Link building and backlink tools for small businesses
Backlink analysis and outreach software. We list 12, and 8 have a free plan.
Order: tools we’ve tested come first, by score, then the rest alphabetically. Payment never changes the order.
Prices checked between Oct 6, 2026 and Oct 13, 2026. How prices compare across categories
Ahrefs
- Researched
Backlink-index-led SEO suite (Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Site Audit, Rank Tracker) with Brand Radar for AI visibility.
From $29/mo billed monthly
Ahrefs Webmaster Tools
- Researched
Free Ahrefs access for verified sites: Site Audit (170+ issues), Site Explorer (your keywords/backlinks) and Web Analytics.
Free
BuzzStream
- Researched
Outreach CRM for link building and digital PR with contact discovery and email sequencing.
From $49/mo billed monthly
Featured
- Researched
PR platform from the company that owns HARO, matching journalist requests, podcasts and byline openings to your expertise and drafting pitches.
From $39/mo billed monthly
Majestic
- Researched
Specialist backlink index (Trust Flow/Citation Flow) with historic link data.
From $49.99/mo billed monthly
Mangools
- Researched
Beginner-friendly bundle (KWFinder, SERPChecker, SERPWatcher, LinkMiner, SiteProfiler) plus AI Search Watcher.
From $61/mo billed monthly
Moz Pro
- Researched
Long-running SEO suite (Domain Authority, Keyword Explorer, Link Explorer, site crawl) now bundling AI-visibility dashboards and prompt tracking.
From $49/mo billed monthly
MozBar
- Researched
Free Chrome and Firefox toolbar showing Domain Authority, Page Authority, link counts and on-page elements; Spam Score, Brand Authority and ranking keywords need a Moz Pro subscription.
Free
Pitchbox
- Researched
Outreach and link-building CRM with prospecting, sequences and agency workflows.
From $300/mo billed monthly
SEO PowerSuite
- Researched
Desktop four-app toolkit (Rank Tracker, WebSite Auditor, SEO SpyGlass, LinkAssistant) sold as annual licenses, with a free edition.
From $29.08/mo billed yearly
Serpstat
- Researched
All-in-one SEO suite for keyword research, rank tracking, site audits and backlinks, with API access, AI tools and unlimited projects on Team plans.
From $69/mo billed monthly
Source of Sources
- Researched
Free email of journalists' requests for expert sources, up to three times a day, from the founder of HARO; you reply to reporters directly.
Free
How to choose a link-building tool
Updated Oct 9, 2026.
Start with the links Search Console shows you
Google Search Console, “a free service offered by Google”, can “Show you which sites link to your website” (Google Search Console Help). For your own site, that’s the list Google shows you. A backlink tool can also show the links to other sites, such as your competitors’, and some add outreach features. When you try one, compare its list for your site with Search Console’s.
Know what Google calls link spam
Google defines link spam as “creating links to or from a site primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings”. Its examples include buying or selling links for ranking purposes, “Excessive link exchanges”, and “Using automated programs or services to create links to your site” (Google Search Central). A tool that sells link placements without a nofollow or sponsored label, swaps links in bulk or builds links automatically is offering something on that list. Our guide to link building for small businesses covers what Google allows.
Paid links carry a label
Google says buying and selling links is “a normal part of the economy of the web for advertising and sponsorship purposes”, as long as the links are marked with rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored" (Google Search Central), and it asks for sponsored on “advertisements or paid placements” (Google Search Central). Google’s examples don’t name pitching journalists or site owners, but they do name sending someone a product in exchange for a post with a link, and links with optimized anchor text in guest posts or press releases. Whatever a tool helps you send, a link you pay for should carry the label.
Treat disavow advice with care
If a tool suggests disavowing links it scores as risky, remember that Google says “most sites will not need to use this tool”, and that it “should only be used with caution”, for a considerable number of spammy or artificial links that have caused a manual action, or likely will (Google Search Console Help).
Sources for this guide
- https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9128668 (Oct 9, 2026)
- https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies (Oct 9, 2026)
- https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/qualify-outbound-links (Oct 9, 2026)
- https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2648487 (Oct 8, 2026)
Words to know
- Anchor textThe visible, clickable words of a link. They tell people and Google something about the page the link points to.
- Disavowing linksListing the questionable pages or domains that link to your site in a file for Google's disavow links tool in Search Console. Google says most sites won't need to.
- Link spamLinks made to or from a site mainly to manipulate search rankings, such as bought links that pass ranking credit. Google may rank such sites lower or not show them.
- Manual actionGoogle's action against a site when one of its reviewers finds pages that break Google's spam policies. Affected pages can rank lower or drop out of results.
- Nofollow linkA link marked with rel="nofollow", which tells Google you'd rather it not associate your site with the linked page, or crawl that page from your site.
- Sponsored linkA link in an ad or paid placement, marked with rel="sponsored" in the page's code. It's the value Google prefers for paid links, though it still accepts nofollow.
Guides
- HARO in 2026: where to answer journalists for freeHARO is still running and still free, under a new owner. Where small businesses can answer journalists' requests for expert sources, and the rules each list sets.
- Link building for small businesses: what Google allowsWhat Google counts as link spam and how it wants paid links marked, from Google's own pages, and what to ask a link-building service before you pay it.