free tool, ours included, shows every link, and the counts will never match Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz or Google Search Console exactly. Our data comes from a commercial link index that crawls continuously; the report covers live links to the whole domain, subdomains included, and is cached for 24 hours. Compared with the other free checkers: Ahrefs' free checker shows its Domain Rating and a sample of the strongest linking pages without signup; Semrush needs a free account and caps the number of reports per day; Moz Link Explorer needs an account with a monthly quota. This checker needs no account and reports the full-domain totals and breakdowns, but it does not list every individual linking page. For a complete page-by-page export, a paid index or Google Search Console (Links report, your own sites only) is the right tool.
Where to go next: the Backlink Opportunity Finder gives you legitimate places to earn links for your niche, the Backlink Maker is the honest rebuild of the old ping-style generator and explains what its automated pages are and are not worth, and the Domain Authority Checker puts the referring domain count into an authority score you can compare across competitors. Our hand-checked lists of dofollow backlink sites and profile creation sites, linked below, are the ready-made prospect lists. When you would rather hand the work over, SEO SMO HUB's SEO service runs the competitor gap analysis and monthly white-hat outreach and reports every link earned.
Related reading
- 1000+ high quality dofollow backlink sites, checked by hand and updated October 2026
- Profile creation sites for link building: the ones worth your time
- Backlink Opportunity Finder: where to earn the links this checker counts, by niche and country
- Backlink Maker: the honest rebuild of the old backlink generator, and what its links are worth
- Domain Authority Checker: turn the referring domain count into a score you can compare
Frequently asked questions
What is a backlink checker and what does it show?
A backlink checker is a tool that lists the links pointing to a website from other sites and summarises them: how many links, how many different referring domains, how many are dofollow or nofollow, which link types and countries dominate, and which anchor texts are used. SEO teams use it to judge a site's link strength and to find where competitors earn their links.
How do I check the backlinks of a website for free?
Enter the domain above, such as example.com, and submit. You get the live backlink count, referring domains and IPs, followed and nofollow links, link types, countries, anchors and a plain-language reading, with no signup. When the live data connection is off, leave your email and we send the full summary within 24 hours.
How do I check my competitor's backlinks?
Run the checker on the competitor's domain exactly as you would on your own. Compare their referring domains with yours to measure the gap, then look at the kinds of sites linking to them: directories, industry blogs, resource pages, news. Those sites already link to a business like yours, which makes them the best outreach prospects you can find.
What is the difference between dofollow and nofollow backlinks?
A dofollow link is a normal link that search engines may count as a vote for the page it points to. A nofollow, sponsored or ugc link asks them not to pass that credit. Both are part of a natural profile. Google's spam policies require paid links to carry rel="sponsored", so a share of nofollow links is normal and safe.
What are referring domains, and why do they matter more than total backlinks?
A referring domain is one website that links to you, however many times. Search engines weigh the number of independent sites far more than the raw link count, because a sitewide footer on one blog creates hundreds of backlinks but only one endorsement. Fifty links from fifty relevant sites beat a thousand from one, so track referring domains as your main number.
Is this backlink checker as complete as Ahrefs or Semrush?
No. Ahrefs and Semrush run their own crawlers and sell page-by-page exports of every link they find. This free checker draws on a commercial link index and reports the whole-domain totals and breakdowns, not a list of every linking page. For most decisions, such as how far behind a competitor you are, the totals are enough; for a link audit, pair it with the Links report in Google Search Console.
Does the checker list every individual backlink or check a single page?
It reports at domain level: totals, referring domains and IPs, followed and nofollow, link types, countries, anchors when available, and broken backlinks. It does not list each linking URL and does not score one page on its own. To see the pages linking to a specific URL of your own site, use the Links report in Google Search Console, which is free and comes from Google itself.
Why are my backlink numbers different from Ahrefs, Semrush or Google Search Console?
Every link index runs its own crawler, so each one finds a different share of the web and drops lost links on its own schedule; Search Console shows only a sample of what Google knows. Treat any single number as a large sample rather than a full census, and compare competitors with the same tool so the differences reflect the sites, not the data sources.
How often should I check my backlinks?
Monthly is enough for most sites, plus a check two to four weeks after any outreach campaign to see which links the index has found. Link indexes update continuously, but new links take days or weeks to be discovered, so daily checks only show noise. Results here are cached for 24 hours, so a repeat run on the same day returns the same report.
Why am I asked for an email instead of seeing results?
Live backlink data comes from a paid data source. While that connection is switched off, the checker takes the domain and your email instead, and we send the full summary within 24 hours. We use your email only to send that report and never add you to a mailing list you did not ask for.