LinkResearchTools vs SEOkicks (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, LinkResearchTools and SEOkicks share a 1.8 GPA, neither has a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on whether you care more about features, where LinkResearchTools grades higher, or value for money, where SEOkicks does.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on the free plan, 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
SEOkicks
German backlink checker with its own link index, exports and an API
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 SEOkicks if
- Fits if you want a second backlink index beside Ahrefs or Majestic
- Works for pulling link counts into your own scripts through the API
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to see a price or try it free first: plans only show in the sign-up flow, and no free plan or trial is listed
- Not for you if you want alerts when a link appears or disappears, as its pages describe none
- Tight if you'll pull lots of link detail by API, at 1 credit per request plus 0.1 per record
- Watch out: prices are net of VAT, and contracts renew for the same term unless cancelled in writing two weeks before it ends
- Too light for outreach of any kind, as it looks links up and nothing more
How we grade them
| 1.8GPALinkResearchToolsWeak | 1.8GPASEOkicksWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CNo price is on record. SEOkicks shows its prices and account types only inside the sign-up flow, which couldn't be read, so there's nothing to set against what the rest of this category charges. |
| 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. | FNothing free on record: the listing has no free plan and no trial, so you'd be paying from the start. |
| 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. | CIts own index with Linkpop, Domainpop, IP-Pop and Class-C counts, linking pages, anchors, newly found links, an IP lookup and an AWIN publisher search. It does backlink lookups fully, but that's one part of link building, and its pages show no alerts when a link changes. |
| 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. Typing in a domain is easy enough, but counts like IP-Pop and Class-C pop take some know-how to read, and API use is metered in credits. |
| 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 only, but the data also comes out as CSV exports and through a REST API in XML or JSON, so it plugs into your own tools. The site is in German and English. |
| Best for | backlink audits and cleaning up risky links | a second backlink index with an API |
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 SEOkicks. How we grade
Where they differ
- LinkResearchTools also covers reports.
At a glance
| LinkResearchTools | SEOkicks | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $599 per month, billed monthly | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | LinkResearchTools GmbH | Jobkicks S.L.U. |
| Price read from | linkresearchtools.com | Not confirmed |
| 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.
SEOkicks
- Prices and account types appear only in the sign-up flow, which could not be read, so pricing is unverified here.
- The terms say prices are net of VAT and that contracts renew for the same term unless cancelled in writing two weeks before it ends.
- API use is metered in credits: 1 per request, plus 0.1 for each record returned by a detail query.
- Its pages describe link lookups, exports and the API; they do not describe alerts when a link changes.
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.
SEOkicks
- Own link index
- Link data comes from SEOkicks' own crawlers rather than a third party, in an index the company puts at more than 200 billion link records.
- Link popularity counts
- Shows Linkpop (links found), Domainpop (linking domains), IP-Pop and Class-C pop, so sitewide links can be told apart from broad linking.
- Link details
- Lists linking domains with their link counts, the exact linking pages with link attributes, anchor texts by frequency, link targets and recently found links.
- Affiliate publisher search
- Pick an AWIN affiliate program and a country to see which sites link to it, a way to find publishers in a niche.
- IP lookup
- Enter an IP address instead of a domain to see the domains hosted on it.
- CSV export and REST API
- Data can be exported as CSV or pulled from a REST API that returns XML or JSON; each request costs 1 credit, plus 0.1 per record for detail queries.
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.
SEOkicks
Pricing could not be confirmed. See seokicks.de.
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.
SEOkicks
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, LinkResearchTools or SEOkicks?
As of Oct 23, 2026, LinkResearchTools starts at $599 per month, billed monthly, and SEOkicks has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, LinkResearchTools or SEOkicks?
As of Oct 23, 2026, neither LinkResearchTools nor SEOkicks has a free plan.
Which platforms do LinkResearchTools and SEOkicks run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only LinkResearchTools 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.