15 Best Link Building Tools (Free & Paid)

Link building is an SEO process you cannot run without a tool. Choosing the right link building tool is crucial for finding and capturing high-quality links that can make a difference to your rankings.

In this guide, we’ve reviewed and compared the best link building tools, so that you can pick the best one for your needs. The review was performed by an experienced SEO expert with years of hands-on experience with link building campaigns. For each tool, you’ll learn the pros, cons, pricing, and how we use it.

15 Top Link Building Tools

1. SEMRush Link Building Tool

SEMRush Link Building Tool is a comprehensive backlink software for creating and executing a link building strategy. It helps you do everything from finding link opportunities to contacting the target domain with your outreach efforts.

Best Link Building Feature

The best feature of Semrush is the ability to uncover and manage new link opportunities. When you want to find link prospects for your site, you simply add target keywords and competitors. The tool then provides you with a list of relevant link prospects.

For each prospect, you can see the domain and URL along with its Authority score. Each prospect also has a rating of 1 to 5, indicating its quality.

When you want to pursue a prospect, you can choose from a variety of outreach strategies including guest posts, product reviews, adding a link to an article, and more.

Prospects in which you select an outreach strategy are added to an In Progress tab. From there, you can reach out to the site owner and track all your communications. The link building software has the contact information for many sites so you don’t need to worry about hunting down the best person to contact.

Pros

• Quickly find tons of link prospects using keyword and competitor data
• Track backlink profiles and see when links are won or lost
• Outreach module to quickly send personalized messages to link prospects
• Get the immediate contact information for many site owners

Cons

• Need to sign up for all of SEMRush to use the complete Link Building Tool

Pricing

SEMRush Link Building Tool lets you create and manage one project for free. If you want the ability to create unlimited projects, you need to sign up for a paid plan.

The least expensive option, the Pro plan costs $119.95 per month and comes with access to other SEMRush features such as keyword research, competitor research, and site monitoring tools.

There is a 7-day free trial for new users and SEMRush offers a 7-day money-back guarantee if you change your mind about the platform.

2. Ahrefs Site Explorer

Ahrefs is a feature-rich SEO software that helps site owners improve their search rankings. The Site Explorer feature stands out as one of the best link building tools for helping to build a strong link profile.

Best Link Building Feature

The best link building feature in Site Explorer is the BackLink Profile. With the Backlink Profile, you get a detailed list of all the links pointing to the website you are reviewing.

Next to each link, you’ll see the linking website’s domain rating, estimated organic traffic, and the specific page it is linking to.

There are several filters, allowing you to refine the data by dofollow or nofollow links, backlink type, domain traffic, and other variables.

The Backlink Profile also shows lost links and the date that they were removed. This can help you recover lost backlinks that may be valuable to your site’s authority.

Pros

• Check a site’s complete backlink profile
• Link Intersect feature to compare link opportunities from competing sites
• See the anchor texts used by linking sites
• Check broken links for quick-win opportunities

Cons

• No tools for backlink outreach

Pricing

The Site Explorer tool requires a subscription to the Ahrefs platform. Pricing starts at $99 for the Lite plan, $199 for the Standard plan, and $399 for the Advanced plan.

Ahrefs offers a 48-hour refund window if you want to cancel your monthly plan.

3. JustReachOut

JustReachOut is a link building tool designed to improve your outreach and communication with link prospects.

Best Link Building Feature

The standout feature of JustReachOut is the outreach interface that you can use to connect with site owners for a variety of linking opportunities. This includes guest posts, press releases, podcasts, and unlinked brand mentions.

There are tons of outreach templates to help you quickly craft engaging messages and the platform comes with basic pitch writing help where their editors will review your messages and provide you feedback on their quality.

Pros

• Podcast outreach to quickly find shows that are looking for guests
• Find broken links on your and other sites
• Uncover brand mentions without links to get links from people already talking about your business

Cons

• Limited functionality for finding link prospects from websites
• Lack of data regarding the link profiles for websites

Pricing

Pricing for JustReachOut starts at $99 per month for their Solo plan. This plan is good for one team member and lets you manage five campaigns with a total of 250 email sends per month.

If you’re new to the platform, you’ll get a 14-day free trial to see if it’s right for you.

4. Moz Link Explorer

Moz Link Explorer is a backlinks software that helps you uncover link data for domains or any of their URLs. You can use it to track and monitor your link profile or find new opportunities from competitors.

Best Link Building Feature

The best feature of Link Explorer is the Link Research functionality. When you search for a domain or URL, you’ll get a high-level overview of the number of inbound links, linking domains, and ranking keywords. For more insights, you can download CSV files for any of these data points to get a detailed list.

There are charts showing how domain and page authority have changed over time. Plus, you can see a breakdown of lost and newly discovered links.

Link Explorer also includes sub-reports where you can see which of your pages are getting the most links and what anchor text your linking sites are using the most.

Pros

• See detailed link statistics for any web page
• Know when links are lost or won
• Link intersect tool to find opportunities from competitors

Cons

• No tools for outreach

Pricing

Moz Link Explorer is a freemium tool that you can use in a limited capacity without having to pay. With the free version, you can search 10 domains and URLs each month.

For unlimited access to the tool, you need to sign up for a Moz Pro plan which costs $99 per month for the Standard plan.

Moz Pro comes with a 30-day free trial for you to test-run the platform.

5. Google Advanced Search

Google Advanced Search is a feature built into the Google search engine that lets you use search operators to find hyper-specific search results.

Best Link Building Feature

The best feature of Google Advanced Search is the ability to find relevant sites to contact for backlinks.

When you use the advanced search tool, you can tap into Google’s large database to uncover websites that you might have otherwise missed.

For example, if you have a blog about pets, you could enter a search like “dogs”, “guest writer” to find pet-related websites that accept guest posts.

You can then contact the site owner and ask to contribute a guest post in which you link back to your site.

Pros

• Find relevant sites for link opportunities

Cons

• No outreach tools
• Need to conduct individual searches to gather data
• No link tracking or management

Pricing

Google Advanced Search is a free link building tool. Simply go to google.com/advanced_search to begin finding good link opportunities.

6. Hunter.io

Hunter.io is a link building tool designed to help you streamline your outreach to link prospects. You can use it to find and verify email addresses, plus you can schedule and send outreach campaigns.

Best Link Building Feature

The best feature of Hunter.io is the Email Finder tool. It helps you find the correct email addresses for points of contact for any website on the web.

With this information, you’ll be able to get in touch with potential link prospects to pitch them your idea for getting a link back to your site.

Pros

• Find accurate email addresses for link prospects
• Send outreach emails in bulk
• Pre-made templates for email outreach

Cons

• No tools for managing your link profile
• Lack of features for uncovering link opportunities

Pricing

Hunter.io has both free and paid plans. With the free plan, you get 25 email searches and 50 email verifications each month.

Paid plans start at $49 per month for the Starter plan. With this plan, you get 500 monthly searches and 1,000 email verifications.

7. Linkody

Linkody is a robust SEO link building tool for tracking and monitoring your link profile. With it, you get detailed metrics to analyze your links and you can use the tool to know when you gain or lose links.

Best Link Building Feature

The strength of Linkody is the detailed analysis you get into your leak profile. For each domain you add to the link tracking tool, you can see every backlinking domain and URL along with its domain authority, spam score, and anchor text.

There are reports showing your top anchor terms, spam score distribution, and links going to competitors but not you.

The platform also shows other metrics like MozRank, Trust Flow, Citation Flow, and Alexa score.

Pros

• See a detailed analysis of your link profile
• Quick disavow tool for removing harmful links
• 24/7 link tracking to monitor won and lost links

Cons

• No tools for outreach
• Limited features for searching for new link opportunities

Pricing

Linkody pricing starts at $14.90 per month for the Webmaster plan. With the plan, you can track two web domains and monitor 500 links.

If you want to level up your plan, the Pro plan ($49.90 per month) lets you track 20 domains and monitor 5,000 links.

Linkody has a 30-day free trial for when you want to get started.

8. BuzzStream

BuzzStream is an end-to-end outreach platform built to help you turn potential link prospects into valuable backlinks for your site.

Best Link Building Feature

The stand-out feature in BuzzStream is the CRM functionality that allows you to manage your contacts and personalize your outreach at scale.

You can store all your contacts in an intuitive interface and you can sort and filter your database to quickly find the right contacts for your outreach campaign.

BuzzStream comes with plenty of templates that you can customize to fit each interaction. Your messages can be scheduled in advance and you can automate your follow-ups when you need to remind a prospect.

Pros

• Strong contact management features for managing your prospects
• High-quality email templates for conducting effective outreach

Cons

• Limited features for finding links
• No monitoring and tracking for link profiles

Pricing

Pricing for BuzzStream starts at $24 per month for the Starter plan. With this plan, you get most of the key features including email templates, scheduling, and automated followups.

However, the plan doesn’t include bulk email sends or link reporting. For this, you’ll need the Growth plan which costs $124 per month.

9. Ninja Outreach

Ninja Outreach is a link building tool for managing your outreach campaigns and sending your emails. The software also comes packed with features for finding link building opportunities and contact information for site owners.

Best Link Building Feature

The best feature of Ninja Outreach is its all-in-one approach to link building. With the platform, you not only get the ability to uncover new links, but also a robust solution for managing your contacts and outreach campaigns.

The tool can find the contact information for site owners and there are plenty of templates that you can track to monitor their performance.

Plus, you can create a variety of link building campaigns including infographic link building, resource page link building, guest post link building, and expert roundups.

Pros

• All-in-one platform for finding and winning links
• Find the contact information for site owners
• Support for a variety of link building strategies

Cons

• Expensive

Pricing

Pricing for Ninja Outreach starts at $389 per month for the Flex plan. This plan comes with support for 1,000 contacts and 10,000 emails per month.

You can save a considerable amount (60% off) by enrolling in yearly payments. Ninja Outreach has a 7-day risk-free trial for you to try out the platform.

10. Sitechecker Backlink Tracker

Sitechecker Backlink Tracker is a link building software that helps you check and monitor the link profile for your website. The data is updated frequently, ensuring you’re always on top of any changes to your site’s links.

Best Link Building Feature

When you enter a website into the tool, you can see its total number of backlinks and referring domains as well as how many of these links are dofollow links.

The platform also shows your most common anchor texts and your top-performing pages and what links they have.

Pros

• Strong visibility into your backlink profile

Cons

• Limited features for finding link prospects
• No tools for link outreach

Pricing

Sitechecker Backlink Tracker starts at $29 per month for the Basic plan. With this plan, data for your link profile is can be automatically rechecked 3,000 times per month.

The Basic plan also includes access to other Sitechecker tools including the Site Audit, Site Monitoring, and Keyword Rank Tracker features.

Sitechecker has a 7-day free trial for new users.

11. HARO

Help A Reporter Out (HARO) is a platform that helps journalists connect with experts to use as sources for their content. By acting as a source for a journalist, they will mention you in their content and link back to your website.

Best Link Building Feature

The best feature of HARO is the ability to connect with people that are actively looking for qualified sites to reference in their work.

This not only presents a great opportunity to get links to your site, but it also gives you a way to establish yourself as an expert in your industry.

By default, media opportunities are sent to your inbox on a daily basis. You also have the option to sign up for keyword alerts to get more targeted results related to your business.

Pros

• Find high-quality link prospects

Cons

• Doesn’t support link tracking or monitoring
• Limited interface for outreach

Pricing

HARO has both free and paid versions. With the free version, you can sign up for media opportunities to be delivered to your inbox. If you want alerts for keywords or the ability to create a profile, you need a paid plan.

Pricing starts at $19 for the Standard plan.

12. Google Alerts

Google Alerts is a notification service that lets you sign up for recurring alerts for new content related to a specific topic. With the tool, you can find relevant sites in your industry that will make good link prospects.

Best Link Building Feature

Google Alerts’ key link building feature is its ability to monitor the web for new content in your niche. You can use it to stay up to date with current events in your market and you can uncover new sites to add to your link building campaigns.

Google Alerts is also one of the best tools for finding unlinked brand mentions. You simply need to set up an alert for your business name and you’ll receive a notification anytime another site mentions your company.

Pros

• Quickly find people that are mentioning your business

Cons

• No features for managing a link profile
• Doesn’t help with outreach

Pricing

Google Alerts is free.

13. Link Assistant

Link Assistant is a link building software with a variety of features to help you grow your backlink profile. The tool crawls seven billion pages a day to find tons of link opportunities and give you suggestions for quality link prospects.

Best Link Building Feature

The distinguishing feature of Link Assistant is the link suggestions. It saves you time from having to work through a big list of link prospects by showing you the best opportunities according to your business needs.

You can get tailored suggestions for the most common link building methods including guest posting, reviews, commenting, and resource pages.

With LinkAssistant, you can also search your competitors’ backlink profiles to quickly find good link prospects that are not linking to you.

Pros

• Link suggestions based on your preferred link building methods
• Outreach management tools for contacting link prospects
• One-click link verification to ensure links are still valid

Cons

• Limited data on link prospects

Pricing

Link Assistant has a free version that you can use with limited features. The complete version of the tool requires you to purchase an SEO PowerSuite license key, which costs $299 per year.

With SEO PowerSuite, you’ll get access to several other SEO tools.

14. UberSuggest Backlink Analyzer

UberSuggest Backlink Analyzer is a link building software that lets you search any website to gather data and review its backlink profile. The tool also allows you to search your competitors’ sites to find missing link opportunities.

Best Link Building Feature

Backlink Analyzer’s strength is the Backlink Overview report which gives you a complete breakdown of a domain’s link profile.

With each domain that you search, you can see its total number of backlinks, referring domains, and current domain authority. You also get detailed charts showing new and lost links and referring domains over time as well as a complete list of the anchor text distribution.

The end of the Backlink Overview report contains a comprehensive list of each link in the profile.

Pros

• Review any website to see all of its backlinks
• Quickly find your competitors’ top links

Cons

• Limited filters for when you’re searching through links
• Lack of outreach features and templates

Pricing

Backlink Analyzer is a freemium tool. You can search three domains a day to see their backlink report. If you want unlimited searches, you need a paid plan. Pricing starts at $29 per month for the individual plan.

There is a 7-day free trial for new users. If you find that you like the platform, you can get lifetime access for one $290 payment.

15. Ahrefs Broken Link Checker

Ahrefs Broken Link Checker is a tool that lets you quickly find broken inbound and outbound links for any website.

Best Link Building Feature

Broken Link Checker is great for helping you know which of your backlinks are broken. With this information, you can correct any issues to regain the links and boost your site’s domain authority.

You can also use the tool to find new link opportunities by scanning your competitors’ sites for broken links. If you find links that are no longer valid, you can reach out to the referring domain and pitch them to link to you instead.

Pros

• Find and fix broken links to improve your backlink profile
• Discover broken link building opportunities from competing sites

Cons

• Doesn’t allow you to review the complete backlink profile
• No features for link outreach

Pricing

Broken Link Checker lets you search different websites for free but it limits the number of broken links that you can see in the data table.

To see a site’s entire list of broken links, you need to sign up for a paid Ahrefs plan. These start at $199 per month.

Methodology

To help you find the best link building tool, we’ve looked at the most popular SEO platforms in the market. The tools that made it to the top 15 list have all the features you need to successfully manage your link building campaigns. In the list, you’ll find both free and paid tools. Although there are ways to perform link building campaigns manually and using free tools, paying for a link building platform is, unfortunately, necessary for scaling up the process. From the hundreds of paid tools available in the market, we made sure that the chosen tools are worth their money.

Related Link Building Guides

The following guides will help you learn more about link building.

• Who Links to My Site or Any Site? – The best free tools you can use to check backlinks to your site or any other site on the web.
• How to Remove Bad Backlinks From Google – A complete step-by-step guide on how to find and remove bad backlinks from Google.
• What are Backlinks? – Learn what backlinks are important for SEO.
• Best SEO Audit Tools – a review of the best tools to audit your SEO and link-building campaigns.