LinkResearchTools vs Majestic (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Majestic grades higher than LinkResearchTools: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
LinkResearchTools grades higher on features. Majestic grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
LinkResearchTools
Backlink audits, disavow files and link risk checks from 25+ sources
Majestic
Backlink index with Trust Flow, Citation Flow and link history
Which one is for you
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
Pick Majestic if
- Fits if you want to check a site's links before buying the domain or pitching it
- Works for developers who need raw link data and can pay for the API plan
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay on Lite, which only sees links from the last 120 days
- Pricey if you need the API or a second user, as both start on the API plan at $399.99 a month
- Not for you if you want a proper look first: the free account gets a few lookups a day and there's no trial
- Watch out: the homepage dates the Historic Index to March 2024, so newer links sit only in the Fresh Index
- Skip it if you want outreach or alerts for lost links, as it only does research, and prices exclude VAT
How we grade them
| 1.8GPALinkResearchToolsWeak | 2.2GPAMajesticFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CLite is $41.67 a month billed yearly ($49.99 monthly), close to this category's middle of $49. Link history and competitor comparisons sit on Pro at $83.33, and the API plan is $399.99 a month ($333.33 yearly). |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | CA free account gets a few Site Explorer lookups a day, a weekly showcase site and basic scores in the browser extension. That's enough for a look, not for real work. There's no trial, just a 7-day money-back guarantee on your first plan. |
| Features | 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. | CBacklinks, referring domains, anchor text, new and lost links and Trust Flow across 800+ topics, for any site. It does link research fully, but that's one part of link building: no outreach, no link alerts, and Lite only sees 120 days. |
| Ease of use | 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. | CNo rating on record. Looking up a site is simple, but analysis units, report units, two indexes and its own scores take a while to make sense of. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb, plus a free Chrome and Firefox extension, Google Sheets and Search Console. The API comes only with the API plan. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | backlink audits and cleaning up risky links | a dedicated backlink index with link history |
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: LinkResearchTools and Majestic. How we grade
Price against what you get
LinkResearchTools starts at $599 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Majestic starts at $41.67 a month and scores 2.3.
LinkResearchTools scores higher, and starts $557.33 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other link building tools on the chart, none scores higher than LinkResearchTools for less, and 1 scores higher than Majestic for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| LinkResearchTools | Majestic | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | $599 per month, billed monthly | $41.67 per month, billed annually ($49.99 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | Free account: a few Site Explorer clicks a day through the free backlink checker, a weekly showcase site with near-Lite access, the Majestic Million list and basic metrics in the browser extension. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | LinkResearchTools GmbH | Majestic-12 Ltd |
| Price read from | linkresearchtools.com | majestic.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Majestic
- Lite searches only the Fresh Index of the last 120 days; history and the comparison tools need Pro.
- API access, extra users and creating OpenApps start with the API plan at $399.99 a month billed monthly.
- There is no free trial; Lite and Pro have a 7-day money-back guarantee for first-time customers, and prices exclude VAT.
- The homepage gives the Historic Index a date range ending in March 2024; newer links sit in the Fresh Index.
Key features
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.
Majestic
- Site Explorer
- Backlinks, referring domains, anchor text, new and lost links and the text around each link for any domain or URL.
- Trust Flow and Citation Flow
- Scores from 0 to 100 for the quality and the quantity of links, with Topical Trust Flow placing a site in over 800 topic categories.
- Fresh and Historic indexes
- The Fresh Index covers links seen in the last 120 days. Pro adds the Historic Index, whose records start in 2006.
- Competitor link prospecting
- Pro tools such as Compare, Clique Hunter and Link Profile Fight show sites that link to competitors but not to you.
- Author Explorer
- A beta tool on Pro that looks up web authors: what they have written, its backlinks and a timeline of their X posts.
- Browser extension and Google Sheets
- A Chrome and Firefox extension shows link counts and flow scores for any page for free; subscribers can also pull data into Google Sheets.
Plans
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.
Majestic
Free$0
A few Site Explorer clicks each day, plus the free browser extension, for trying the data.
Lite$41.67
per month, billed annually ($49.99 billed monthly)
1 user, Fresh Index only, 1 million analysis units and 60 report units a month, 5,000 rows per search.
Pro$83.33
per month, billed annually ($99.99 billed monthly)
1 user, Historic Index, comparison tools, raw exports, Author Explorer, 20 million analysis units and 300 report units.
API$333.33
per month for 100 million units, billed annually ($399.99 monthly)
5 users and the full API. 300 million units cost $799.99 a month and 1,000 million $1,599.99, billed monthly.
Ways to pay less
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.
Majestic
- Annual discount
About 17% off with annual billing
Majestic's pricing page sells Lite at $499.99 for 12 months against $49.99 a month, and Pro at $999.99 against $99.99 a month.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, LinkResearchTools or Majestic?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Majestic is cheaper to start with: $41.67 a month, against $599 a month for LinkResearchTools. LinkResearchTools starts at $599 per month, billed monthly, and Majestic starts at $41.67 per month, billed annually ($49.99 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, LinkResearchTools or Majestic?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Majestic has a free plan. LinkResearchTools does not.
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.