Link Redirect Trace review (2026): is it any good?
Free redirect checker that also reads canonicals, robots and headers
Link Redirect Trace report card
Very good · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 23, 2026
Best for redirect chains with indexing checks per hop
Link Redirect Trace follows every hop of a redirect, times each one, and checks robots.txt, noindex, X-Robots-Tag and canonicals along the way, free on Chrome and Firefox. But its last updates were April 2024 on Firefox and June 2024 on Chrome, it traces one URL at a time, and its Power and Trust scores are LinkResearchTools' own.
Who Link Redirect Trace is for
- 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
Who Link Redirect Trace is not for
- 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
Why Link Redirect Trace gets a 3.0
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- AValue for moneyFree, listed among LinkResearchTools' free SEO tools, and a free install on Chrome and Firefox. The company's paid link tools are sold separately.
- AFree plan and trialFree outright: every hop, the indexing and canonical checks, cookies, headers and image or CSV export.
- CFeaturesEvery 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.
- BEase of useNo rating on record, but nothing to set up: install it, follow a link and the trace is there.
- CPlatforms and integrationsChrome and Firefox, so computers only, in English. It ties into LinkResearchTools' own Power and Trust scores and nothing else.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from LinkResearchTools' own pages and its Chrome and Firefox store listings on 23 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/link-redirect-trace#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/link-redirect-trace.svg" alt="Link Redirect Trace: 3.0 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Link Redirect Trace stands among SEO browser extensions
Link Redirect Trace's GPA of 3.0 is higher than 17 of the 34 other SEO browser extensions we grade, and level with 16.
It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 5 of 34) and worst on platforms and integrations (C, above 0).
Link Redirect Trace has no paid plan.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 35 SEO browser extensions we grade, cut by the letter each got. Link Redirect Trace’s own letter is outlined.
- AValue for moneyAbove 4 of 34, level with 30
- AFree plan and trialAbove 5 of 34, level with 29
- CFeaturesAbove 14 of 34, level with 18
- BEase of useAbove 3 of 34, level with 31
- CPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 34, level with 32
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 34 SEO browser extensions. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Link Redirect Trace, or make your own?
Keep it
Link Redirect Trace is free, so making your own would save you nothing.
And it is not the kind of software a weekend replaces.
What you could not
- An index of the links between billions of web pages.
- A crawler that checks every page of a site.
What this rests on. Link Redirect Trace’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Link Redirect Trace?
Link Redirect Trace is a free Chrome and Firefox extension from LinkResearchTools that traces every hop of a redirect, including meta refreshes, and times each one. For each hop it checks robots.txt, noindex and nofollow tags, X-Robots-Tag headers and canonicals, shows which URLs set cookies, and adds LinkResearchTools' own Power and Trust scores. A trace can be exported as an image or a CSV file.
Worth knowing
- 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.
Key features
- 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.
Link Redirect Trace pricing
As of Oct 23, 2026, Link Redirect Trace is free to use.
- Starts at
- Free
- Free plan
- The extension is listed among LinkResearchTools' free SEO tools and installs free from the Chrome and Firefox stores.
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Redirect tracing with robots, canonical and header checks for every hop, free on Chrome and Firefox. |
Read from smart.linkresearchtools.com on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Link Redirect Trace before you buy.
Works with
- LinkResearchTools
Link Redirect Trace alternatives
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- Link Redirect Trace vs LinkResearchTools
From $599/mo
Common questions
Does Link Redirect Trace have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 23, 2026. Link Redirect Trace is listed for no platform we could confirm.
Does Link Redirect Trace have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 23, 2026. Link Redirect Trace is listed for no platform we could confirm.
Is Link Redirect Trace open source?
Link Redirect Trace is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 23, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 23, 2026.