ontolo review (2026): is it worth $97 a month?
Prospecting crawler that finds link-building and marketing targets
ontolo report card
Weak · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 23, 2026
Best for crawling huge lists of link prospects
ontolo crawls 80+ sources, or lists you upload, and sorts pages into 90+ prospect types with emails and social accounts pulled out. But its site hasn't been updated since 2016 and still lists dead sources like Google Plus and Vine, it sends no outreach, and it's $97 a month with no trial.
Who ontolo is for
- Fits if you need thousands of guest post and resource page targets at once
- Works for crawling prospect lists you've exported from Ahrefs, Moz or Majestic
Who ontolo is not for
- Watch out: the site hasn't changed since 2016, and sources it lists, like Google Plus and Vine, no longer exist
- Skip it if you want outreach in the same tool, as contacts are exported for use elsewhere
- Not for you if you want to try it first: there's no free plan or trial, only a 30-day money-back guarantee
- Pricey if you run small campaigns, at $97 a month, with Agency at $297
- Tight if you cancel partway through, as the terms rule out prorated refunds once a billing period starts
Why ontolo gets a 1.4
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyPro is $97 a month for 1,000,000 URLs in your index, right at the edge of the dearer quarter of this category. It buys prospecting only, with no outreach, from a site untouched since 2016.
- FFree plan and trialNothing free: no free plan and no trial. There's a 30-day money-back guarantee, but that isn't a trial, and the terms rule out prorated refunds once a billing period has started.
- DFeatures80+ sources, 90+ prospect types, page-section parsing, and contacts with outbound link data, exported to Excel or CSV. But it's one part of the job with no outreach of its own, and a site last updated in 2016 that lists dead sources makes it hard to trust it's current.
- CEase of useNo rating on record. You build searches, upload lists from Moz, Ahrefs or Majestic and work through multi-tab Excel exports, so there's a lot to learn first.
- CPlatforms and integrationsWeb only. It reads lists exported from Moz, Ahrefs and Majestic and exports to Excel, but there's no API or live connection to anything on record.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from ontolo's own pages 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/ontolo#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/ontolo.svg" alt="ontolo: 1.4 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where ontolo stands among link building tools
ontolo's GPA of 1.4 is higher than 0 of the 50 other link building tools we grade.
It stands best on value for money (C, above 8 of 50) and worst on free plan and trial (F, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $97 a month, against a middle price of $49 for the category: 29 of the 41 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 1.7 out of 4. 31 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 51 link building tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. ontolo’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 8 of 50, level with 26
- FFree plan and trialAbove 0 of 50, level with 10
- DFeaturesAbove 0 of 50, level with 3
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 50, level with 43
- CPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 50, level with 27
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 45 link building tools. 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 ontolo, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace ontolo you would be making a library of papers and sources to search. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 50 of the 50 other link building tools grade higher. It costs $1,164 a year.
What you could make
- Link outreach: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- A library of papers and sources to search.
What this rests on. ontolo’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 ontolo?
ontolo is a prospecting tool for link builders and marketers. It gathers pages from more than 80 sources or from lists you upload, crawls them and sorts them into prospect types such as guest post pages, resource lists, forums and affiliate publishers. For each prospect it pulls out contact emails, contact pages, social accounts and outbound links, and exports the results to Excel or CSV.
Worth knowing
- The site has not been updated since 2016, and some listed sources, such as Google Plus and Vine, no longer exist.
- There is no free plan or trial; plans carry a 30-day money-back guarantee instead.
- It finds and qualifies prospects but has no email outreach of its own; contacts are exported for use elsewhere.
- The terms rule out prorated refunds after a billing period starts, apart from charges made after a cancellation.
Key features
- Prospects from 80+ sources
- Searches more than 80 sources at once and expands a prospect type, such as guest posts, into 20 or more query variations behind the scenes.
- Upload your own lists
- Crawl prospect lists exported from Moz, Ahrefs, Majestic or anywhere else, uploaded as a CSV or plain text file.
- 90+ prospect types
- Sorts pages into types across link building, content, social, community, advertising, affiliates, e-commerce and technical features.
- Page-section parsing
- Separates article text, comments and navigation, so a keyword in a footer does not count as a match and links are attributed to the right part of the page.
- Contacts and link data
- Collects email addresses, contact form URLs and social accounts per prospect, plus its followed and nofollowed outbound links.
- Excel and CSV exports
- Exports each search as a multi-tab, color-coded Excel workbook, or as a CSV.
ontolo pricing
As of Oct 23, 2026, ontolo is a paid product, starting at $97 per month for 1,000,000 URLs in your index.
- Starts at
- $97 per month for 1,000,000 URLs in your index
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Pro | $97per month for 1,000,000 URLs in your index | Up to 200,000 new URLs crawled a day, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. |
| Agency | $297per month for 5,000,000 URLs in your index | Up to 1,000,000 new URLs crawled a day, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. |
| Custom | Custom | Custom code and data work for problems the standard plans do not cover, by contacting the company. |
Read from ontolo.com on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with ontolo before you buy.
Works with
ontolo alternatives
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- ontolo vs BuzzStream
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- ontolo vs Ahrefs
Free plan · from $29/mo
Common questions
Does ontolo have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 23, 2026. ontolo is listed for Web.
Does ontolo have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 23, 2026. ontolo is listed for Web.
Is ontolo open source?
ontolo 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.