Looking for a free competitor backlink checker? There are a couple of honest free options, and each one stops at a clear line. This list covers what each gives you at no cost, where it runs out, and the cheapest paid step for when you need more than a peek.

The goal is simple: see which websites link to the sites you compete with, so you can find the ones that might link to you too.

Not free, but small and predictable, which is why it comes first. You type a competitor's domain and get the 100 strongest sites linking to it. Each site has a link rank from 0 to 1,000, a spam score out of 100 (40 or higher is marked likely spam), the date its first link appeared, how many links it gives and how many of them are followed. You also see the 50 link texts those sites use and a total count of linking sites.

One run costs 70 credits. The smallest plan, Indie, is $29 a month for 2,000 credits, which covers more than 25 lookups. There is no free backlink lookup, though the home page offers a free health preview of your own site. If a run finds no linking sites and no link texts, the credits come back.

Stops at: the strongest 100 sites per domain, whole domains only, and no contact details.

Moz gives 10 Link Explorer queries a month for free once you sign up and confirm your email. The free data includes linking domain counts, anchor text, spam score, followed versus nofollow counts, recently gained and lost linking domains, and a view of competitor backlinks you are missing. Moz's Link Intersect compares up to five backlink profiles with your own.

Stops at: 10 queries a month. Comparing three rivals plus yourself eats a good part of that.

3. Google Search Console, for your own side of the list

Search Console's Links report shows top linking sites, top linked pages and top link text for a site you have verified, and you can export it. It is free and comes straight from Google.

Stops at: your own site only. It cannot show a competitor's links, and its tables cap at 1,000 rows as a sample. Still useful: it gives you the "already links to me" column for free.

4. Ahrefs and Semrush

Ahrefs Free covers websites you own. For competitors, the suites have their own gap tools: Link Intersect at Ahrefs and Backlink Gap at Semrush. Ahrefs plans run from $29 to $1,499 a month and Semrush's SEO plan is $139 a month, so check which tier includes the gap tool before you pay. Worth it if links are your daily work. Too much if you want one list this month.

A zero-cost method for the comparison step

Whatever you use to pull links, the comparison itself is free. Open a spreadsheet:

  1. Paste each competitor's linking sites into its own column, one domain per cell.
  2. Paste your own linking sites into the last column.
  3. Remove "www." so the same site matches.
  4. Count how many competitor columns each site appears in, and whether it appears in yours.
  5. Keep the sites that link to two or more competitors and not to you.

Use one data source for all columns. Different tools find different links, so mixing them creates fake gaps.

Not every gap is fair game. Roundups, resource pages and edited directories often say yes. News stories and partner pages almost never will. And skip any directory that accepts everyone: Google lists low-quality directory links as spam.

Never pay for a link that passes ranking credit, including swapping a free product for a linked review. Google allows paid links only with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow".

Bottom line

For a quick look at one rival, Moz's 10 free queries are enough. For a proper comparison of three competitors against your site, a $29 month of seogeoaeo.ai credits covers it with room to spare, and Search Console fills in your own column at no cost.