7 free Ahrefs alternatives for backlink analysis and their limits
Current Ahrefs pricing, seven free backlink checkers and their limits, a no-cost workflow, and signs that a paid plan is worth buying. Prices checked 1 November 2026.
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No free tool can replace everything Ahrefs does, but free tools are enough to check your own site's backlinks and look at your competitors' strongest links. Start with Google Search Console for your own site, then use the free backlink checker from Semrush or Ahrefs for competitors.
Looking for an alternative makes sense. As of 1 November 2026, Ahrefs' Standard plan costs US$249 a month, or about IDR 4.5 million at the JISDOR rate of IDR 18,138 to the US dollar on 30 October 2026. JISDOR is the reference dollar rate published by Bank Indonesia, Indonesia's central bank. The comparisons in this article come from each vendor's official pages. We did not test the accuracy of their data ourselves.
Ahrefs pricing as of November 2026
| Plan | Price per month | Rupiah estimate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs Free | Free | IDR 0 | Verified sites only |
| Starter | US$29 | IDR 526,000 | Limits not detailed on the pricing page |
| Lite | US$129 | IDR 2.34 million | 1,000 credits per user, 6 months of history |
| Standard | US$249 | IDR 4.52 million | Unlimited credits, 2 years of history |
| Advanced | US$449 | IDR 8.14 million | Unlimited credits, 5 years of history |
The rupiah figures use the JISDOR rate above, before tax or card fees. Ahrefs says annual billing saves up to 17 percent. The Enterprise plan is US$1,499 a month and requires an annual commitment.
Seven free tools compared
The first question for each tool is whose data you can see. Some only serve sites you have verified, so you cannot use them to research competitors.
| Tool | Free version limit | Account needed | Paid plans from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Search Console | Tables of 1,000 rows, exports of up to 100,000 rows | Yes, verified site | None |
| Semrush Backlink Checker | A list of top backlinks, number not stated | No | US$139 a month |
| Moz Link Explorer | 10 queries a month | Yes, free account | US$49 a month |
| Ubersuggest | Free account available, limits not detailed | Not stated | US$29 a month |
| Majestic Backlink Checker | Demo version, limits not detailed | Not stated | US$49.99 a month |
| SEO Review Tools | 100 backlinks, one per domain | Not stated | Check its website |
| Ahrefs Free and Backlink Checker | 1,000 backlinks at a time for verified sites | Yes, for verified sites | US$29 a month |
Seven Ahrefs alternatives and what each is for
1. Google Search Console for your own site
The Links report shows your most linked pages, the sites that link to you most, and the link text used most often. The data comes from Google itself, so this is where to start for your own site. Its tables are capped at 1,000 rows, and exports can reach 100,000 rows.
The report has limits. Google states that it is not a complete list of every link, that some links may already be gone, and that it does not show nofollow status. Search Console also cannot be used on competitors' sites.
2. Semrush Backlink Checker for competitors
Semrush's free checker works without an account for any domain. The results include the Authority Score, the number of backlinks and referring domains, a list of top backlinks, follow or nofollow status, and markers for new or lost links. The page does not say how many rows it shows.
Semrush says its index holds more than 43 trillion backlinks and 390 million referring domains. That figure is a vendor claim. A free Semrush account gives 10 reports a day across all its tools.
3. Moz Link Explorer for occasional checks
Link Explorer needs a free Moz account and gives 10 queries a month. The data covers Domain Authority (DA), Page Authority, Spam Score, the number of inbound links, linking domains and link text. With such a small allowance, save it for rechecking a few main competitors. Moz's paid plans start at US$49 a month for one site, and Standard is US$99 a month.
4. Ubersuggest for beginners
Ubersuggest puts keyword research, rank tracking and backlink data in one place. Its pricing page lists prices from US$29 to US$99 a month, offers a trial and mentions a free account, but does not detail the backlink data limits for free accounts. Check what you actually get before relying on it.
5. Majestic for a closer look at link quality
Majestic specializes in link data. Its main metrics are Trust Flow, which scores quality from the links pointing to a site, and Citation Flow, which is driven by the number of links. Majestic calls its free Backlink Checker a demo version of Site Explorer. The Lite plan costs US$49.99 a month before VAT, and features such as backlink history only come with the Pro plan at US$99.99 a month.
6. SEO Review Tools for a quick list
The Valuable Backlinks Checker shows up to 100 backlinks for one page or domain, one per linking domain, with link text and follow status. You can download the results as a CSV file. The update notes on its page say its data source moved from Ahrefs to Semrush in April 2020, so this tool is no shortcut into the Ahrefs database.
7. Ahrefs Free and Backlink Checker
Ahrefs Free covers sites you have verified. You can see up to 1,000 backlinks and 1,000 keywords at a time, and run Site Audit with 5,000 crawl credits per project per month. Analyzing competitors' sites in Site Explorer requires a paid plan.
For other domains, there is a free Backlink Checker that shows the number of referring domains, the number of backlinks, DR (Domain Rating) and Ahrefs Rank. The page calls it a free version of the premium tool, without stating how many rows it shows.
Beyond these seven, Bing Webmaster Tools is free, and its backlink report shows referring domains and link text, including for competitors' sites. You need to register your own site first.
A three-step workflow at no cost
A combination of tools is more useful than a single one, because each vendor has its own crawler and its own gaps in the data. Here is a workflow that costs nothing.
- Check your own site in Search Console. Note the domains linking to you, your most linked pages, and links that point to dead pages.
- Map two or three competitors with Semrush Backlink Checker or SEO Review Tools. Copy the relevant link sources into a spreadsheet.
- Confirm the most important link sources with a second tool, such as Moz or the Ahrefs Backlink Checker, then open each page to make sure the link is still there.
A made-up example: a print shop in Karawang, West Java, finds that two of its competitors are listed on an association's member page and in a local news article about small businesses. That is more useful than a list of hundreds of foreign directories, because it makes clear what the shop can work on this week. For the next step, see our guide to getting free backlinks.
Why the numbers differ between tools
Do not be surprised if one domain has a different backlink count in each tool. Each vendor crawls the web on its own schedule, covers a different part of it, and calculates its metrics with a different formula. DR 60 in Ahrefs is not equal to DA 60 in Moz or an Authority Score of 60 in Semrush. Our Domain Rating guide explains the difference.
Compare numbers only within the same tool, and watch the trend from month to month. Before an important decision, open the source pages yourself.
Be careful with "toxic link" labels. Scores such as Spam Score are the vendor's own assessment. Google states that most sites do not need the disavow tool, and that it is only for cases where a site has a manual action (a penalty applied by a human reviewer at Google), or is at risk of one, because of bad links.
When a paid plan is worth buying
Free tools start to hold you back once the work becomes routine. Signs of that include:
- You check many competitor domains every month and always run out of the free allowance.
- You need automatic alerts when links appear or disappear.
- You have to produce regular backlink reports for clients.
- You need a competitor's full list of links, not only the top ones.
Once you reach that point, compare the lowest listed plan prices as of 1 November 2026: Ubersuggest US$29, Ahrefs Starter US$29, Moz US$49, Majestic Lite US$49.99, SE Ranking Core US$129, and Semrush SEO US$139 a month. The lowest price does not necessarily come with the features you need, especially on entry plans whose limits are not detailed.
Backlink data is only one part of the diagnosis. For tools beyond link analysis, see 15 SEO tools to find out why your site is not ranking. If you want a link audit done together with fixes to your site, see our SEO service.
Author
Dzaki Fauzaan
