Ahrefs vs Linkody (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Linkody grades higher than Ahrefs: 2.6 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Linkody grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Ahrefs
SEO toolset for backlinks, keyword research, audits and rank tracking
Linkody
Backlink monitor that alerts you when links are gained or lost
Which one is for you
Pick Ahrefs if
- Fits if most of your SEO time goes on backlinks and what's ranking for rivals
- Works for site owners who only need data on their own verified site, which Ahrefs Free covers
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want daily rankings, as Rank Tracker updates weekly on every plan
- Pricey if you're a small business, at about $107.50 a month for Lite even paid yearly
- Tight if you research a lot on Lite, where each user gets 1,000 credits a month; Starter gets 200
- Pricey if you add people: each plan has one user, and extras cost $40 to $80 a month, capped at 2, 5 or 10
- Watch out: AI writing tools start at $99 a month on top, and there's no trial of any paid plan
Pick Linkody if
- Fits if you've paid for links and want an email the day one goes missing
- Works for agencies sending clients a monthly report of new and lost links
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you track competitors, as each one uses one of your plan's site slots, from 2 on Webmaster
- Not for you if a team needs logins on a small plan, as Webmaster and Advanced have one user
- Skip it if you need links checked more often than once every 24 hours
- Watch out: CSV and PDF exports are off during the trial, and the free plan you drop to after cancelling has no published limits
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAAhrefsFair | 2.6GPALinkodyGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DLite, the plan Ahrefs aims at small businesses, is $129 a month, or $1,290 a year (about $107.50 a month) with the yearly saving. That's nearly three times this category's middle, for one user. Starter is $29, but it's monthly only with 200 credits. | AWebmaster is $11.20 a month billed yearly ($14.90 monthly) for 500 links on 2 sites. That's under 60% of this category's cheaper quarter, and yearly billing includes 3 months free. |
| Free plan and trial | CAhrefs Free gives you Site Explorer, Site Audit and Web Analytics for sites you can prove are yours, with 5,000 crawl credits a month. That covers your own site, but there's no keyword research or rank tracking, and no trial of the paid plans. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day trial with no card. CSV and PDF exports are switched off until you pay. |
| Features | CIts own link index, Site Explorer for any domain, keyword research, audits for 170+ issues, AI prompt tracking, and API and MCP access from Lite. The gap is rank tracking: the listing says it updates weekly on every plan, and Lite caps reports at 1,000 credits a month. | CDaily checks on every link, alerts for lost and changed links, Link Intersect for links your rivals have, metrics from Ahrefs, Moz and Majestic, and a disavow tool. It does monitoring fully, but that's a smaller job. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Credits, projects and crawl budgets take some learning before you know what each click costs you. | CNo rating on record. Add your site and it finds the links, but you'll also add competitors and set up alerts and reports, and each competitor takes a site slot. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus a browser toolbar, linked to Search Console, Looker Studio and Google Business Profile, with an API and an MCP server from Lite. No desktop or phone app. | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app. It pulls link metrics from Ahrefs, Moz and Majestic and has an API. |
| Best for | backlink and competitor research | daily backlink checks and alerts |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Ahrefs and Linkody. How we grade
Where they differ
- Ahrefs also covers keyword research, rank tracking and site audit.
- Linkody also covers reports.
At a glance
| Ahrefs | Linkody | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month, billed monthly | $11.20 per month for 500 links, billed annually ($14.90 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Ahrefs Free: Site Explorer, Site Audit (5,000 crawl credits a month per project) and Web Analytics for verified sites, plus the SEO Toolbar and 1 AI Content Helper doc a month. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial, no credit card required; CSV and PDF exports are off during the trial |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Ahrefs Pte. Ltd. | Linkody |
| Price read from | ahrefs.com | linkody.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Ahrefs
- Rank Tracker updates rankings weekly on every plan the pricing page lists.
- Lite caps each user at 1,000 credits a month for reports; Starter has 200 and cannot add users or add-ons.
- Each plan includes one user; extra users cost $40, $60 or $80 a month and are capped at 2, 5 or 10.
- AI writing tools (Content Kit) start at $99 a month, and Project Boosts cost $20 or $200 a month per project.
Linkody
- The website quota covers your own sites and every competitor you track; each competitor uses one slot.
- Links are rechecked once every 24 hours rather than continuously.
- Webmaster and Advanced have a single user; Pro, at $49.90 a month, is the first plan with more than one.
- After cancelling, the account drops to a free plan whose limits the pricing page does not give; Linkody keeps your links.
Key features
Ahrefs
- Site Explorer
- See the backlinks, organic keywords and top pages of any website, with history going back 6 months to 5 years by plan.
- Keywords Explorer
- Find keyword ideas with volume and difficulty; Standard and above add AI suggestions, clusters, search intents and translations.
- Site Audit
- Crawl your sites for 170+ technical and on-page SEO issues, using 100,000 to 1.5 million crawl credits a month by plan.
- Rank Tracker
- Track 750 to 5,000 keywords on the self-serve plans, with rankings updated weekly.
- Brand Radar and AI prompts
- Plans track 5 to 20 of your own prompts in AI chat tools daily. Brand Radar AI, for researching any brand's AI mentions, starts at $199 a month.
- API and MCP server
- Every plan from Lite includes API and MCP access, capped at 100 to 500 rows per request below Enterprise.
Linkody
- Daily backlink checks
- Every monitored link is rechecked every 24 hours for status, follow or nofollow, meta robots and HTTP status, and pages it points to are checked for 404s.
- Email alerts and reports
- Daily or weekly emails about lost, changed and newly discovered links, for your sites and for competitors you track.
- Link Intersect
- Lists pages that link to several of your competitors but not to you, along with the competitors' most linked pages.
- Link metrics
- Each link shows Ahrefs Domain Rating, Moz DA and PA, Spam Score, Trust Flow and Citation Flow, and whether Google has indexed it.
- Disavow tool
- Filter out likely harmful links by Spam Score and other metrics, keep disavow rules in Linkody and export a file for Google.
- Team access and client reports
- Add team members or clients with roles and per-domain access, and send white-label PDF reports with your own logo.
Plans
Ahrefs
Ahrefs Free$0
Limited Site Explorer and Site Audit for websites you verify as yours. No Keywords Explorer or Rank Tracker.
Starter$29
per month, billed monthly
200 report credits a month, with Keywords Explorer, Rank Tracker and Site Audit. Monthly only; no extra users or add-ons.
Lite$129
per month, billed monthly
1 user, 5 projects, 750 tracked keywords, 6 months of history, 1,000 credits a month, 100,000 crawl credits, API and MCP access.
Standard$249
per month, billed monthly
1 user, 20 projects, 2,000 tracked keywords, 2 years of history, unlimited credits, Content Explorer and keyword clusters.
Advanced$449
per month, billed monthly
1 user, 50 projects, 5,000 tracked keywords, 5 years of history, 1.5 million crawl credits and Looker Studio integration.
Enterprise$1,499
per month, annual commitment required
From 3 users, 100 projects, unlimited history, uncapped API, SSO and audit log. Sold through sales.
Linkody
Webmaster$11.20
per month for 500 links, billed annually ($14.90 billed monthly)
2 websites, counting your own and competitors', and 1 user.
Advanced$18.70
per month for 2,000 links, billed annually ($24.90 billed monthly)
5 websites, counting your own and competitors', and 1 user.
Pro$37.40
per month for 5,000 links, billed annually ($49.90 billed monthly)
20 websites, counting your own and competitors', and 3 users.
Agency$74.90
per month for 20,000 links, billed annually ($99.90 billed monthly)
50 websites, counting your own and competitors', and 5 users.
Agency XL$115.40
per month for 50,000 links, billed annually ($153.90 monthly)
100 websites, counting your own and competitors', and 10 users.
Ways to pay less
Ahrefs
- Annual discount
Save up to 17% by paying annually
Ahrefs' pricing page offers up to 17% off for annual billing on Lite, Standard and Advanced. Existing monthly customers switch by contacting support.
Linkody
- Annual discount
3 months free with yearly billing
Linkody's pricing page says every annual plan comes with 3 months free: Webmaster is $11.20 a month billed yearly instead of $14.90.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Ahrefs or Linkody?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Linkody is cheaper to start with: $11.20 a month, against $29 a month for Ahrefs. Ahrefs starts at $29 per month, billed monthly, and Linkody starts at $11.20 per month for 500 links, billed annually ($14.90 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Ahrefs or Linkody?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Ahrefs has a free plan. Linkody does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Ahrefs and Linkody run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Ahrefs lists a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.