Link Redirect Trace vs LinkResearchTools (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Link Redirect Trace grades higher than LinkResearchTools: 3.0 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Link Redirect Trace grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. LinkResearchTools grades higher on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Link Redirect Trace
Free redirect checker that also reads canonicals, robots and headers
LinkResearchTools
Backlink audits, disavow files and link risk checks from 25+ sources
Which one is for you
Pick Link Redirect Trace if
- Fits if you check that redirects pass links cleanly after a migration
- Works for following affiliate and ad links to see where they land and which cookies they set
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: the Chrome version was last updated in June 2024 and the Firefox one in April 2024
- Too light for checking a site or a list of URLs, since it traces the URLs you visit one at a time
- Skip it if you want link strength from Ahrefs or Moz, as Power and Trust are LinkResearchTools' own scores
- Not for you if you browse in Safari or Edge, as only Chrome and Firefox are listed
Pick LinkResearchTools if
- Fits if a site has a Google penalty and you need to find the links behind it
- Works for agencies auditing link risk across many client domains
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're one person, at $599 a month or $5,799 a year with no smaller plan
- Not for you if you want a free look, as the 7-day trial costs $17, can't export and leaves out Link Detox Boost
- Tight if you audit big link profiles, as each report uses the plan's crawl budget and large ones need extra
- Skip it if you need phone support, which only comes with Enterprise; Superhero Small gets email only
- Too light for link builders who pitch, as there's no outreach and pitches go out from another tool
How we grade them
| 3.0GPALink Redirect TraceVery good | 1.8GPALinkResearchToolsWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree, listed among LinkResearchTools' free SEO tools, and a free install on Chrome and Firefox. The company's paid link tools are sold separately. | DSuperhero Small is $599 a month, or $5,799 a year, by far the dearest way into this category. Users and domains are unlimited, so a team of five works out near $120 a head, but there's no smaller plan for one person. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright: every hop, the indexing and canonical checks, cookies, headers and image or CSV export. | FNothing free. The only way in is a 7-day trial that costs $17, can't export data and leaves out Link Detox Boost, and then rolls on at $599 a month. |
| Features | CEvery 301, 302, 307, 308 and meta refresh hop timed, robots, noindex, nofollow and X-Robots-Tag checked on each, canonicals flagged, cookies shown and traces exported. It does redirect tracing fully, a smaller job, with no headings, schema or search data. | BRisk audits with disavow files, link data merged from 25+ sources and recrawled, competitor research, prospecting methods, a Link Simulator, monitoring and broken-link recovery. Short of sending the emails, it covers the job. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record, but nothing to set up: install it, follow a link and the trace is there. | CNo rating on record. There are dozens of tools, a monthly link crawl budget that every report draws on, and its own risk scores to learn. This is a specialist's tool. |
| Platforms and integrations | CChrome and Firefox, so computers only, in English. It ties into LinkResearchTools' own Power and Trust scores and nothing else. | BWeb plus Chrome and Firefox extensions, pulling data from Ahrefs, Semrush, SISTRIX, Search Console and Google Analytics, and working with Pitchbox. No desktop or phone app, and no API on record. |
| Best for | redirect chains with indexing checks per hop | backlink audits and cleaning up risky links |
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: Link Redirect Trace and LinkResearchTools. How we grade
Where they differ
- Link Redirect Trace also covers site audit.
- LinkResearchTools also covers reports.
At a glance
| Link Redirect Trace | LinkResearchTools | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Paid |
| Starts at | Free | $599 per month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | The extension is listed among LinkResearchTools' free SEO tools and installs free from the Chrome and Firefox stores. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | LinkResearchTools GmbH | LinkResearchTools GmbH |
| Price read from | smart.linkresearchtools.com | linkresearchtools.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Link Redirect Trace
- The Chrome version was last updated in June 2024 and the Firefox version, 0.9.13.2, in April 2024.
- LRT Power and Trust are LinkResearchTools' own metrics; its paid link tools are sold separately.
- It traces the URLs you visit one at a time and does not crawl a site or a list of URLs.
- Listed for Chrome and Firefox only, with an English interface.
LinkResearchTools
- There is no free plan or free trial: a 7-day trial of Superhero Small costs $17, cannot export data and leaves out Link Detox Boost.
- Domains and users are listed as unlimited, but each report uses the plan's link crawl budget, and large profiles need extra budget.
- Phone support comes only with Enterprise; Superhero Small has email support only.
- Plans can also be paid quarterly, every six months or yearly, and are priced at the same figures in euros.
Key features
Link Redirect Trace
- Every redirect hop
- Detects each 301, 302, 307 or 308 hop and meta refresh in a chain, and times each one to show which redirect or URL shortener is slow.
- Indexing checks per hop
- Checks robots.txt, HTML noindex and nofollow, and X-Robots-Tag noindex, nofollow and noarchive on every step of the chain.
- Canonical checks
- Parses rel-canonical tags so a page that is canonicalized to another URL is flagged alongside real redirects.
- LRT Power and Trust
- Shows LinkResearchTools' Power and Trust scores for each URL in the chain, as a gauge of link strength.
- Cookies and cache-busting
- Shows which URL in a chain drops cookies, useful for affiliate links, and can bypass a redirect the browser has cached.
- Image and CSV export
- Exports the full redirect trace as an image or a CSV file, and shows full HTTP headers for each response.
LinkResearchTools
- Link Detox audits
- Rates the risk of every backlink to a site and helps build and manage disavow files for Google's Disavow Tool.
- Combined, recrawled link data
- Pulls links from more than 25 data sources, recrawls each one to check it is still live and adds over 150 SEO metrics per link.
- Competitor research
- Compares domains, finds backlinks that several competitors share and tracks how fast rivals gain links.
- Link building methods
- Tools for SERP research, missing links, broken link building and finding sites that link to competitors' strongest pages.
- Link Simulator
- Estimates a planned link's likely effect and risk before it is built, using LRT's own risk scoring.
- Monitoring and link repair
- Link Alerts flags new links, the link checker verifies existing ones, and Link Recover finds broken inbound links to fix with redirects.
Plans
Link Redirect Trace
Free$0
Redirect tracing with robots, canonical and header checks for every hop, free on Chrome and Firefox.
LinkResearchTools
Superhero Small$599
per month, billed monthly
1 million links crawled a month, Link Detox, Link Simulator, link monitoring and prospecting and the 25 classic tools. Email support.
Superhero Standard$999
per month, billed monthly
6 million links crawled a month and larger tool quotas, with live chat and email support.
Superhero Plus$2,499
per month, billed monthly
18 million links crawled a month and the largest standard quotas, with live chat and email support.
EnterpriseCustom
Phone support, purchase orders and invoices, custom contracts and development, team training, SEO consulting and SSO.
Ways to pay less
Link Redirect Trace
No public discounts listed.
LinkResearchTools
- Annual discount
About 19% off with yearly billing
LRT's pricing page sells Superhero Small at $5,799 a year against $599 a month, and Standard at $9,499 a year against $999 a month.
- Other savings
7-day trial of Superhero Small for $17
The pricing page offers a limited 7-day trial for $17, after which the plan continues at $599 a month.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Link Redirect Trace or LinkResearchTools?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Link Redirect Trace is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $599 a month for LinkResearchTools. Link Redirect Trace is free, and LinkResearchTools starts at $599 per month, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Link Redirect Trace or LinkResearchTools?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Link Redirect Trace has a free plan. LinkResearchTools does not.
Which platforms do Link Redirect Trace and LinkResearchTools run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only LinkResearchTools lists a web app. Both list a browser extension. 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.